Are my iron levels ok?

[Ruffabug]

Hi. At last I have managed to get a blood test done for iron levels. Could you, Sue Johnson, please comment on them? I feel the ferritin is quite high, which should be good, but am not sure about the other results.

Ferritin: 176.5. Ug/ L 10.0-291.0

Serum Iron 16.1. Umol/L. 9.0-30.4

Transferrin. 2.39. g/L. 2.50- 3.80

% saturation. 30 %. 16-50

Thank you.

Ruth Ward.

[SueJohnson]

Your results are fine for RLS. The low transferrin means the body is absorbing more iron then needed. It can also indicate inflammation in the body. You can discuss this with your doctor.

[Ruffabug in reply to SueJohnson]

Thank you Sue.

[ChrisColumbus]

As Sue says, your figures are fine, but this demonstrates the importance of getting the actual numbers!

You can see that either the lab or your doctor has quoted 10-291 as the normal range for ferritin (different sources will quote slightly different normal numbers, some depending on sex/age).

RLS sufferers are looking for a figure over 100, preferably nearer 200.

You have an RLS healthy 176, but a doctor - if typically ignorant of RLS - could have reported any figure over 10 or 15µg/L but below 291 as 'Normal'!

[WideBody]

I would just like to confirm you did the test in the morning and fasted. Also that you were not supplementing with iron in the week prior to the test.

[Ruffabug in reply to WideBody]

yes I did fast and had it done in the morning. And I’m not on any iron supplements.

[WideBody in reply to Ruffabug]

just checking. I learned the hard way. I agree with every one else.