Ferritin level, good or bad?

[Fourjays]

I thought my ferritin level was ok at 92.4 ug/l (range 13 - 150) but after reading this article it seems ferritin could be high due to inflammation

I have high levels of antibodies which I’ve learnt is a sign of inflammation( thanks Marz) so could it be possible my iron stores are low?

Or am I just confused?

restartmed.com/low-ferritin/

[radd]

Fourjays

Yes, you are absolutely correct.

As the only way of assessing true iron levels with elevated thyroid antibodies (which could be causing inflammation so inflating ferritin results) is to ask your GP for a full iron panel. ie iron serum, TIBC (total iron binding capacity), T/S % (transferrin saturation) and ferritin.

[Fourjays in reply to radd]

Even if my CRP HS (no idea what this is) is low 0.77mg/l?

[radd in reply to Fourjays]

Fourjays

Ummm ...... even more so because although your ferritin is 58% through range, there are many other different reactive proteins that are general & nonspecific, and ferritin is only one of them. It's just for convenience that ferritin is used as is an indicator of (no) inflammation as well as iron stores in healthy people so GP's use it a lot.

CRP is another, ESR (that measures your red blood cells falling through a column of blood) and C-reactive protein and Plasma viscosity, etc, etc .... so any raised (or normal) levels needs to be evaluated as a whole picture and combined with any known present health issues.

ie if you have Hashi, then an elevation in ferritin and CRP is common but if CRP was low, I would assume on your results that true ferritin levels are as shown as only inflated by inflammation due to production of certain inflammatory cytokines each uniquely associated with different reactive proteins but ferritin & CRP are usually connected.

As already advised, this can only be confirmed 100% by a full iron panel.

[Fourjays in reply to radd]

Thank you

[bessygo]

Thank you for sharing that article. My Ferritin level is 33 (range 20-288) with my Iron level in range as well as good levels of Zinc, Selenium, Folate and B12. The article said optimal Ferritin levels are 30-40. Is the range they are using different? There was no information. In my research it was mentioned numerous times that Ferritin must be above 50 to stimulate hair growth. I am being given 15 mg liquid Iron with Vitamin C, not the brand the article refers to Amazon since there are other vitamins in that formula which I don't need.

[userotc in reply to bessygo]

I was also confused by the recommended range of 30-40 ng/mL range (which is the same as 30-40 mcg/l). Like you, I understood that the range should be higher (eg 3 links below indicate >70, at least for hair:

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

hypothyroidmom.com/10-thing...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/843...

So, on a 3:1 basis (at least), I must assume the range is wrong in the article posted by Fourjays - unless someone else can advise otherwise.

Re supplement youre using, I noted on 13/6/19 on this forum that the following was recommended from a study: vitabiotics.com/shop/ultra/.... So I will suggest that or yours for my mum (ferritin 38 and hair loss issue) after considering relevant factors eg kidney disease after one removed 2 years ago.

[radd in reply to userotc]

bessygo

userotc

The ferritin reference range may vary from lab to lab. They are also very wide. ie In women, it may be anything between 20 - 200 and men up to 300.

The article is using a range of 10-154 ng/mL and advising optimal ferritin levels should fall within the 30-40 ng/mL of that range.

However, iron levels are variable and as many hypothyroid people have malabsorption issues it is generally considered that we need a little more so anything around 70 is optimal.

Because of the range variation, I generally say just under to half way through range. We need to be cautious because too much iron is toxic.

The ferritin test is designed to be a first assessment of iron levels, when combined with other test results and clinical symptoms. It is an iron storage protein and so only a full iron panel would give an accurate iron level result.

Unfortunately an iron panel is more expensive so doctors use ferritin as a total stand alone test, which may work in a healthy person without inflammation. But then a healthy person probably wouldn’t need their iron levels testing in the first place. 🤔

[userotc in reply to radd]

Thanks. So, for those not diagnosed as hypo (eg my mum), optimal ferritin levels should fall within the 30-40 ng/mL?

[vocalEK in reply to bessygo]

StoptheThyroidMadness says that optimal Ferritin lab result is 50s, with ideal being 70 - 90 for females. Mine is 185 with the reference range for my lab 10.0 - 150 ng/mL. So I have inflammation somewhere.