Blood Test Results - Comments on levels please

[RLSofManyYears]

Well I got my blood iron levels back today and I need a little help in understanding where they stand.

1. Serum Ferritin is 376ug/l. I believe this is acceptable as it seems the level for RLS should be above 250.

2. Serum Transferrin is 1.79 g/L. The Lab indicated that the normal range was 2-4.

3. Serum iron level is 19 umol/L. The Lab indicated that the normal range was 1-30.

4. Transferrin saturation index was 42%. The Lab indicated that the normal range was 25-55%.

I have been taking Iron Bisglycinate for a few months now and this is possibly why the serum ferritin is OK. I had written down from a previous post that the serum iron should be > 60 but I'm not sure how that relates to the above values.

I look forward to your thoughts.

[Madlegs1]

Iron is not the source of your rls. Like many others.You now need to look for any possible triggers--- food, medication or drinks.

A intake diary is extremely useful for this.

Good luck.

[RLSofManyYears in reply to Madlegs1]

Hmm, according to a webinar by Christopher J. Earley, MB, BCh, PhDProfessor, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine:

* Ekbom (1960): Increased prevalence of ID in RLS population (15-25%)

* O’Keefe (1992): low ferritin levels (4-50 ug/l) are associated with increased RLS severity

* Sun (1997): lower ferritin levels (5-250 ug/l) are associated with increased RLS severity and decreased sleep efficiency.

He states: "Lower iron stores are associated with increase severity of the RLS and

decreased sleep quantity/quality."

I was very much under the impression that the lower levels of iron were a given as a factor in RLS.

As far as food, etc goes then I have a very healthy diet and know all the triggers. My post was to understand the results.

[Madlegs1 in reply to RLSofManyYears]

You do not have low ferritin levels.

Your serum ferritin levels were 346. Well above any of the figures you quoted from the eminent researchers.Ergo,low iron is not the cause of your rls.

Approximately 50%of rls sufferers are not caused by iron issues,

In my own case, I had ferritin of 1400 plus and still suffered restless legs. I queried this with Dr Buchfurer who replied that it didn't cross the blood brain barrier.

Which leads to a lot of other questions.

You can read all about that in a recent post by ' hidden' .

[Elffindoe]

I wonder if this information will help

Your serum transferrin is a little low. Low normal is 2.0 g/L

This is in contrast to your other levels.

Serum iron is OK

Transferrin Saturation (TSAT) is a little high. Not advisable to take iron if it's above 45%

Ferritin is HIGH.

Did you stop taking the iron a few days before the test. If not this might explain the high TSAT.

It doesn't look as if you have iron deficiency.

The recommendations for iron therapy are

If your ferritin is below 75 then take an oral iron supplement.

If it's between 76 and 100 then seek an IV iron infusion.

Ferritin should be at least 100 for RLS and ideally above 200.

See this link

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

and this link

mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...

Your ferritin is a little highand this might be due to inflammation.

However otherwise I think Madlegs is right, you're one of the unlucky ones that iron doesn't help.

[WideBody]

I think the fact that your were supplementing has skewed the Transferrin Saturation Percentage. Once you start supplementing, I have found TSP and Ferritin goes up, even if you stop supplementing 2 weeks prior to the test. I am testing roughly every 4 month. Maintaining a level ferritin is a tough thing to do. I do think your Ferritin is high.

Are you taking you iron about 2 hour before bed time on an empty stomach with a little Vitamin C?

[RLSofManyYears in reply to WideBody]

Yes I took Iron Bisglycinate and Vit C just before I went to bed, long after my last meal. I stopped taking it 5 days before the test. However on the basis of the comments on high Serum Ferritin and that I do not appear to have an iron problem then I've stopped taking the iron supplement.