Ferritin/iron result - should I increase iron supplementation?

[Caroline888]

Hi everyone,

I have just received the result from Medichecks re my iron deficiency check. When first diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 2017, my ferritin was 33. For one month I supplemented with one ferrous fumarate 210 mg per day, then stopped for fear of overdosing. A couple of months after that I did the Medichecks iron deficiency check and the result was 83.8 ug/L (13-150).

My latest result on one ferrous fumarate a week is 70.8 ug/L (13 -150), so has gone down.

Should I carry on taking just one tablet a week or do you think I should increase it to two tablets?

Also does anyone know the significance of the other numbers? Transferrin Saturation in particular seems low. Is that good or bad?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Best wishes

Caroline

[Dadondadda]

I think 70 is low. The body can absorb more when status is low and less when status is high. Iron absorption is under partial hormonal control via hepcidin and the availability of binding proteins.

I don't remember where I read but there should be a gram or two in the liver with 'normal ferritin,' which, last time I read a study, was around 130 on average for non-blood donors.

With a deficit of 1/2 a gram, if you absorb 25%, that's 2 grams over the rda.

So it's unlikely you'll drastically overshoot. And if you do, each donate lowers ferritin about 30 points.

I would go 2/week. Assuming that's the net Elemental iron, that's only a medium dose. Retest in a month. I've overshot before and it came down on it's own in a few months fro 220 to 140. I aim for 100-150 with a preference for 150.

A low transferrin saturation hints at low iron btw, but yours isn't drastically low.

[Caroline888 in reply to Dadondadda]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

The 210 mg ferrous fumarate tablet I take each week provides only 65 - 70 mg elemental iron. I have been trying to up my iron level with iron-rich foods but obviously it could be better. I am a vegetarian so it is more of a challenge.

I didn’t altogether understand the technicalities of what you said but maybe I’ll do better in the morning when I feel a bit brighter. I don’t donate blood. When younger I was told I wasn’t suitable - less than 8 stone - and now that I’m over 8 stone I’m too old (69)!

I will do some more research tomorrow based on what you have said.

Thank you again for your helpful reply.

Best wishes

Caroline

[Dadondadda in reply to Caroline888]

I didn't mean to be too technical.

Reading your above post again, you might just want to do another month of 1 a day. Last time it raised it 50 points and that's about what you need.

It's easy to test.

[Caroline888 in reply to Dadondadda]

It’s quite difficult to say how much the month of taking one tablet daily raised my level as I had stopped taking the supplement for at least two months before I did the blood test showing a level of 83. Presumably the level achieved by taking one tablet daily for a month would have dropped during that two months.

I am always concerned about overdosing as it took a relatively small dose of vitamin d3 to raise my level of d3 from 11 nmol (severely deficient) to 86 nmol. Even the consultant at the hospital was surprised. I think my low BMI is perhaps responsible for the very quick response and, as you say, my level of 70.8 isn’t dreadful.

Perhaps taking 2 tablets of ferrous fumarate would adequately improve my level.

Thank you for your explanation. I did understand some of it and the rest provides me with a starting point for more research😊

Thank you so much for your help and advice.

Best wishes

Caroline

[Dadondadda in reply to Caroline888]

No problem.

That is a valid point about not knowing what it did. Your tests also point out it will lower if you stop, which is good to know if you go over.

I got mine up too high once and it came down in a few months.