Had recent full blood tests. High TPO (44) and low ferritin (25). TSH 3.47. GP prescribed ferroess 210mg x 3 daily but no other advice re thyroid?
Other results are
RBC 4.8 (range 3.8-4.8)
MCV 96 (83-101)
MCHC 313 (315-345)
Serum folate 12.3 (3-20)
Ferritin 24 (15-200)
HCT 0.46 (0.36-0.46)
Absolute NRBC 0 (0-0.09)
RDW 11.2 (11.6-14)
Been left a bit confused; a very helpful member on this forum advised I put a post with results to see if others could help as to whether this seems the right medication/treatment regime?
Thanks in advance
Written by
Macp17
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Serum folate 12.3 (3-20) --- Approx 55% through range
Ferritin 24 (15-200) --- Approx 5% through range
HCT 0.46 (0.36-0.46) --- Top of range
Absolute NRBC 0 (0-0.09) --- I have no idea what this is
RDW 11.2 (11.6-14) - --- Below range
RBC --- Your result is right at the top of the range, but it is still in range so no doctor would say anything about it. It is possible that this happened because of dehydration. But there are many other possible causes :
According to this link (a website it is well worth knowing about because I think it has the blessing of the NHS so they shouldn't dismiss the info).
A high RBC count may indicate congenital heart disease, dehydration, obstructive lung disease, sleep apnoea or bone marrow over-production.
You won't get any treatment for high RBC while your result stays in range, but it is worth keeping an eye on it.
MCV --- Mean Cell Volume This result gives you an average diameter for your red blood cells. It is well in range suggesting that it is probably okay.
For future reference...
If MCV is low in range or under the range this suggests that you might be suffering from low ferritin and/or low serum iron.
If MCV is high in range or over the range this suggests that you might be suffering from low vitamin B12 and/or low folate.
If you have low levels of iron/ferritin AND low levels of B12/folate your MCV probably won't be a reliable indicator. You would need to test iron/ferritin/B12/folate to know what is going on.
MCHC --- Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration This gives you the average concentration of haemoglobin (Hb) in your red blood cells. Hb carries oxygen around the body. The fact that yours is below range suggests that you might be anaemic.
Folate --- Your result is optimal. Optimal for folate is upper half of the reference range.
Ferritin --- Ferritin is a measure of your iron stores. Yours is very low in range. Optimal is around mid-range or a little bit higher (while staying well in range). With your reference range of 15 - 200 I would suggest that optimal would be approx 108 - 153.
However, it is possible for ferritin to be low and for serum iron to be high in the same body. If that person was to take iron there serum iron may rise dramatically while there ferritin stayed low. So we always suggest that getting an iron panel done is a good idea if ferritin is low or high and then you should post the results on the fourm and ask for feedback. The one we usually suggest is :
I should point out that there have been some issues with the Medichecks results for ferritin. I don't know if there is a problem for anything else iron related.
The other possibility is Thriva - their Advanced Iron Profile - it's more expensive than Medichecks, and they automatically set customers up with a subscription, which I hate. You can cancel it immediately it is set up, but that is beside the point.
RDW stands for Red Cell Distribution Width. It is included in the complete blood count test as it measures the variation in size and volume of red blood cells.
The above link suggests low RDW is below 10.2 and yours is higher than that. But since yours is below range (and ranges do differ from lab to lab) you should read the whole link. It has several suggestions for what can cause low RDW.
The “never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first” was what I was wondering about. As seems GP has prescribed iron based on low ferritin & not checked iron.
Based on my own experiences of doctors prescribing iron supplements...
1) Doctor sees low ferritin and might prescribe iron pills, although there are no guarantees.
2) It is unlikely that a GP will do an iron panel. I've only had one done by the NHS that I'm aware of, and that was instigated by a hospital consultant, not a GP. It showed under-range serum iron and my GP was informed. Neither the hospital doctor or my GP arranged for a re-test.
3) The chances are that short-term iron supplementing is safe for most people with low ferritin. The prescription for iron pills rarely lasts longer than 3 months or so, and re-testing is rare.
4) But if people only get 3 months worth of iron pills, it might leave them with ferritin levels that are in range but still low in range. Stopping the pills means that the ferritin level will start to drop again immediately. Within 2 or 3 months the patient is back to square one again. As an experiment I once pushed my serum iron up to optimal, which pushed my ferritin slightly over-range (Top of range was 150). I stopped supplementing for four months in which time my ferritin dropped from approx 160 down to 80.
5) I wrote about some of the potential pitfalls of taking iron inappropriately in this link :
6) When I was a teenager I was an in-patient in hospital for a while. It was discovered that my haemoglobin was under-range (but nobody told me). When I was discharged the documentation sent to my GP reported the low Hb, and asked the GP to prescribe iron for me. It never happened and I doubt he ever read it. I spent nearly three years during my early teens with iron-deficiency anaemia, and suffered with many of the usual symptoms. I only discovered all this when I bought my GP records in my 50s.
Thanks for your very full replies…so much information to look at, read and try to make sense of! This is such a good support forum, good to know there are others prepared to give their time to help others new on this journey!
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