Iron panel results - comments please

[Molly161018]

Attached is an image of my latest results - hopefully this is readable..?

Would appreciate some advice...I'm currently supplementing 2 x Solgar Gentle Iron 2mg tablets.

Inflammation is up slightly from my thyroid panel a few weeks ago

Iron is up slightly from my last test in Jan which was 17.12

TIBC is down a bit from January when it was 50.62

UIBC has dropped a bit too from 33.5

Transferrin saturation is up from 33.82%

And ferratin is up from 54.5 in January

Would appreciate some advice from the very knowledgeable people here... Thyroid is difficult enough to understand and I think iron is one worse so I'm pretty lost...

Thank you in advance 😊

[humanbean]

CRP 2.83 (0 - 5)

Iron 18.4 (5.8 - 34.5) Approx 44% through range

TIBC 46.3 (45 - 81) Approx 4% through range

Transferrin Saturation 39.7% (20 - 50)

Ferritin 108 (13 - 150) Approx 69% through range

Optimal levels are given on this link :

rt3-adrenals.org/Iron_test_...

CRP - This is an inflammation marker, so the lower the result the better. Optimal is considered to be any value under 1, but really your result is not a major issue since it is well within the range.

There is lots of information on how to reduce inflammation online. The usual things that get suggested on this forum are :

1) Getting enough sleep (easier said than done)

2) Getting some exercise - but not too much

3) Optimise thyroid hormone levels

4) Optimise nutrients

5) Going 100% gluten-free. If there is no benefit within about 3 - 4 months, try gluten again and see if anything gets worse. If it does, stop gluten again, permanently. If going back to gluten makes no difference to your health you may as well go back to eating it normally.

6) Some people try going lactose-free and get benefits. Don't try giving up gluten and lactose at the same time. Give up gluten first, then when you've decided whether or not it helps try going lactose-free as well.

Serum iron

• 55 to 70% of the range i.e. 21.6 - 25.9 given your range

• higher end for men

Your result is lower than optimal suggesting that you need more iron

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

Your result is low in range suggesting that you lack capacity for more iron.

Saturation

• optimal is 35 to 45%

• higher end for men

Your result is optimal, suggesting that you don't need more iron than you currently get.

Ferritin

• Low level virtually always indicates need for iron supplementation

Ferritin is affected by inflammation i.e. CRP level. If your CRP was optimal then your ferritin would probably drop slightly (but not a lot because your CRP is well within the reference range).

On the forum, optimal for ferritin is variously quoted as mid-range or slightly higher - up to 90 - 110 mcg/L. The 90 - 110 refers to ferritin with the standard reference range 13 - 150. If the range was different the optimal would be different.

Your ferritin is within the 90 - 110 range, so is already optimal, suggesting your current iron intake is fine.

So, you have one result suggesting you need more iron, one suggesting you need less, and two results which are already optimal.

I would suggest just continuing with your current iron intake.