any way to increase ferritin without increasing iron saturation?

[707twitcher]

after two months of taking iron supplements (75mg every other night on empty stomach), my ferritin rose from 51 to 158. Unfortunately, my iron saturation rose from 46% to 59%. This is caused by fairly high iron (172) and fairly low transferrin (291), though both are within normal range. My doctor doesn’t have any real advice other than stop the supplements. My RLS has been under control via .4mg of buprenorphine a night. I guess I will just stop the iron supplements and see what happens, unless anyone has any other advice?

Thanks

[ChrisColumbus]

With ferritin and TSAT as they are my feeling is that you do need to stop the supplementation and agree a schedule with your doctor (this may already be in place) for follow up testing.The fact that your RLS symptoms are currently controlled by the low dose opioid is very positive!

[RLSLearner]

Agreed, stop iron and see. Ferritin is a marker of your iron stores and easy to use in studies. It does not mean saturation is not important. Maybe the question should be how to increase your transferrin (that would decrease your saturation.

[DicCarlson in reply to RLSLearner]

My Ferritin was 49 with severe RLS, Ferrous Bisglycinate Chelate essentially stopped RLS in it's tracks! Rose to 105 in 3 months - first with daily, then 3x week, then just once a week. This was years ago - today I do not supplement w/any iron. Why was I iron deficient in the first place?