low Ferritin: recently had blood tests at GP’s... - Thyroid UK

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low Ferritin

Beardies2 profile image
11 Replies

recently had blood tests at GP’s and would be grateful for comments from other hypothyroid patients.

FBC

TWCc 5.1 (4.0-11)

Hb 132g/L (115-165)

Platelet count 228 (150-400)

RBC 4.18 (3.80-5.50)

Haematocrit (0.37-0.47)

MCV 94fL (80-100)

MCH 31.7 pg (27.0-33.0)

Red blood cell distribution width 15.2% (11-14.8)

On VitB12 injections as previous level 180. Now 435 (130-900)

Serum Ferritin 30 (15-300)

Iron panel Serum iron level 16umol/L (10-30)

TIBC 57umol/L (30-70) Filed as 42R5 .00 serum TIBC

Saturation iron binding capacity 28% (16-50)

As it appears to be approved for hypothyroid patients to have a higher ferritin, what would be recommended with a ? Normal iron panel!

TSH1.57mU/L (0.30-4.40)

Serum free T4 13.6pmol/L (8.9-17.3)

LFT’s normal

U&E normal.

Still rather tired and would be grateful for comments.

pernicious anaemia cannot be ruled out.

Palmar erythema new development, hot flushes, cramp in fingers and toes.

possibility of peripheral neuropathy. N.b. Not diabetic. Just going round the bend!

Many thanks in advance for any help!

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Beardies2
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11 Replies
SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Was thyroid test done early morning, ideally just before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription

No Ft3 result

Ft4 only 55% through range

How long since last B12 injection when this test done

No folate or vitamin D results

Are you taking any vitamin D, vitamin B complex or magnesium

Ferritin is deficient

Do you have autoimmune thyroid disease, also called Hashimoto’s usually diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies

Beardies2 profile image
Beardies2 in reply toSlowDragon

Thanks for your prompt reply!

Fasting bloods taken at 08:50 at least six weeks after last Vit B12 injection.

Thyroxine not taken that morning so it was at least 24hrs.

I usually have the same prescription for my thyroxine Accord ( not Teva) 100mcgs and Wockhardt 25mcgs 125mcgs alt die. I have stressed to my pharmacy that I cannot mix brands.

The hospital lab will not do Any other thyroid tests but the results you see.

I take magnesium, Vit D , but not Vit B12 orally . I M every four months.

I believe I have Hashimotos auto immune hypothyroidism.

I know the Ferritin is low and should be nearer 100, but if the iron panel is ok, what to do?

Vitamin D Total 25-hydroxyvitamin D Level 54nmol/L

I hope that has answered all your questions.

Grateful for your input!

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator in reply toBeardies2

vitamin D is too low

Aiming for at least over 80nmol

Suggest you work on improving low ferritin with iron rich diet

Improve vitamin D and start a daily vitamin B complex

Then in about 8 weeks

Like thousands of U.K. thyroid patients you will need to test privately

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options and money off codes

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Just Thyroid includes BOTH TPO and TG antibodies -£49

randoxhealth.com/at-home/Th...

Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning. 

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator in reply toBeardies2

As you have B12 injections it’s recommended on here to also to supplement a good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in (not folic acid).

This can help keep all B vitamins in balance and good folate levels and will help maintain B12 levels between injections too

Difference between folate and folic acid 

healthline.com/nutrition/fo...

Many Hashimoto’s patients have MTHFR gene variation and can have trouble processing folic acid.

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

B vitamins best taken after breakfast

Thorne Basic B recommended vitamin B complex that contains folate, but they are large capsules. (You can tip powder out if can’t swallow capsule) 

Thorne currently difficult to find at reasonable price, should be around £20-£25. iherb.com often have in stock. Or try ebay 

Other options 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

IMPORTANT......If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

In week before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate methyl folate supplement

How other member saw how effective improving low B vitamins has been 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/anae...

Serum ferritin level is the biochemical test, which most reliably correlates with relative total body iron stores. In all people, a serum ferritin level of less than 30 micrograms/L confirms the diagnosis of iron deficiency.

Never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first and retest 3-4 times a year if self supplementing. It’s possible to have low ferritin but high iron 

Medichecks iron panel test 

medichecks.com/products/iro...

