Ferritin capsules

[TaraJR]

Any ideas please ...? Hope this is a good place to ask this question. I'm hypothyroid after RAI, and take 175 levo. I've had awful fatigue for 15 months. My ferritin is low in range, 58 (range 23 - 300) But all other blood results are good eg hb, folate, Vit D, B12. I feel I'm not converting to T3 well enough. T4 = 20 (8.0 - 21.0); T3 = 3.7 (3.8 - 6.0); TSH 0.03 (0.35 - 3.5) I'd like to raise my ferritin to help this. I've found this Ferritin product; wonder it would be good to raise my ferritin, maybe without raising hb level? 

[helvella Administrator]

It appears that we (humans) do have actually have mechanism for taking in ferritin from our guts - and that mechanism is separate to those by which we can absorb haem (heme) and iron salts.

Looks to me as if maximal iron absorption might be achieved by taking ferritin, haem and iron salts - possibly separately in the day, but concurrently.

Have a read - the full paper is available in PubMed Central:

J Nutr. 2012 Mar;142(3):478-83. doi: 10.3945/jn.111.145854. Epub 2012 Jan 18.

Absorption of iron from ferritin is independent of heme iron and ferrous salts in women and rat intestinal segments.

Theil EC1, Chen H, Miranda C, Janser H, Elsenhans B, Núñez MT, Pizarro F, Schümann K.

Author information

Abstract

Ferritin iron from food is readily bioavailable to humans and has the potential for treating iron deficiency. Whether ferritin iron absorption is mechanistically different from iron absorption from small iron complexes/salts remains controversial. Here, we studied iron absorption (RBC (59)Fe) from radiolabeled ferritin iron (0.5 mg) in healthy women with or without non-ferritin iron competitors, ferrous sulfate, or hemoglobin. A 9-fold excess of non-ferritin iron competitor had no significant effect on ferritin iron absorption. Larger amounts of iron (50 mg and a 99-fold excess of either competitor) inhibited iron absorption. To measure transport rates of iron that was absorbed inside ferritin, rat intestinal segments ex vivo were perfused with radiolabeled ferritin and compared to perfusion with ferric nitrilotriacetic (Fe-NTA), a well-studied form of chelated iron. Intestinal transport of iron absorbed inside exogenous ferritin was 14.8% of the rate measured for iron absorbed from chelated iron. In the steady state, endogenous enterocyte ferritin contained >90% of the iron absorbed from Fe-NTA or ferritin. We found that ferritin is a slow release source of iron, readily available to humans or animals, based on RBC iron incorporation. Ferritin iron is absorbed by a different mechanism than iron salts/chelates or heme iron. Recognition of a second, nonheme iron absorption process, ferritin endocytosis, emphasizes the need for more mechanistic studies on ferritin iron absorption and highlights the potential of ferritin present in foods such as legumes to contribute to solutions for global iron deficiency.

PMID:

    22259191

    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID:

    PMC3278266

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/222...

[TaraJR in reply to helvella]

Many thanks for this helvella. Interesting reading. I think I'll take some iron, and see if I can increase ferritin a little at least.

[Chris1961]

Do you have hashimitos like I think I have ? Going you get tested for it , I had rai too and wish I hadn't had it done !! Just started with this disorder , I can't breath and have palpitations .. The thyroxine only works when I am hypo but not when I go hyper !!! 

[TaraJR in reply to Chris1961]

I had Graves in 1987, had RAI in 1989, then hypo ever since, and pretty stable on thyroxine. But the past 18 months have been seriously bad, and no one has found the problem. I still feel hypo but they say my results say otherwise, and endos won't listen when I say my T3 is too low. Loads of other tests done, waiting for final results on a few. If no joy then, I think I'll self medicate with a little T3.  I was good on thyroxine for years and years, don;t now what's gone wrong. Have you got all your test results?

[Chris1961 in reply to TaraJR]

No they only checked t3 , t4 , and tsh !!! ... I need antibodies doing !!! 

[Chris1961 in reply to Chris1961]

Had tickly cough , vertigo , hives , tight throat since virus at Xmas !!! ... 

[Chris1961 in reply to Chris1961]

I think I keep going hyper/ hypo which hashis does !!! 

[Chris1961]

I had rai in 2012 ... Didn't realize you can still get hyper symptoms while I read about hashimotos !!! ... Do you have breathlessness one day and heart fluttering another ??? ... I had a virus in January ( tickly cough for weeks !!! ) .... Also had vertigo , hives all since the virus !!!! ... Am going get my antibodies checked ...