Advice on ferritin of 18

[Boon79]

So here are my recent b12 and ferritin results. B12 looks ok, but ferritin is 18 (range is 15 - 300).I’m tired and my hair is falling out.

My TSH is suppressed, and T3 and T4 towards the top of the range. I have no worries about these levels.

Question?- will maintaining my healthy, iron rich diet, along with taking 322mg of Ferrous Fumarate raise my levels? When I was anaemic I was taking 600mg for a few months.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Boon79

Ferritin less than 30 is classed as iron deficiency according to NICE:

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/anae...

In all people, a serum ferritin level of less than 30 micrograms/L confirms the diagnosis of iron deficiency.

Symptoms of iron deficiency include:

◾Persistent fatigue

◾Pale skin

◾Shortness of breath

◾Headaches

◾Dizziness

◾Heart palpitations

◾Dry skin

◾Brittle hair and hair loss

◾Swelling or soreness of the tongue or mouth

◾Restless legs

◾Brittle or ridged nails

Symptoms of low ferritin include:

◾Weakness

◾Fatigue

◾Difficulty concentrating

◾Poor work productivity

◾Cold hands and feet

◾Poor short-term memory

◾Difficulty remembering names

◾Dizziness

◾Pounding in the ears

◾Shortness of breath

◾Brittle nails

◾Headaches

◾Restless legs

Question?- will maintaining my healthy, iron rich diet, along with taking 322mg of Ferrous Fumarate raise my levels? When I was anaemic I was taking 600mg for a few months.

I would have thought you'd need a higher dose than 322mg ferrous fumarate but I'm not medically trained nor have I ever been treated for (or had) iron deficiency.

It would be a good idea for your GP to do an iron panel to see if you have anaemia. You can have iron deficiency with or without anaemia.

By the way, your B12 could do with being higher. According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:

"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml (or ng/L) because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".

"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."

Your GP isn't likely to treat with that level so you could buy your own. I would suggest you buy one bottle of sublingual B12 lozenges to get your B12 over the 550ng/L level along with a good quality bioavailable B Complex to keep all B vitamins balanced. Once the B12 bottle has finished then just continue with the B Complex.

I have used the following with great success and would suggest:

B12 - Cytoplan - cytoplan.co.uk/vitamin-b12-... - it contains two bioavailable forms of B12 as methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin

B Complex - Thorne Basic B

When taking B Complex we need to leave this off for 3-7 days before any blood test as it contains biotin and when biotin is used in the testing procedure it can give false results.

Also, in case you didn't know, any iron tests should be done after a 12 hour fast with last dose of iron tablets 5-7 days before the test.

[Boon79 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks so much. I will book in for a B12 shot. How often do you think I would need them? Failing that, I will purchase what you suggest above.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Boon79]

I can't comment on B12 injections, they are used when B12 deficiency is present and your level doesn't suggest that, it just suggests that you are on the low side and that supplements should do the job. I would be far more concerned about your Ferritin level.

[humanbean]

If you want to know more about your options when it comes to iron supplements you might find this reply I wrote for another member to be of interest :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Liyaelize]

Would iron patches work?