Ferritine levels ok or supplement for longer?

[lisan1]

Are these ok or shall I continue to supplement with ferrous fumarate? What level shall I opt for?

65 (20-291)

Thanks!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

lisan1 Ferritin needs to be at least 70 for thyroid hormone to work properly (our own or replacement). Recommended level is half way through it's range.

If you are doing OK with ferrous fumerate then continue with it until you reach half way through range. You then need to maintain it, either with a small maintenance dose of iron or eating iron rich foods, liver being the best and you can mince it and put in casseroles, cottage pie, curry, bolognese, or have a meal of liver and onions say. Once every 7-10 days would probably be sufficient to maintain your level, 120-140g being enough.

Are you taking your FF with 1000mg Vit C to aid absorption and keeping it 4 hours away from thyroid meds and 2 hours away from other meds and supplements?

[lisan1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks, yes I am taking it with vit c. Will continue with ferrous fumarate then.

[humanbean]

I think you should be aiming for a ferritin level that is mid-range, so roughly 160 or thereabouts.

The reference range makes a big difference to where you want your level to be.

How much ferrous fumarate 210mg are you taking?

[lisan1 in reply to humanbean]

I'm taking 210mg twice a day.

I thought that the higher range was for men. Not sure where I have read that though.

[humanbean in reply to lisan1]

The range for ferritin depends on lots of things.

The commonest range given for ferritin is something like 13 - 150. But depending on the testing technique and the machine used the results can be completely different and the reference range can be completely different.

I'll give you an example of how reference ranges affect results. A few years ago I had ferritin tested three times in about 13 months. I was supplementing iron the whole time.

Result 1 was 21 (13 - 150)

Result 2 was 67.7 (13 - 400)

Result 3 was 51 (13 - 150)

Some people looking at that and ignoring the reference ranges would say that result 2 was substantially better than result 1. And result 3 shows my ferritin getting worse again. But they'd be wrong.

If you look at the percentage through the reference range for each result :

Result 1 was 6% of the way through the range.

Result 2 was 14% of the way through the range.

Result 3 was 28% of the way through the range.

What the results actually show is my ferritin level getting slowly better over the 13 months, which makes sense because I was supplementing the whole time.

So, the reference range can't be ignored. It is vital information when interpreting results. If you don't think the reference range is the correct one for you then contact the company supplying the test result and ask.

[humanbean in reply to lisan1]

P.S. I forgot to say...

You can take up to 3 tablets a day (one tablet, three times a day, NOT three at once) of ferrous fumarate 210mg, if you want.

Take a look at the patient information leaflet.