ferritin

[Danyell]

My ferritin level is 14. Dr was reluctant to give me anything due to the result being "normal" so i am now wondering whether or not to take anything! I have had tons of hairloss. Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Marz]

You have not mentioned the ranges - which would be helpful However going by other peoples results with ranges here it would seem your Ferritin is VERY LOW. Should be around 80/90. Cannot be sure without ranges though. Have you had other tests like Iron - Folate - B12 - VitD ??

[Danyell in reply to Marz]

I cant seem to get them to test anything other than my thyroid! I end up coming out from appointments with such frustration. I will find out the ranges and get back to you. Thanks

[Marz in reply to Danyell]

You managed to get the Ferritin tested so learn as much as you can about the effects of low ferritin and then return to your Doc and explain why you need other things testing. Having knowledge enables you to ask the right questions.

bcshguidelines.com/document...

The above link could be a good place to start....

[Willowluv]

Everything marz said! It's too low and should be around 90. Doctors.....a wonderful invention, well when done right!!

[Lynneypin]

Mine was12 when I first tested it about 3 years ago. I've gradually got it up to around 80 by taking 2 sachets of Spatone a night in grapefruit juice along with 1g of vitamin c powder. I keep it by my bed and as I usually wake up in the night, I drink it then (I use a straw to avoid any possible staining/damage to teeth!). That way I keep it away from my calcium and thyroid supplements.

[Hidden]

Your doctor is a fool. This is from the World Health Organisation doc on ferritin

"Discrepancies remain in the definition of normal ranges of serum ferritin con¬centration. Some manufacturers define a normal range as the ferritin concentra¬tion found in unselected, apparently normal subjects. However, a proportion of the normal population have almost no storage iron without being anaemic, particularly young women, and a smaller proportion will be anaemic. The “normal range” in young females will thus include ferritin concentrations found in iron deficiency."

Anne Asberg - note her gender - did a study published in the Scandinavian literature, Asberg et al. You should be able to find it with this quote (I've accidentally deleted my reference (!)

"Aim. We wanted to study the association between blood hemoglobin concentration (b-hemoglobin) and serum ferritin concentration (s-ferritin) in a healthy female population, and compare the findings to those in a previous study of ambulant female patients.:..

Among 2122 healthy females the entire b-hemoglobin distribution was shifted downwards in women with s-ferritin less than 20 μg/L. Accordingly, the median b-hemoglobin was statistically significantly lower. In women with s-ferritin less than 20 μg/L the fraction with anemia was 0.15. Conclusions. Lower s-ferritin is associated with lower b-hemoglobin in many more subjects than those labelled anemic. "

In other words, low ferritin signals that low iron is having an impact on your blood, even if you are not frankly anaemic. At least one other study has shown that women with ferritin under 50 report fatigue which improves once they get over 50.

There is a lot more if you dig through the research.

Take iron supplements, avoid ferrous sulphate if you have any constipation. ferrous bisglycinate or fumerate or Ferrochel - there is a big choic.

The optimal is not half way through the older ranges in the WHO's view. However, you are so far from the optimal that you don't need to worry about overdosing at the moment. Your level is very disturbing - you should certainly aim to reach the 70 - 90 area.

[Hidden]

Also - I hope you aren't beginning to wish you never posted - have a read of this ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

"In prepubertal humans no major differences can be found between the sexes in red blood cell count or haemoglobin and serum ferritin concentrations.4 Only after the onset of menstruation does a difference emerge.4...Furthermore, 90% of UK females of childbearing age do not achieve the recommended daily intake of elemental iron (14.8 mg) from their diet.9 Women worldwide are at risk of being in a negative iron balance, and by current criteria if their haemoglobin concentration is less than 115 g/l they are deemed to be anaemic, whereas in men the cut-off point is 130 g/l.15

In other words - discrimination is so severely entrenched against women in the medical mind that we are not thought to be anaemic at a level which would be seen as anaemic in men!!! So what was your haemoglobin concentration?

"No evidence supports a view that women of reproductive age have a lower biological requirement for any haem parameters than do aged matched men. The data from humans point to the possibility that the current lower reference levels for red blood cell count and haemoglobin and serum ferritin concentrations in women have been derived from sampling populations that are deficient in iron. Consequently, it would seem that a large number of women spend a major part of their lives with a negative iron balance arising from a dietary imbalance."

And when you think about the implications for pregnant women and for young girls......Oh, I think we should be chaining ourselves to the railings of the BMA.

[Angel_of_the_North]

My GP was similar even when I was under range, but gave me a referral to Gastroenterology to see WHY my ferritin was so low. I'd demand a referral. The first the the gastro did was to prescribe ferrous fumerate. Or you could just buy your own either from the chemist or online (ferrous fumerate 210 mg)