I have posted on here before re my own thyroid test but have some questions about an iron paneltest my daughterdid and noticed a few people on this group are able to offer advice on iron panel tests (I could not find a specific iron group,just one relating to haemochromatosis)
My 21 year old daughter had an iron panel test as I feel she sometimes look pale and lips are sometimes on the pale side (could be her Irish complexion!)
The results were as follows:-
CRP HS 1.6mg(range 0 to 5) soinflammation is ok
IRON STATUS
Iron 29.6 umol/L range 6.6to 26.
The Medichecks accompanying notes said the following-
"A high result can often be the result of taking too many iron supplements or from eating a recent iron-rich meal. However, a high result could also mean that you have iron overload syndrome (haemochromatosis), an inherited condition where your body stores too much iron. This would usually be accompanied by elevated ferritin and transferrin saturation levels."
TIBC 73 umol/L range 41 to 77 so just within range
but the Medichecks notes said the following - "Elevated TIBC can indicate iron deficiency. This can be caused by a lack of iron in the diet, gastrointestinal bleeds such as peptic ulcers, and pregnancy."
Transferrin Saturation 41% range 20 to 55 and Medichecks notes say - High transferrin saturation levels can indicate iron overload (hereditary haemochromatosis) as it means that a high proportion of your transferrin is saturated with iron
Ferritin - 30ug/L range 13 to 150
and Medichecks say - Often, at the beginning of iron deficiency anaemia, your ferritin levels may be low but your iron levels are normal; this is because in early anaemia, your body will deplete the iron stores first, whilst iron levels will still be sufficient.
Out of interest her maternal grandmother cannot take iron as she has been told she could have haemochromatosis
Any help in interpreting these results would be much appreciated as her iron seems high but I find the comment stating high iron level is usually accompanied by raised transferrin and Ferritin confusing as her Ferritin seems to be low.I'm so confused!
Also she has in the past fewmonths taken Floradix on and off (but not for some weeks now as I wondered if it would affect the result)I think Floradix is very good as when I was anaemic it really improved my iron levels.
Thanks in anticipation
Gina
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ginid
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CRP HS - Optimal is < 1 but 1.6 is a very good result suggesting that any inflammation, if it exists at all, is minor.
Iron - Read links 7 and 8 above. The fact that iron is high in range may be indicating that your daughter has a less than ideal set of MTHFR genes. It definitely won't be because she is heading for haemochromatosis since ferritin is so low in range and TIBC is so high in range.
About 50% of the global population has a less than perfect arrangement of MTHFR genes, which might be impacting on how your daughter's body handles some vitamins and minerals.
Has your daughter had her vitamin B12 and folate tested? If yes, what were the results? If not she really needs to get them tested.
TIBC - Read link 6. Since this is high in range it indicates that iron levels are low.
Transferrin Saturation % - Optimal is 35% - 45%, higher end of that for men. Your daughter's result is just nudging into the "higher end for men" level.
Ferritin - There are differences of opinion on what is optimal for ferritin. There have been suggestions that mid-range or a little higher is good. Another suggestion is 90 - 110 ug/L. A level of 30 is very poor.
See the following link, particularly the part about interpreting ferritin levels - but read the whole page :
In all people, a serum ferritin level of less than 30 micrograms/L confirms the diagnosis of iron deficiency.
Obviously your daughter's results are very contradictory. One possible cause for this is an MTHFR problem as I mentioned earlier, and it is extremely common.
According to link 8 above :
But here’s what an activated MTHFR mutation does to you:
It produces a defective MTHFR enzyme of different varieties i.e. it functions less than optimally, such as performing at only 40% of its capacity, or 70% of its capacity. It can mean you won’t break down toxins or heavy metals well when it’s activated, causing a higher risk for issues like heart problems, cancers, miscarriages, etc. i.e. you could find yourself with high iron, or high copper, or high lead, or high mercury, or high uranium…it varies from person to person.
It is fairly common for people with thyroid disease to find out they have low iron along with high copper, or high iron with low ferritin, or high iron with high copper.
One person on the forum improved her B12 and folate, and got a very desirable side effect of improving her iron without taking any iron supplements at all.
The best form of supplements for B12 and folate for most of us are methylcobalamin for low B12 and methylfolate for low folate. Others should be avoided. This is worth reading :
Someone with high copper may need to counteract it with zinc supplementation.
The problem with taking iron is that it doesn't always do what people want. In your daughter's case she has high in range iron and low in range ferritin. What might happen if she supplemented iron is that her ferritin stayed low while her iron got higher. And high in range iron in the blood is really bad for people.
I would suggest your daughter gets B12 and folate as a first step then fixes those with the right supplements if they are too low, then revisits her iron issues.
Thank you ever so much for taking the time to write such an informative reply. It is very much appreciated.
I have perused the articles you sent and will read them again to fully take on board what they are saying. They have definitely helped my understanding.
