Too much iron?

[Kenley]

I had the results of my Medichecks Advanced Thyroid Function Blood Test yesterday. I have had Hashimotos for many years and am on 125mcm Thyroxine. My antibodies were very high, as always, but free T3 and free T4 were well in range. My TSH is always rock bottom as I have secondary hypothyroidism.

My vitamin D level was fine. B12 quite high. I supplement both. I believe you cannot overdose on the latter but I will reduce the dose as it is just a waste of money to take more than you need.

The worry is my very high Ferritin level though. I understand that low ferritin is usually the problem with hypothyroidism.

Mine was 215 ug/L. Range 13-150 and it said that 27 ug/L is the optimum ferritin level for women.

I understand that such high levels can be damaging. I don't seem to have the symptoms of Hemochromatosis (a genetic disorder in which the body absorbs too much iron) and I don't eat much red meat. I do drink more than the recommended 14 units of alcohol, but not excessively. I will stop my high dose of vitamin C supplements (taken since the early days of Covid) as I understand that increases iron absorption. I don't have much in the way of sugar intake.

I have never taken iron supplements.

I should probably ask the GP but they have never been brilliant on the thyroid front.

Does anyone have any experience or any thoughts on this?

Many thanks

Alison

[radd]

Kenley,

Ferritin levels aren’t always indicative of iron levels and you could be iron deficient and anaemic even with elevated ferritin. Your ferritin is over-range but not drastically so and could be there for reasons of inflammation and not iron overload. 

If this were me I would be more concerned regarding the elevated thyroid antibodies and possible low grade inflammation they could be spreading. Have you read Isabella Wentz’ book called ‘The Root Cause’? 

Folate needs to match that of Vit B12, otherwise you risk a deficiency in the lesser value as they tend to use the same pathways. 

How are you feeling?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

how old are you

Pre or post menopause

if over 60 ….ferritin up to 650 is normal

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

We have received further information the lab about ferritin reference ranges. They confirm that they are sex dependent up to the age of 60, then beyond the age of 60 the reference range is the same for both sexes: 

Males 16-60: 30-400 ug/L

Female's: 16-60: 30-150

Both >60: 30-650 

The lower limit of 30 ug/L is in accordance with the updated NICE guidance and the upper limits are in accordance with guidance from the Association of Clinical Biochemists. ‘

You could ask GP to do full iron panel test

Unlikely to find iron is high

[Kenley in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks for Radd & Slow Dragon for your replies. How very confusing these Ferritin ranges are. I am 66, so according to the explanations, my level 215ug/L is within range for my age. I'm feeling reasonably OK. I forgot to mention that I also had CRP result of 0.8 mg/l - Range 0-5. But maybe there could be other inflammation that doesn't show up in this test.

Yes, I have been following Izabella Wentz for a while now. I gave up gluten for 9 months but it didn't make any difference to the antibodies. Having said that, I have very little gluten in my diet, cook from scratch and I would say that I eat very healthily. Can't bring myself to give up dairy though - not fussed about milk but I love Greek yoghurt and cheese.

Sorry perhaps I should have given the other results as they may tie in with the Ferritin more than I realised:

Folate - Serum 11.2 ug/L - Range 2.9

Vitamin B 12 - Active 256.0 pmol/L - Range 25.1 - 1165)

Free T3 5.2 pmol/L - Range 3.1 -6.8

Free T4 22.5 pmoi/L (Range 12-22)

Thyroglobulin Antibodies 724. IU/mL - Range 0 -115

Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies 67.9 IU/mL - Range 0-34

I have been monitoring the thyroid for many years and these figures never change very much whatever I do.

[humanbean in reply to Kenley]

There is something very peculiar with this result :

Vitamin B 12 - Active 256.0 pmol/L - Range 25.1 - 1165)

There are two types of vitamin B12 test - Active and serum.

You've written that your result is for the Active test, but given a range which suggests it is for the serum B12 test.

Can you check your records please.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Kenley]

FT4: 22.5 pmol/l (Range 12 - 22) 105.00%

FT3: 5.2 pmol/l (Range 3.1 - 6.8) 56.76%

Assuming test done early morning and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Shows very poor conversion rate

you probably could do with very slightly less levothyroxine ….eg reducing to 112.5mcg daily

and the addition of 2 or 3 small 5mcg doses of T3

No vitamin D result?

And B12 ….please double check range

On Medichecks Active B12 range is 37-150

Like you I was extremely reluctant to give up dairy

But it’s been a revelation

I am already strictly gluten free

I would say ….give it a go for 3-6 months….then decide

[Kenley]

Thanks again to you all. Vit D was 104nmol/L - Range 50-200

Vit B12 was definitely stated as Vit B12 Active but there was a typo in my message. The result was 256.0 pmol/L but the range given was 25.1-165 not 1165.

I am very confused about the Ferritin ranges and wonder why should there be such a discrepancy. And how can it be OK to have such high levels when you are older? You would think that high levels can either potentially damage the organs or not. I will go back to Medichecks and query this.

Test was done at 9.45 (there was a horrendous queue and I hat to wait ages). Last Thyroxine taken early the previous morning.

I am surprised that 5.2 Free 3 would be considered a poor conversion rate when it is not too far from the top of the range (3.1-6.8). Thanks for the suggestion about added T3 but I would probably have to go private as my GP surgery is hopeless at all of this. If I was going to go private I would really prefer to go back to Natural Thyroid (used to be on Armour years ago but the supply became unreliable and the other stuff I tried was either not what it claimed to be or just didn't work for me). The trouble is that going private is so expensive, but I might be prepared to do it if I could find a trustworthy source.

Still pondering the dairy but probably should at least try for a while as suggested.

Thanks again everyone.

[Batty1]

Maybe you should just retest iron.

[Kenley]

Just an update on this. I queried the Ferritin levels with Medichecks and one of their doctors came back with the same answer as reported by SlowDragon. That is to say that reference ranges for men and women are the same after the age of 60 (30-650 ug/L). So my level of 215 is apparently well within range for someone of 66.

Still doesn't explain why they give such a low figure (27 ug/L) for the optimum range for women though. They should have explained things properly in the first place. They have my date of birth so they could have been clear in the first place. I'm not impressed with them.

Thanks for the help of you good people on this Forum though.

[Hylda2]

had my ferritin tested as daughter diagnosed with hereditary haemochromatosis. 250!! Dr not bothered!!! Got it down to 200 by stopping Vitamin C supplements. Still no word from Dr. At least my saturation level was in range