I’ve finally got my iron status blood test done. I’m on 50mcg of levo & 20mcg of Liothyronine.
Iron 18.34 umol/L. ( 5.8 - 34.5)
TIBC 65.04 umol/L (45 - 72)
UIBC 46.7 umol/L (24.2 - 70.1)
Transferrin saturation 28.2%. (20 - 50)
Ferritin 129 ug/L (13 - 150)
I am awaiting my thyroid test to come through.
Redporti
Optimal levels for an iron panel are, according to web.archive.org/web/2018083...
Serum iron: 55 to 70% of the range, higher end for men - yours is 43.69% through range so a little low but not dire.
Saturation: optimal is 35 to 45%, higher end for men - 28.2% so just a little bit low.
TIBC (total iron binding capacity) or Transferrin: Low in range indicates lack of capacity for additional iron, High in range indicates body's need for supplemental iron - yours is 74.22% through range.
UIBC: Low in range indicates that you may have too much iron in your blood which may be due to iron overload syndrome (hereditary haemochromatosis).High in range signifies iron deficiency - yours is 49.02% through range so just mid-range.
Ferritin: Low level virtually always indicates need for iron supplementation; High level with low serum iron/low saturation indicates inflammation or infection; High level with high serum iron and low TIBC indicates excess iron; Over range with saturation above 45% suggests hemochromatosis - yours is 84.67% through range.
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webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/iro...
Serum iron: This test measures the amount of iron in your blood.
Transferrin saturation: This test measures the percentage of transferrin that is attached to iron.
Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC): This test tells how much transferrin (a protein) is free to carry iron through your blood. If your TIBC level is high, it means more transferrin is free because you have low iron.
Unsaturated iron-binding capacity (UIBC): This test measures how much transferrin isn’t attached to iron.
Serum ferritin: This test measures how much iron is stored in your body. When your iron level is low, your body will pull iron out of “storage” to use.
Thank you. So do I need to do anything about the results? You say my ferritin is 84.67% so that is high!!!
Redporti
Iron is so complicated I never suggest that I can interpret them or suggest what to do.
Ferritin is said to be recommended to be half way through range, but I can never get my head around that as there are different ranges - pre-menopause, post-menopause, then a wider range for males - and when I do a Medichecks test the range is 13-150 and when I do a GP test the range is 15-300 yet they both have my date of birth so can see I am post-menopause, so where should my ferritin be - around 82 or 157! It's actually around 55 yet my other results from the iron panel are good.
I have also read that for females the optimal level is 100-130 but no range quoted.
Go figure!
If my ferritin level was 129 I would be OK but wouldn't want it to go any higher (don't forget that ferritin can be raised when there is infection or inflammation present). I'd be reasonably happy with your other levels too. I might repeat the test in 3-4 months to see if there was any change or whether my levels are pretty stable.
Thank you. I will file those tests results & retest in a few months. It’s all so complicated.
It’s interesting you mention about inflammation as my CRP was 15.46 (<5) & was 20.4 in February. So looks like I have inflammation somewhere but don’t know how to find out where. No doctor or specialist has looked into it for me. They just seem to leave it & tell me to retest in 3 months.
Redporti
Ah, so with such a high CRP then I would say your highish ferritin level is due to inflammation.
At least your CRP has come down, if they're going to continue retesting then if it continues to go down that may be OK but if it goes up again then they should be looking into where the inflammation is. Have they also tested ESR (Erythrocyte sedimentation rate) as this is another inflammatory marker, but again it's non-specific.
No they haven’t tested ESR but I had a liver test done this week too & ALT was high at 38.2 IU/L (<35). Also Albumin was a tad low at 34.9 g/L (35 - 50). Both of these apparently are to do with inflammation too.
I have got IBS, Gastroparesis, Hashimoto’s, stage 3 kidney disease & a Gladstone. So I guess it could be to do with anyone of those conditions.
Well, I know that Hashi's can cause inflammation, I don't know enough about the other conditions to be able to comment.
As you have hashimoto's are you on strictly gluten free diet
IBS frequently improves too
No I’m not but slowly trying to change my diet. It’s hard as I don’t do well with some vegetables & can easily get stomach pains from the gastroparesis. It’s really hard to know what to do. My biggest problem is breakfast as I can’t stomach much more than toast. I can’t skip breakfast as I feel dizzy & I get a migraine if I don’t eat something. I’m going to see a dietitian next week.
Gluten free toast (in separate gluten free toaster)
Marmite isn’t gluten free...but Sainsbury’s is
You can buy gluten free muesli, cereals
Oats Need to be certified gluten free (find in gluten free section at supermarket) for porridge or making your own muesli
I have a bit of insulin resistance too & was told to try and cut out my refined carbs. Thank for the suggestions. I guess I can’t eliminate everything as it will make life really hard. I’m still not optimal on my thyroid medication yet so hopefully when I am it might sort out my insulin resistance. I never had a problem with insulin until I got hypothyroidism last year.
Help with iron test results please!
Ferritin, Iron & Iron Binding - Haemochromatosis / Iron Avidity / Iron Overload - Blood results
Iron test results
Iron levels -test results
