Iron Level UP!

[John_naylor]

Earlier this year my Ferritin level reached nearly 200 and I began to sleep through the night. After a month the effect reduced and I wondered if this was due to using Gentle Iron so I changed back to 2 x 200mg Ferrous Sulphate tablets with Vitamin C every other night. More recently I have little RLS and began sleeping through the night again. Just had a blood test:

Serum Ferritin 339ng/ml!

TSat% 36%

So where now? Do I need to reduce from 339 to 275 or less? How to do that, cut down on Ferrous Sulphate doses or frequency? Long term I’d like to reduce my medication,

<1800mg Gabapentin

<100mg Tramadol.

Just had a couple of bad nights but that was probably due to over-exhaustion, I must avoid taking liberties now my RLS is reduced!

Advice please?

John

[Madlegs1]

You could reduce the iron. But having ferritin up to 500 or even a 1000 is not a big deal. Though your Dr may have a fit.

It's up to you how to work the Gabapentin and Tramadol. Whatever you do ,take it very slow. You could reduce the tramadol a bit- not sure of the dosing possibilities,as I think 100 is the lowest extended release one.

Withdrawals will skew your feelings!

Good luck.

[Joolsg]

As Madlegs says, serum ferritin up to 500, even 1000 is fine. So maybe reduce the iron by taking it every 3 nights for a while. If you want to reduce the gabapentin, go very slowly so you can monitor the effects on your RLS.

[SueJohnson]

To reduce the gabapentin reduce by 100 to 200 mg every 2 weeks to avoid withdrawal effects. If you do so you shouldn't have any.

[WideBody]

Welcome to my world. Of course I always have questions. How long did you stop supplementing before the test? Was it in the morning and fasted?

I have been watching my ferritin for years, getting it stable is virtually impossible. But I can say, I really haven't seen more improvement in my symptoms above 200 than above 100. My highest was 273. I used to aim for a ferritin of 200, now maybe 150. I was told if I could keep it above 200 for a couple of years I could replenish my iron stores. (I was told this by the Doctor, I have not read any papers).

What would I do? How much Gentle Iron were you taking? I think I would switch back to that. Currently I take 45mg * 2 or a total of 90mg daily with Vitamin C daily. Of course retest in 4-6 months.

Some other thoughts that helped me. Check your Vitamin D levels and try to get those to the higher end of normal. Taurine ameliorates the effects of iron overload. Seriously google it.

Taurine has been shown to improve the response to iron therapy in young women with iron-deficiency anemia.

OK, so I am not a women, but anything that helps iron, absorption, metabolism and hemostasis is certainly worth looking into.

As for withdrawing. I was on Gabapentin and switched to Pregabalin. Coming off pregabalin took me close to 3 months. I had some major struggles with body temperature regulation. I would freeze, put a light shirt on and 20 minutes later I couldn't get it off fast enough because I was overheating. It was crazy.

I would think Gabapentin would be easier, but take it SLOW. I mean ask for smaller pills so you can drop maybe 100mg every week? See how you feel.

I can't help with the Tramadol. My doctor never gave me more than 30 days, I probably would have gotten addicted to that too.

Good Luck, thanks for the post.

[John_naylor]

Thanks all for your replies and advice. It is the most amazing source of help, when GPs have no knowledge of RLS and specialists can have 12 months waiting lists (and some of those are dubious!).

I think about you ‘regulars’, whose advice I have followed, when I have slept through the night!

Thank you so much!

John

[CaraCara]

John. I've stopped this medication