Confused with thyroid and low ferritin thank you

[lisamurran]

Hi i recently been having some blood test I have an under active thyroid for many years but when I went recently i needed another blood test as the nurse said i have low ferritin but was only very slightly anemic my thyroid is only very slight too, but they wanted to test for my FBC when I went back today still no results I asked a different nurse what my results might mean and she wouldnt answer fully saying it might be worth waiting til we have the results she mentions diabetics and how am I feeling scared does anyone have any idea I rather know then wait another 2 weeks as the test results take 3 weeks to come back. Thank you

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

You must have the lab with the slowest turnaround in the country! FBC usually can be done within a few hours - with any extra time being transport of the sample to the lab (if needed) and any delay sending results back.

I can't make any guesses at all from what you have posted, I am sorry. But I would ring up your surgery in a day or two - and certainly wouldn't wait two weeks in the hope of then hearing!

Rod

[lisamurran]

Hi thank you will def give them a ring, im worried its something serious but hoping its just something stupid thank you Lisa x

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to lisamurran]

You know, people often come up with evasive answers if they don't understand! Could be as simple as ignorance on their part.

(If you click on the blue Reply to this, the person you are responding to gets an email alert.)

Rod

[lisamurran in reply to helvella]

thank you this is the first time ive used this thanks

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to lisamurran]

No problem lisa - everyone makes that mistake to being with!

[Moggie]

I have low ferritin levels at the moment and my FBC showed a low red blood count and a low MCH, which again can be an indicator of low iron.

Have now been put on iron tablets and am doing fine, although my GP neglected to tell me that to be able to absorb the iron tablets properly I needed to take it with VitC which meant I was taking them for a month and nothing really increased. Have now been taking them with VitC powder for a few weeks and hopefully my levels will increase.

Moggie x

p.s. Welcome to the site.

[Hidden in reply to Moggie]

Maggie, what iron tablets do you take? I don't seem to be able to tolerate oral iron at all and my current ferritin is 4

[Moggie in reply to Hidden]

I am taking Ferrous Sulphate 200mcg tablets once a day (kept well away from my thyroid meds of course) which I think is a pretty bog standard iron supplement.

Moggie x

[wakeham in reply to Hidden]

Hi Marie,

Just reading your blog and I thought that I would just try to help I'm taking iron and find that Solgar Gentle iron is reasonable to take as I suffer taking iron as you do! hope that helps.

Regards wakeham.

[Hidden in reply to wakeham]

Thanks for this, I might give that a try.

[Ansteynomad]

I was in this situation for years and there was no help from the NHS at all. What helped me in the end was supplements from a company called Cytoplan, which I can take without having horrible GI symptoms and which are finally raising my levels.

AN

[foxglove in reply to Ansteynomad]

As far as I can find Cytoplan iron supp. is manufactured from the brassica family (broccoli) which I think is contra indicated for hypothyroid

[Hidden]

Don't worry, low ferritin is very common indeed, especially amongst pre menopause women and girls, but others too, anyone with undiagnosed celliac disease or other malabsorption issues.

And it can cause a wide variety of problems that you may find get fixed with iron supps, including difficulties sleeping and tiredness. One piece of research found women have to get their ferritin up to 60 before they report their feelings of fatigue easing (this was double blind etc).

Most cheap iron pills contain ferrous sulphate and I find that revolting and hard to absorb. There is a variety of other kinds, look on the bottle for "easily absorbed" and try a range. Make sure they have over 100 per cent of your iron RDA if you have a deficiency and ask for another test in six months time or so to see if you have fixed the deficiency.

Take orange juice or similar vitamin C with them, but research the other "co-factors" that help. I hadn't realised vitamin A was essential to use iron properly so I take a cod liver oil pill with mine. And it may be that vitamin D is also helpful, some studies suggest this, have you had your D levels tested? I should think everyone in Britain is low at the moment unless they have been taking high levels of supps all winter.

Don't worry! Common! Fixable!

[Hidden]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/227... - on fatigue and low ferritin

bloodjournal.hematologylibr... - another study, if you look through the whole thing you will see a lot of background, including the startling fact that only 10 per cent of the iron we eat is absorbed! Would be why supplements take ages to have an effect.

Low iron may also be linked to restless leg syndrome - making it even harder to get to sleep. Could you please post if you get your levels up to 60 what has improved? It would be really helpful.

There is a lot more if you search.

Best of luck! Keep eating steak!

[geishagirl257]

Great information guys. I've been diagnosed with CFS, but do have a ferritin that been boucing between 6 and 12 (ref: 7-90) for over 20 years. Coincidence - NOT! I do have Hashis as well but tknow the low iron is key to this unbearable fatigue! And no the iron pills do not work for me

[Ansteynomad]

I hadn’t realised that it was made from broccoli, but frankly, what other choice did I have?

I had tried Spatone and Floradix (pleasant to take but completely ineffective), ferrous sulphate, ferrous bisglycinate and ferrous fumarate (stomach cramps and explosive diarrhoea) and transdermal iron (incredibly messy and again totally ineffective). I had been referred back from the endo to my GP for iron injections, which the GP said he could not give and then refused an iron infusion by a haematologist on the grounds that my Hb was fine! After three years of trying to raise my ferritin levels, I was thrown back completely on my own resources.

Presumably, as it’s processed, it’s OK anyway, in the same way as cooked cabbage and broccoli are, unless you’re going to eat them by the truck load?

AN

[greygoose in reply to Ansteynomad]

It's OK if you don't have any nasty reactions to it. Forget the cooking bit, if you are sensitive to it cooking won't make any difference! It's just that not all hypos are sensitive to all goitrogens. So if you're fine on it, then that's fine!

Hugs, Grey

[lisamurran]

Hi Many thanks for all the messages I spoke to my doctors today and i have an appointment thursday morning to talk how I feel and my worries. Also hoping my blood results will be in.

Again thank you

Also I read earlier about iron tablets and thyroid tablets taking together are we not suppose to many thanks Lisa x

[mg51]

Hi just a note - I was diagnosed with low ferritin 19 range is 30 - 300 so had to take 3 iron tablets a day ferrous sulphate - they started to cause stomach pains so they changed them to ferrous fumate and as long as I take them after food I am absolutely fine. Dont be frightened by all the blood tests, they did all of mine and with a bit of tweaking re iron tablets I am feeling great, stick with it and dont worry the tests they did on me were for diabetes, and loads of others etc etc you do worry i know but give them a ring after perhaps a week - good luck - mg

[Soldieress]

Hi Lisamurran, I have low ferritin too. Should be getting retested soon so will put my results and type of supplements I'm taking on this site then. This website page has some interesting information about Ferritin. Hope it helps:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/f...