Dessicated liver increase ferritin

[tinabuglaw]

Does dessicated liver/spleen increase ferritin levels like other supplements? So far I can't tolerate even those that are supposedly easy on the stomach.

[Hidden]

Any "extra" iron can help raise ferritin. There's a good iron content in liver and spleen. It might not be as much.if it's dessicated, I'm not sure. Perhaps you could eat the liver in a meal.

The iron in liver is in "heme" form which is more easily absorbed than the "non-heme" form which is an advantage.

It's also a good idea to drink orange juice when taking or eating the liver as this helps absorption. There's an absorption problem with any form of iron ingested orally.

There are also iron patches!

They're called PatchMD. There is a member of this community that recommends them. You can get them online.

If they work, that's great because they bypass the gut and go directly into the blood, no gastrointestinal symptoms and no absorption limitations.

I'm a bit dubious about them, myself. I've read that if you weigh them, they weigh less than the amount of iron it's claimed is in them. Hence it's a lie.

Might be worth looking into though. Using a patch might contribute less ti global warming than eating liver. No criticism meant.

Being vegetarian, I'm lucky a gentle iron supplement doesn't upset me too much.

[DicCarlson]

It might work, but I found supplements to be much more effective. Of course not knowing even what RLS was - I searched and searched and came across Blackstrap Molasses as a home remedy - 3 teaspoons immediately cut into my severe RLS. I quickly found Ferrous Bisglycinate Chelate - sold by many retailers and PatchMD as mentioned - this is the company that manufacturers it... albionferrochel.com/index.php

[Graham3196]

Ask your doctor about an intravenous (IV) iron infusion. This has two main advantages over any oral medicine.

Its bypasses the stomach and so solves any problem of intolerance.

It raises your ferritin level immediately. If raising your ferritin is enough to get rid of your RLS then you don't want to waste time and extend your suffering. Oral supplements raise the ferritin level very slowly. For many people oral supplements will not raise their ferritin above about 100 in any reasonable time.

If you have RLS it is recommended by some respected sources that you raise your ferritin level to about 350 and the best way to do this is with an IV infusion.

Before you get the infusion make sure your doctor agrees that you have no special medical condition that might cause a problem. Whoever does the infusion SHOULD be careful about this but if you trust your doctor then you should keep them in the loop.

What is your current ferrition concentration?

Good Luck

[tinabuglaw in reply to Graham3196]

Thanks. Yeah. I've had two infusions. Feraheme. My feritin was 65. It's been 5 weeks since the last infusion so I should be significantly higher. But I'd rather just be able to maintain on supplements. Dr Koo with Yale is my doctor.

[tinabuglaw in reply to Graham3196]

I've never heard of a ferritin level of 350! Usually over 100-150. Where did you get that number?

[Graham3196 in reply to tinabuglaw]

You will find the details in the list I sent by PM.

The source is Doctor Buchfuhrer who said it is based on work done at John's Hopkins Hospital

I have actually misquoted him. He said no higher than 350.

Here is the quote

"When we quote the goals for iron therapy, it is based on only 2 studies that showed a benefit from oral iron therapy when the serum ferritin is brought above 50-75. That was the guidelines for those studies and they did not look to see if higher levels brought further relief of RLS symptoms. Furthermore, it is very hard to get serum ferritin levels much above 100 with oral iron therapy.

Now that we have been doing iron infusions for RLS for a few years, we have gained additional knowledge. We find that some patients need to get their ferritin levels above 200-300 in order to drive enough iron into the brain (the best way to find out how much iron gets into the brain would be a spinal tap but that is of course not something we would do very casually or routinely). However, we would recommend keeping the ferritin level no higher than about 350 in order to avoid issues with iron overload which could effect organs like the liver, kidneys and heart. Therefore, an iron infusion with a goal of getting your ferritin between 250-300 could be very helpful. You should also be aware that only certain iron formulations (INFeD and Injectafer) are beneficial for RLS patients. "

Cheers