Look at increasing iron rich foods in diet 

Eating iron rich foods like liver or liver pate once a week plus other red meat, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily orange juice or other vitamin C rich drink can help improve iron absorption

List of iron rich foods

dailyiron.net

Links about iron and ferritin

irondisorders.org/too-littl...

davidg170.sg-host.com/wp-co...

Great in-depth article on low ferritin 

oatext.com/iron-deficiency-...

drhedberg.com/ferritin-hypo...

This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Effective supplement 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Thyroid disease is as much about optimising vitamins as thyroid hormones

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

restartmed.com/hypothyroidi...

Post discussing just how long it can take to raise low ferritin 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Iron and thyroid link

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Excellent article on iron and thyroid 

cambridge.org/core/journals...

Posts discussing why important to do full iron panel test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Chicken livers if iron is good, but ferritin low

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Shellfish and Mussels are excellent source of iron 

healthline.com/nutrition/he...

Heme iron v non heme

hsph.harvard.edu/nutritions...

Ferritin over 100 to alleviate symptoms 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Great research article discussing similar…..ferritin over 100 often necessary 

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Low Iron implicated in hypothyroidism 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Ferritin range on Medichecks 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

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. ‘

jimh111 profile image
jimh111

Your ferritin is borderline and it makes sense to increase it. The relationship between hypothyroidism and iron deficiency is confusing. I should declare that I have not read loads of studies on the subject, rather I'm trying to apply simple logic as much of the 'evidence' comes from studies in select cohorts.

There is good evidence that hypothyroidism can cause low iron status and resolving this can resolve symptoms. I've seen no good evidence that in practice typical low iron levels actually cause hypothyroidism or 'stops the hormone working'. If it did TSH would be high. This is where confusion can set in since people often feel better when there iron levels rise - is this because iron has improved thyroid hormone action, or because improved thyroid status has improved iron status. I would say the latter - the reason being that a large part of the world's population has anaemia yet they are not hypothyroid.

Some studies have shown improvement when ferritin is at 'high' levels (high compared to population average). It seems that when iron deficiency is longstanding (as it is in hypothyroidism) it takes a long time (six months?) for iron stores to restore.

What I'm trying to address is that it is wrong to say ferritin needs to be at x where x is e.g. 80. For most of the population it is fine for it to be around average which (going from memory) is a little over 40 for females. A small group of people need much higher ferritin levels, at least for a while, hypothyroids are more likely to be in this small group than the general population.

There was an excellent presentation on the subject recently from the Thyroid Trust: "Iron and selenium's role in thyroid function talk by Prof. Margaret Rayman". If they put a video out I will post about it.

Lupaal profile image
Lupaal in reply tojimh111

Mine is 23 and doc says it's fine, I don't agree.

jimh111 profile image
jimh111 in reply toLupaal

it gets complicated. What is often wrongly termed the 'normal range' is usually a 95% reference interval (the numbers in brackets). This is an arbitary guide used in medicine, they take samples from a presumed healthy population and find the cut-off points for the middle 95%. It's a statistical tool. Two and a half percent of the healthy population will have results above the reference interval and two and a half percent below. Some people with results within the reference interval will nonetheless be ill. e.g. be anaemic.

The general guidance tends to be if ferritin is < 15 the person definitely has iron deficiency and if 15 <ferritin < 30 they might be anaemic and should be given a trial of iron supplements if they have signs and symptoms that might be from anaemia. This is a rough guidline and there have been cases of iron deficiency with much higher ferritin levels. It's a question of interpreting the blood tests along with the clinical picture, not saying everyone must have a higher ferritin and not saying you can't be iron deficient if your ferritin is e.g. above 30.

In your case if you have symptoms that might be due to iron deficiency I would take some extra iron, from food or supplements, for several months to see if you get better. I do not have a lot of knowledge of anaemia.

Beardies2 profile image
Beardies2 in reply tojimh111

thanks for your help!

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

I know the Ferritin is low and should be nearer 100, but if the iron panel is ok, what to do?

You will need to concentrate on iron rich foods

Beardies2 profile image
Beardies2 in reply toSlowDragon

many thanks for your kind help.

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