Deficient Iron and B12

[earlybirdsarah]

I've just got my lab results back and I think my B12 and Iron are extremely deficient. I know that as I'm not actually 'under' the range the Dr will not prescribe any meds for it. Been there, done that before...

My questions are

1) Do you think these are low?

2) Can you recommend supplements that are actually worth it, i.e get absorbed into the system

Results: ( I didn't take any meds 24 hours before the blood test)

Serum Iron Level 9 umo1/L (7 -32)

Serum Vitamin B12 336 ng/L (211 -911)

Thank you all so much, I always appreciate your replies.

Sarah

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

earlybirdsarah Your B12 is low, anything under 500 can cause neurological problems. Recommended is the very top of the range, even 900-1000. For B12 you could take Solgar or Jarrows sublingual methylcobalamin lozenges. They dissolve under the tongue to get directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the stomach. If it was me I'd start with 5000mcg daily for a couple of months then reduce to 1000mcg daily as a maintenance dose.

When taking B12 we also need a B Complex to balance the B vits. Thorne Basic B is a good brand with good bioavailability and contains methylfolate which is natural rather than folic acid which is synthetic and requires converting by our body.

I can't comment on iron supplements as it's a serum iron test and usually seen as part of an iron panel, rather than a ferritin test which is the one we normally see here. Is it a GP test? Has he made any comment on it being so low? I would have thought a ferritin test would need to be done to see what your iron stores are like.

[earlybirdsarah in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you Susie. I sneakily added it to my blood test so that was my fault...I am under a consultant so will mention it to him tomorrow. However like all NHS consultants they say unless its under the range they wont do anything and just ay take a supplement if you believe in that sort of thing. I'll gt onto the vits right away xxx

[earlybirdsarah in reply to earlybirdsarah]

Oh and no comment, just says within normal range.....

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to earlybirdsarah]

No surprise there then!! It's hard to believe that when a range is 7-32 and a result comes back at 9, nothing is said, you'd think it would at least elicit some sort of comment like 'That's a bit low'. I've learned to expect nothing from the doctors at my surgery any more, and I'm never disappointed!

[Gambit62]

please take a look at the pinned posts on the PAS forum

B12 needs to be evaluated on the basis of symptoms not just the test results - overlap with thyroid may make this difficult but looking at symptoms as well as score is recommended in the BCSH guidelines and the NICE guidelines.

[earlybirdsarah in reply to Gambit62]

Thank you. Sorry I'm not sure how to look at pinned posts?

[Gambit62 in reply to earlybirdsarah]

these are the relevant pinned posts

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

Each forum has pinned posts - if you are looking in a browser they are located to the right - as you scroll up or down in a post or on the home-page.

If you are looking at a phone or tablet then I think they are located at the bottom of the page

[earlybirdsarah in reply to Gambit62]

Thank you!