Test results - can someone help?

[Suzanneharb]

Hi all,

I had an iron test (fasted, no supplements for iron in months) and could do with some help, if anyone can?

Iron: 36.1 (r5.8 - 34.5)

Ferritin: 60.1 (r13 - 150)

So my ferritin is a little low, but why then is the iron in my blood over the normal range? Should I be worried? I can't take supplements with such a high iron result? Do I need a Dr to investigate this? Thanks in advance!

[Hedgeree]

Hi Suzanneharb,

As you've not had any replies I thought I'd tag one of the admin and hopefully they can offer some suggestions.

SeasideSusie

Are you able to reply to this post?

Best wishes.

[Suzanneharb in reply to Hedgeree]

Thank you!

[humanbean]

Please note I am not a doctor, so treat anything I say with caution.

Having high iron is a known problem that crops up on the forum occasionally.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

Having less than perfect MTHFR genes is one possibility suggested in that link, and apparently this is very common. I have read that the various "less good" MTHFR genes occur in about 50% of the global population.

This issue affects methylation. Some of the more common effects of poor methylation are caused by things like :

1) Conversion of folic acid to methylfolate fails (or is slow) because the patient has too few "methyl groups".

See these links :

takecareof.com/articles/ben...

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

2) Conversion of cyanocobalamin or hydroxocobalamin (both are commonly supplemented forms of Vitamin B12) into methylcobalamin (an active form of 12) can also fail or be slow because of a lack of methyl groups.

As far as I can work out, the main MTHFR problem faced by people with less than perfect genes is lack of these methyl groups. So one of the easiest solutions is to take supplements of methylfolate and methylcobalamin.

It suggests in the STTM link above that you can get tested for MTHFR issues with gene testing. I can't see the point of that, at least to begin with. If you optimise Folate and Vitamin B12 levels with methylfolate and methylcobalamin you might be able to improve your methylation cycle without any testing required. There have been people on the forum with iron problems who fixed them with methylfolate and methylcobalamin, even though they weren't supplementing with iron.

.

Optimal Folate --> aim for upper half of the reference range. If the reference range has no upper limit then aim for a level of about 15 - 20 mcg/L, or at the very least get your level into double figures.

Optimal B12 --> Opinions on this tend to vary.

I think the generally agreed minimum for a serum B12 test is 500 ng/L.

Other suggestions are :

Upper half of the reference range.

Top of range.

Around 1000 ng/L.

Active B12 --> The generally agreed minimum is 70 pmol/L, but optimal is usually stated as being 100 pmol/L or over.

.

If you have good or high levels of folate already, and don't want to raise it further, you can supplement with something other than methylfolate to raise methyl groups :

TMG - Trimethylglycine

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trime...

You can buy TMG supplements on Amazon or other sites selling supplements.

Another possibility is MSM - Methylsulfonylmethane

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methy...

This can also be bought on Amazon or other sites selling supplements.

Please do your own research on the above two supplements - I have taken MSM but don't remember anything about it, and have never tried TMG.

.

For more sophisticated information on fixing a poorly functioning methylation cycle than I can link to, there are these links:

drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/CFS_-_T...

mthfr.net/

.

The STTM link I gave first also suggests that another cause of high iron is having haemochromatosis. But with a ferritin level that is under mid-range I think the chances of this being an issue are extremely low if not zero.

Plus there are some other conditions causing high iron, listed on that STTM link, that I know nothing about but may be relevant to you.

[Suzanneharb in reply to humanbean]

Thanks SO much for this. A lot to digest, so I'm going to have a read and research. But I feel relieved to have something to research (and a potential explanation to my fatigue and aching body!) Really appreciate you taking the time to reply. ☺️

[humanbean in reply to Suzanneharb]

You're welcome.