High iron advice

[SeaVee79]

Hi, I have recently had another full iron panel done and it shows that my iron is rising rapidly (the last test was 3 mths ago) for which I can see no reason.

I know it's not strictly 'thyroid' but I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions or reasons for this. It's worrying me a bit because I've also got various other symptoms like dizzyness, nausea etc. I don't supplement any more and haven't for over 6 months. I don't take vitamin c really or eat foods massivly high in iron. I don't have the double gene mutation associated with hemochromatosis either.

Many thanks for any help.

Chloe

[humanbean]

What were the conditions under which you took the test? Was it first thing in the morning having fasted overnight and before the test?

The NHS recommends this - see the reference to the Iron blood test :

nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1018.aspx?...

Even if you had eaten I doubt it would be a complete explanation for your high iron though. For some reasons why iron might rise :

livestrong.com/article/2226...

I think the quickest way of reducing the iron levels in your blood is to give blood on a regular basis. I don't know if there are any undesirable consequences of doing this though, since it isn't an issue I've ever had to worry about.

[SeaVee79 in reply to humanbean]

Thanks Humanbean.

I'll take a look at the link. I didn't fast for either as I didn't realise I had to. However, when I contacted the lab they said it wasn't a necessity. I will fast for the next one and see what difference it makes. Im not sure it will make a huge difference though. I could be wrong.

I like giving blood but I'm often unable due to having fairly low ferritin which tends to be the only thing they check. They have also cut our blood sessions in half down where I live. There used to be one a month and now I rarely see any.

Thanks

Chloe

[humanbean in reply to SeaVee79]

It is annoying when the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

The lab is giving out duff information on fasting for iron in my opinion. In this instance I'm definitely prepared to believe the website rather than the lab.

[Heloise]

Not sure if there is an explanation here but.....stopthethyroidmadness.com/r...

[SeaVee79 in reply to Heloise]

Thanks. Will look for one.

[Learner1]

What iron number is going up?

Have an iron study done - TIBC, UIBC, serum iron, transferrin saturation, and serum ferritin. These can vary and the different numbers can go up or down depending on your problem..

I have high serum ferritin caused by toxicity and chronic infection. Not high iron.

In my iron study, the pattern of numbers looked like hemochromatosis and I am compound heterozygous for it, but turned out I was severely deficient in B6, so I couldn't use uterine to make hemoglobin. Twice, a year apart. Again, not high in iron, though some of the numbers were quite high.

You need more info to figure out what's going on.

[SeaVee79 in reply to Learner1]

Hi Learner.

All my iron levels have gone up. I can't seem to attach another pic tho. I did the same test 4 mths ago and each one has risen between 5 and 10 pts.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I think then it must be b6 deficiency. Im deficient in a number of the b's though not b12.

Did you find that when you addressed your b6 deficieny that your iron levels dropped?

Who performed your iron study?

Thanks again

Chloe

[SeaVee79]

Thanks will take a look.

[Learner1]

My doctor did both times. We've been watching my serum ferritin, which has been between 350 and 650 on a range of something like 10-150.

The explanation has been inflammation, but the doctor ordered the other tests in the iron study just to be sure I didn't have too much iron. I'd had iron IVs a few months before after my levels were low after chemotherapy.

There are different types of iron disorders, and you can Google some nice charts where you can compare your numbers and see which are running high or low, and they'll tell you what the problem is like to be.

Both times, my numbers had moved from more normal to an odd split of highs and lows. The 2 possible explanations were hemochromatosis, which leads to the blood letting the other poster described, or sideroblastic anemia. For the former, the doc said serum ferritin is generally over 1000, so we decided to try upping my B6, and all but serum ferritin normalized within 3 weeks.

In addition to helping red blood cells use iron to make hemoglobin, B6 is used in many steps in detoxifying. The recommended daily value is around 1.5mg. The first time I got sideroblastic anemia, I was taking 180 and my body was running out, so I upped it to 300. Several months later, my new doc thought it was a little too much, so I cut back to 225, and my iron study then went crazy the second time, so he upped me to 400.

My body is under stress from detoxing and I have some genes that make me need more Bs than most people. Too much B6 can be bad, too, though not as bad as too much iron, do understanding what your body needs vs anyone else is important.

The key is to look at your pattern of numbers then investigate the possible explanation so you know how to intervene. Wrong interpretation could be tragic.

Best wishes.