Iron levels still low - advice welcome

[HotelHurricaine]

Hello,

I've just done an Iron Panel re-test after 6-8 weeks of ferrous fumarate 1 x 69mg taken in the morning before food on alternate days, away from Levo and any other supplement apart from Vit D w K2 spray.

I also take 125mcg Levo at night, B Complex & Copper w 1st meal (tested low in range in Feb) and Magnesium 400mg 6pm, 4hrs before Levo.

It looks like my ferritin has gone down in this time.

February 2023 results were:

Iron - 14.5 mol/L (6.6 - 26) 41%

TIBC - 58 mol/L (41-77)

Transferrin Saturation - 25% (20 - 55)

Ferritin 50 ug/L (13-150)

CRP HS - 1 (0 - 5)

I did not do well with Ferrous Fumarate and was supplementing with Senokot on the days I wasn't taking it. This clearly didn't work!

I posted yesterday my Advanced Thyroid Profile test results, - T3 low in range, everything else good according to this forum's recommendations, about to try 6-8 week strict gluten free, but would also like to optimise my iron if I can, before I try T3 supplementation.

Medichecks suggested taking lysine (as well as eating more iron rich foods) - is this a supplement recommended here?

Any advice welcome. Thank you in advance!

[humanbean]

I don't remember lysine being recommended before for people who are short of iron, but I've just done a quick search and it is mentioned on this link :

healthfully.com/421813-lysi...

One thing I personally would be wary of is that apparently Lysine encourages calcium absorption which is fine if your levels are low, but not good if you have plenty of calcium already. There is a risk that excess calcium could end up lining your arteries.

One tablet of ferrous fumarate every other day is a very low dose. I looked into the research that recommended every other day dosing, and wasn't totally convinced by it :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

If you struggle with constipation when taking iron a common method of dealing with this is to take high dose vitamin C with the iron tablets. You would have to experiment with the amount of vitamin C to see how much you need. Too much will cause diarrhoea and too little would leave you constipated.

There are other ways of raising iron than with ferrous fumarate. I gave some alternatives in this reply to another member :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Some people have been having success with heme iron or ferritin tablets. I've never taken these myself, and I don't have a link to the products people have been trying, but do a search for "heme" on this forum and see what you can find. Apparently heme iron has no effect on the gut and can be tolerated far more easily than iron salts (like ferrous fumarate) - but they do tend to be quite low dose and used to be expensive - I don't know if they still are.

Optimal results for iron and related tests are given on this link :

rt3-adrenals.org/Iron_test_...

[HotelHurricaine in reply to humanbean]

Thanks  humanbean

I'm interested in trying either Gentle Iron or heme but when you search heme on this site you get a video saying it causes cancer. I couldn't find much else - the search function here is not great.

healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po...

If anyone here has a positive experience of Gentle Iron (and dosage) or Heme in raising ferritin levels I'd be very grateful to hear.

Thank you,

[Beau55 in reply to HotelHurricaine]

I use three arrows nutra twice a day and my iron is finally increasing quite quickly. Not heard of gene causing cancer though?

[HotelHurricaine in reply to Beau55]

thank you @beau55. Do you source it directly from 3 arrows? I sincerely hope that link is bogus but it put me off searching any further on here!

[humanbean in reply to HotelHurricaine]

I'm interested in trying either Gentle Iron or heme but when you search heme on this site you get a video saying it causes cancer.

You could try searching for Haem (British English) as well as Heme (US English).

Google search will find more posts than the HU search. Type in the following into Google without the quotes:

"site:healthunlocked.com/thyroiduk haem"

or

"site:healthunlocked.com/thyroiduk heme"

Someone who mentions heme/haem and draws attention to the fact it comes from meat and says everyone should use plant-based sources to get iron into them is probably a vegan or vegetarian that is very anti-meat. Meat has been one of the main sources of iron in the human diet for millennia.

...

The website nutritionfacts.org (that the video you mention came from) was created by an extremely dedicated vegan (Michael Greger) who is rabidly anti-meat.

You might like this video and read some of the comments :

youtube.com/watch?v=5yyrcFs...(Not working as expected?)

It's just a different viewpoint on the stuff that Greger talks about. And I always think he looks weak and ill.

[HotelHurricaine in reply to humanbean]

Thank you so much humanbean what a brilliant idea to use google to search healthunlocked. Feeling a bit daft for not having thought of that. Will check these links and thank you for the perspective on Michael Greger too.

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

We all seem to have done quite well with Three Arrows.... last chat about it 🤗

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[HotelHurricaine in reply to TiggerMe]

thank you so much TiggerMe that’s exactly what I was looking for. I knew I’d seen discussion here but didn’t know how to find it. Much appreciated.

[revitalise]

Are you vegetarian

[HotelHurricaine in reply to revitalise]

no I’m not.

[Imaaan]

I've combined heme iron with iron bisglycinate to help bring up my levels up. Adding lamb liver in my diet also is a Godsend.

[Cincolo]

Lysine helps with canker sores, and I wasn't aware it helps iron absorption-yes it does! (Had to Google.) Are you taking Vitamin C with it? If not, you should be. I would try a different iron such as Blood Builder. It will not cause stomach upset or constipation.

text

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

also worth bearing in mind your absorption of iron supplements, tea and coffee (including herbal teas with tannins eg chamomile) with or within one hour can reduce absorption by 49% chocolate/cocoa by 79% there is a link somewhere in my post history. Apparently the heme iron supplements are not affected by this. I’ve just done three packs of Optifer Alpha and lambs liver twice a week. Trying IHerb ferritin supplement and waiting for three arrows to arrive. Let us know how it goes 🌱

[Imaaan in reply to Regenallotment]

What's ferratin supplement ext? Funny that you mentioned Iherb, I just finished tracking my package a few minutes ago which includes my Thorne iron bisglycinate. Along with my usual supplements , I'm trying 2 new supplements God willingly they'll be beneficial.

[Regenallotment Ambassador in reply to Imaaan]

that my darling is a typo! It’s this one I’m trying while I wait for the three arrows to arrive. It says it is made from bovine spleen smells like it too 🥴 🤣uk.iherb.com/pr/cardiovascu...

[Imaaan in reply to Regenallotment]

Got ya.....and here you had me all intrigued. Thanks for the link.