Iron levels and NDT

[SLP01]

Hi there

I’ve been trying to increase my NDT dose from 1 grain to 1.5 but my hypothyroid symptoms seem to worsen to the point of being unbearable! I’ve had a recent iron blood test with results as follows:-

Iron- 15.17 umol/l (5.80-34.50)

TIBC- 55.27 umol/l (45-72)

Transferrin saturation-27.45% (range 20-50)

Ferritin- 46ug/l (range 13-150)

Do these results seem lowish and what would be optimal?

Thanks

[radd]

SLP01,

Transferrin Saturation is the ratio of two blood tests, indicating how saturated the body’s system is for transporting iron. Serum iron is divided by total iron binding capacity (TIBC) to give TS as a percentage. Normal average is around 30% so both your TIBC and TS are fine.

However, ferritin & serum iron could be slightly higher, indicating room for supplementation but I don’t know how much as I suffer iron-overload (haemochromotosis) so don’t need to supplement iron.

Having optimal iron certainly helps many to tolerate the increments in NDT required to achieve an optimal dose. Also, have you good adrenal function ? Good cortisol levels ? ? ….