Back in 2019 my daughter had a full blood count as I was concerned about her pale appearance then
2019
Ferritin 21.1ng/L(range 10 to291) so low in range
haemoglobin concentration 135g/L (range 120 to 156)
B12 294 ng/L range (211 to 911) SO LOW then
Serum Folate - 14.42ng/mL- range just said should be >5 so wasn't sure if good or bad.
No full iron panel test done then
Jan 2022 - blood test at doctors
I asked for thyroid check too (just T4 and TSH) and asked for B12 too.
T4 - 15.7 (range 11 to 22)
TSH - 1.65 (range 0.27 to 4.20)
I feel thyroid is OK at the moment. (I started levo myself in Oct 2021 as hypo and Hashi)
B12 225pg/mL (range 191 to 663) so lowish still
Haemoglobin 135 as in 2019
Folate 3.1 ug/L (range 4.8 to 37) soBELOW rangebut they did not seem concerned although I am!
This appears to be quite a bit lower than the reading from2019
They do not seem to have checked ferritin in Jan 2022 as part of the full blood count (as they did in 2019) No idea why not!
Following the Jan 2022 blood test I was going to start to workon her B12 and folate but wanted to get the private (Medichecks) iron panel test done first so as not to interfere with the results.
Quite clearly from what you say both B12 and folate needed to be checked and they do actually seem low (these were just checked a few weeks agoin Jan 2022 test )
The medichecks doctor's comments basically just said her ferritin levels are "reassuringly normal and to carry on eating an iron rich diet to maintain iron stores" Clearly it is not as simple as that as 30is very poor!
Do youhave any particular B12 and folate products you recommend?
Sorry, in addition to my reply to your post I have just realised that back in Nov 21 I did ask the doctor for a FBC for my daughter but for whatever reason they only tested 1) Bone profile and 2) serum ferritin (reading 75.8ng/mL (range 13 to 150)
When I asked why they said it was a lab error that they did not check everything hence why she then had FBC done in Jan 22 (but that one did not include Ferritin!) What a mess up.
Anyway she then had Iron Panel test done last week and Ferritin showed 30 (range 13 to 150)
I cannot understand how ferritin went from 21.1 in 2019, then 75.8 in Jan 22 to 30 in Feb 22.
I am now seriously wondering if the result of 75.8 were not actually my daughters.
Have you ever seen such a change in results. I cannot see how ferritin could change in such a short space of time (ie about 1month)
I cannot understand how ferritin went from 21.1 in 2019, then 75.8 in Jan 22 to 30 in Feb 22.
I am now seriously wondering if the result of 75.8 were not actually my daughters.
Have you ever seen such a change in results. I cannot see how ferritin could change in such a short space of time (ie about 1month)
I don't think anyone on the forum knows why (none of us are trained medical professionals of any kind - or if there are any they keep it quiet) but there have been a lot of complaints about strange ferritin results in recent months.
Somebody wrote a post about it, but I can't remember who it was, and nor can I remember the title of the thread. Searching for "ferritin" on the forum returns over 8000 results, so I have no chance of finding it.
The only factor I can think of that might change results a bit (but I don't know how much by) is if blood was taken for testing soon after a meal containing iron. Iron and ferritin are supposed to be tested in a fasted state :
Her ferritin was done at about 11.15am in November so it would not have been a fasting test as she would have had breakfast. However, since I have become better informed, thanks to the lovely people on this site, the test last week via Medichecks I made sure she fasted and we managed to have the test soon after 9am.
I have ordered some Thorne Basic B for her to start probably taking 2 a day with breakfast.I hope she can break the capsules as she struggles swallowing tablets!
My gut feeling is that she has a problem with absorption as she has suffered from indigestion for a couple of years after most meals (I too have a hiatus hernia and suffer from indigestion and LPR so she has probably inherited that from me )and she seems to suffer some gut pain after she eat her fruit smoothies for breakfast so has given them up!
I would not be surprised to learn she is celiac or even fructose intolerant and she does not tolerate too much in the way of complex carbs.
However, maybe starting with the B vitamins and re testing Iron panel in a few months as you suggested is the way to go?
I think I might get her to take a celiac test. From my undestanding you should not give up gluten beforehand. I'm guessing that even if she isn't confirmed celiac she could still be gluten intolerantand therefore still have a problem with malabsorption?
Incidentally she had thyroid blood test on NHS in Jan 22 and TSH was 1.65(range 0.27to4.20)and free T4was 15.7(range 11 to 22) so I did not pursue full thyroid check as I was assuming this result did not indicate a thyroid problem?
The best indicator of whether or not someone has thyroid disease is checking Free T3. It is the active thyroid hormone required by every cell in the human body.
High levels indicate the patient is over-medicated for hypothyroidism or is hyperthyroid.
Low levels indicate the patient is over-medicated for hyperthyroidism or is hypothyroid.
It took me at least 5 years and finally a private full thyroid check to convince my doctor I needed to go on Levo!I have lost faith in many doctors I'm afraid. Don't know how I would manage without this fanstastic community!
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Strange iron panel results (part 2!)
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