Ferritin

[Dee8686]

My ferritin level has just come back as 47 (5-204). Is that low?

Where does it need to be to be ‘optimal’?

Can I increase this by taking an iron supplement? I eat red meat but don’t teally like liver.

Thanks x

[Marz]

70/80 would be better. Type iron supplements into the Search Facility and have a read of the posts that appear. There will be lots of different types of iron to take .... and I am no expert

if you are on a PC there are 10 similar posts to the right of the page - all headed - Ferritin . If you are on a phone then scroll down and down to RELATED POSTS to see the same 10 posts

[Dee8686 in reply to Marz]

Thanks, I saw a couple but the ranges are different so does nearer 70-80 still apply?

[Dee8686 in reply to Dee8686]

Ok - over half way I’ve read - so I need to be around 100 going on the range above Marz ?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Dee8686

Half way through range is usually mentioned. Ranges differ for males and females, and for pre menopausal and post menopausal females from what I understand.

As you only have a ferritin result, supplementing with iron tablets may or may not be the right thing to do. If you have a good level of serum iron with low ferritin, then taking iron tablets wouldn't necessarily be the answer. Maybe you could get an iron panel done, either with your GP or through Medichecks who do an "Iron Deficiency Check" and the tests in the complete panel, besides ferritin, are

Serum iron which ideally should be 55 to 70% of the range (higher end for men)

TIBC (total iron binding capacity) or Transferrin where low in range indicates lack of capacity for additional iron and high in range indicates need for supplemental iron

Saturation where optimal is 35 to 45% and higher end for men

So although your ferritin is on the low side, it would be good to find out what the other levels are before supplementing. Also useful would be a Full Blood Count as that would indicate whether there is any anaemia.

Liver can be "hidden" in other dishes such as casseroles, curries, cottage pie, bolognese - cut it small and it wont be noticed. There's also liver pate, black pudding and lots of other iron rich foods apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/in...

[Dee8686 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you!

[humanbean]

I would suggest getting it up to mid-range i.e. roughly 100. BUT before doing that, in your shoes I would want to know where my levels of serum iron and transferrin saturation were. To get a full iron panel you can use this private, finger-prick test :

medichecks.com/iron-tests/i...

The reason for doing these extra tests is that it is possible to have low ferritin and high serum iron together. Taking iron supplements when your serum iron is already high is not a good idea at all.

Doh! I didn't page down and see that SeasideSusie had already given you this information and more.