Ferritin and folate?

[Artless]

Just read the post from Sneadle and reply re a folate supplement. Was thinking of sending for some but on checking my results realised it is my ferritin thats low. Not sure if these are interlinked. So can anyone recommend a good ferritin supplement please?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Artless

FERRITIN = 66ug/l (30 -650)

So can anyone recommend a good ferritin supplement please?

I have taken your ferritin result from your previous post. I didn't see that post and now see that nobody has commented on all of them, I will do that when I've commented here.

First of all this must be a Medichecks test processed by INUVI lab. They are the only ones that I know of who has this range, and it applies to both males and females over 60. Personally I find it difficult to take that range seriously because if you were a female aged 59 years the range would be 13-150!

Anyway, before considering taking any iron supplements it's best to do an iron panel. This is because you can have good levels of serum iron and saturation percentage but poor ferritin level, and if you take iron you'll raise the serum iron and saturation and they may go too high causing iron overload.

Medichecks do an iron test which is the full iron panel that includes CRP, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, saturation percentage and ferritin. It can be done as a fingerprick test or venous blood draw and costs £49.

You can help raise your level by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet

bda.uk.com/resource/iron-ri...

everydayhealth.com/pictures...

Some experts say the optimal ferritin level for thyroid function is 90-110ug/L.

So the advice is to hold back on any iron supplements until you've done a full iron panel to know whether or not you need them.

[Artless in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you for replying. Thought this could explain why I'm so tired. I no longer eat meat although i occasionally eat chicken. It was a result from Medichecks did hope it would point me in the right direction and I could give myself a boost but the overall report suggests that all is well.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Artless]

Don't bother with asking for doctor's comments with these private tests, they tend to follow the same line as any GP, ie "if it's in range then everything is fine" but being in range doesn't mean that your levels are optimal or where you as an individual need them.

Check out my reply on your other post, you will see that your key nutrients are far from optimal. We need optimal nutrient levels for thyroid hormone to work, and I've just noticed on that post that your CRP is 2.37 (<3) which although in range is nearer the top end. CRP is an inflammation marker and ideally will be very low in range. Yours shows that you have some inflammation but as it's a non-specific marker it can't tell us where the inflammation is. Hashi's causes inflammation so it may be due to that but doesn't rule out other causes. When inflammation is present ferritin rises so your normal ferritin level could be lower than that measured with that test.

[Artless in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you this has helped my understanding. Think I will get some vit d. Just want to ask about the inflammation marker. If mine is due to Hashimotos does that mean its normal to have raised levels or should that be mentioned at the doctors.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Artless]

Your GP will say your CRP is within range, he wont consider it raised until it goes over range.

I get my CRP tested regularly, sometimes at my surgery and I also do an iron panel quite often. Because I have lung disease mine CRP never very low, my "normal" is usually somewhere between 2 and 3.5 (<5 is the range). I recently had a bad case of Covid and before I knew it was that I'd gone to the doctors the week before with non-Covid symptoms but very painful lungs. My CRP at that time was 13 (<5).

Your CRP level might be near the top of the range due to Hashi's but it could also be something else, there are many things that can cause inflammation - infection, arthritis, injury, diabetes, obesity, smoking, etc.

I mentioned to my GP about my rise in CRP from my normal to 13 and was told they wouldn't worry unless it was in the hundreds!

You could mention yours to your GP but I think it will be dismissed, it's in range.