I was wondering if you can kindly help me with my latest iron results.
I am on 100 mcg levo.
ferritin blood - 23.5
Haemoglobin- 147
White cell count - 5.6
Platelets - 4.70
Haematrocit - 0.425
MCV - 90.4
MCH - 31.3
MCHC - 346
RDW - 11.2
Lymphocytes 2.5
Neutrophils 2.7
Can you let me know if I should supplement with an iron supplement from the chemist or should I request further bloods from the GP and can you let me know which ones? Or do I need to purchase heme iron which I think is from the USA. I am based in the U.K.
Thank you so kindly for your advice.
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Denny39
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Those tests don't show an iron panel which consists of serum iron, saturation percentage, total iron binding capacity and ferritin. It's the iron panel which shows if you have iron deficiency and will tell us if you need to supplement with iron, or whether you just have low ferritin without iron deficiency.
In all people, a serum ferritin level of less than 30 micrograms/L confirms the diagnosis of iron deficiency.
This is why it's important to do a full iron panel to determine if iron deficiency is present.
You can have low ferritin without iron deficiency.
You can have iron deficiency even if ferritin looks to be at a decent level.
You can have anaemia with or without iron deficiency.
Your haemoglobin level doesn't suggest anaemia but you haven't given the reference ranges for all those other tests, if you want them interpreted you need to post them. If you haven't got online access to your results then ask the receptionist at your GP surgery for a print out and then post the results/ranges here.
my ferritin was 50 about 6 months ago but now it has dropped lower.
Why do you think it has dropped? Were you supplementing and stopped?
I checked back before I took levothyroxine & my ferritin was 66.2 (range 13-150).
I also had ferritin done in august 2022 when I was wrongly told to stop levothyroxine after being left on 25mcg for over 6 months. This was 50 and range was 15-50.
I have built up my levothyroxine thanks to an amazing lady on this group helping me and I am now able to function & currently I’m on 100mcg.
my bloods on 24th April showed my ferritin drop to 23.5 and I have thyroid bloods next month.Thank you 😊
You still need a full iron panel to see if you have iron deficiency.
For some reason your ferritin has been gradually reducing. Heavy periods? Blood loss? I would discuss with your GP your concerns over this and this should hopefully prompt the full iron panel.
I would have said out of the three extra tests in an iron panel then serum iron and saturation percentage are the most important, I wouldn't worry too much about TIBC.
Serum iron: 55 to 70% of the range, higher end for men - yours is 15.8 (5-35) = 36% through range which is on the low side.
Saturation: optimal is 35 to 45%, higher end for men - yours is 27% so again on the low side.
Transferrin: Low in range indicates lack of capacity for additional iron, High in range indicates body's need for supplemental iron - yours is 2.3 (2-3.6) so is low in range suggesting no supplementation necessary.
Your serum iron and saturation are on the low side but not dire and don't necessarily suggest iron deficiency but it may be beneficial to improve them to get to optimal levels. However, your transferrin level suggests no supplementation is necessary. We quite frequently see contradictory results similar to this which makes it difficult to know what to do.
Ferritin at 65 (13-150) isn't too bad although some experts say the optimal level for thyroid health is 90-110ug/L.
If you decide to supplement then it's essential that you monitor your levels regularly with a full iron panel every couple of months. Alternatively you could just ensure you eat plenty of iron rich foods which would hopefully improve levels all round:
Liver, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding plus other iron rich foods:
My ferritin at the hospital was 23.5 and then at the GP it increased to 65
Do you know if a heavy period could drop it that much? Or maybe they got me mixed up with someone else 🤣 as they couldn’t find me on the system when I went but I had the letter, so they let me see the consultant based on the letter and then when it was time to do bloods I wasn’t on the system and the lady said she would do a label for me.
I expect heavy periods can affect levels but I have no experience or personal knowledge of this so can't say with any certainty how much effect they can have on levels, when I had exceptionally heavy periods for very many years my ferritin was never tested.
I checked back before I took levothyroxine & my ferritin was 66.2 (range 13-150). I also had ferritin done in august 2022 when I was wrongly told to stop levothyroxine after being left on 25mcg for over 6 months. This was 50 and range was 15-50.
I have built up my levothyroxine thanks to an amazing lady on this group helping me and I am now able to function & currently I’m on 100mcg.
my bloods on 24th April showed my ferritin drop to 23.5 and I have thyroid bloods next month.
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