Blood Test

[T3MARY]

Hi Folks

please help with results

Serum Folate :16.6ug/L ug (3-20 )

Serum Ferritin:55.6ug/L ug (10-250)

Serum Vitamin B12 <2000ng/L abnormal (200.-700)

Thank you in advance

Mary

[humanbean]

Serum Folate :16.6ug/L ug (3-20 )

Your folate is fine.

Serum Ferritin:55.6ug/L ug (10-250)

Your ferritin (iron stores) result is 19% of the way through the range. That is too low. You would probably feel better if it was closer to mid-range or even a smidgen over - say, 130 - 150 mcg/L. However, I would have been more comfortable saying that if you had results for other iron-related measures plus a Full Blood Count or even just a haemoglobin level, just in case anything weird was going on with your iron levels. Doctors often rely on ferritin only though.

There are a couple of finger-prick tests you can do which are very useful for iron-related info. The full blood count is very useful, but you can get away with just the iron status check if money is tight :

medichecks.com/tests/iron-s...

medichecks.com/tests/fbc-fu...

medichecks.com/how-it-works

Iron supplements of the type that doctors prescribe can be bought from pharmacies without prescription, but it is up to the pharmacist's discretion. If you get refused at one pharmacy just try another - I get my iron supplements from Lloyds Pharmacy or Tescos Pharmacy. The other alternative is buying online from pharmacy sites or Amazon or Ebay.

This document is worth reading - it was written by Helvella, one of the admins :

dropbox.com/sh/3waycnbzhywi...

If you don't want to supplement with iron you could eat liver or black pudding a couple of times a week, if you aren't vegetarian. Quite a few people have raised their iron levels successfully with liver.

Serum Vitamin B12 <2000ng/L abnormal (200.-700)

I suspect your result was > 2000ng/L rather than < 2000ng/L. In other words, your result was greater than 2000, not less than 2000.

If you have been supplementing then a result of greater than 2000 is not unusual (mine is the same). However, it does suggest you could save money by cutting back on your supplementing, or stopping it altogether for a while.

If your result is greater than 2000, and you haven't been supplementing then this could be highlighting a problem. Have you been supplementing?

[T3MARY in reply to humanbean]

Hi Humanbean

Thank you so much for replying to my post this is the second time I've tried to reply charge went on phone & it didn't save I've saved the Medicare link for to use later also helivella info to read later I think your right with the observations on VB12 I've been getting injections every 3 months I've been suffering for over 1 year with a burning sensation in scalp mouth & feet i think it's linked to that .I need supplements for Ferritin could you plz pm me name of Supplements if I don't get any joy from GP I'll buy myself

Thank you again

Kind Regards

Mary

[humanbean in reply to T3MARY]

The important thing with any iron supplement is how much elemental (pure) iron they contain.

These are the ones I use although as I said in my previous post I usually buy from Lloyds or Tesco pharmacies :

ebay.co.uk/itm/SPECIAL-OFFE...

I've also taken these :

terrapharma.co.uk/media/cat...

When I was iron-deficient I was taking 1 tablet, 3 times a day, with 1000mg vitamin C to help absorption and reduce constipation caused by the iron. I was prescribed the ferrous fumarate 210mg by my doctor first, then started buying my own.

Each of the tablets I was taking contained 69mg of pure iron, so my dose contained a total of 207mg of pure iron a day. I would consider this to be roughly the maximum anyone should take.

Other options you can buy easily enough are ferrous sulfate (or sulphate), ferrous gluconate, ferrous (or iron) bisglycinate. As I said, just check the iron content of the pills and don't go over a total of roughly 210mg of iron per day.

There are also various liquids that some people buy. I've never bought them myself because they usually have a low iron content. Oddly enough, the more iron a supplement contains, generally speaking the cheaper it is.

Make sure that you keep iron pills away from children, and also be aware that iron is poisonous in overdose, so you need to test fairly frequently to make sure your levels aren't going too high. Until you know how well you absorb iron, please err on the side of caution - test for the first time 6 - 8 weeks after starting the pills. If you make changes to your diet it can alter how well you absorb iron, so test more often if you do that.

I was taking iron for about 18 months or so, and my levels were still quite a bit less than mid-range because my absorption was so poor. I then went gluten-free and my absorption improved rapidly. Luckily I tested and found out I'd reached mid-range or a bit over, and reduced to a maintenance dose.

[T3MARY in reply to humanbean]

Hi Humanbean

Thank You so

Much for your valuable info I've order of eBay the same tables for Ferritin iron 210 & also Vitamin C 1000 will use Medicare to monitor thank you again much blessings

Mary

[humanbean in reply to T3MARY]

You're welcome.