I have always struggled to get my ferritin levels up. I’m into nutrition so eat the right stuff, including meat daily and have eaten liver pate until I’m sick of the sight of it!
Ferritin was 30’s-40’s (30-200) and I thought I’d try a 14 mg iron supplement and it has raised to a record high of 57! Possibly also helped as I’ve been taking progesterone daily with no break, so haven’t had a period for 8 months.
I am aware of the problem with taking iron if not necessary, and had those levels checked too. They were previously:-
15 and 26 (9-30), but have gone up to 41, so now over range.
I presume I should stop the iron tablets? I’m just not sure what else to do to keep my ferritin rising. All other vitamins are optimal. I’m in a catch 22. Any advice much appreciated. Thank you.
Written by
CornishChick
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We should target Iron at about 55-70% through range. And whereas Iron does fluctuate over the days/ weeks between testing, when you see a test over range - then yes, you need to stop supplements.
Iron toxicity creates permanent damage in our bodies. It’s not something to take lightly.
The foundation of increasing ferritin when iron is top/above range is through an iron rich diet. And no - it is not easy, and it take a long time. There are no ferritin supplements unfortunately. Our hypo blocks absorption and things like calcium block absorption, and different iron sources absorb differently.
So worth asking about how optimal your Thyroid hormones are - as that impacts iron/ferritin too.
PS, also limit liver to 1-2 servings a week to avoid Vut A toxicity… that too is nothing to mess around with! Liver is high in Vit A, and our other food is too, so easier to get too much than you might think.
It is so hard to consume even the daily value of iron for euthyroid people every day (18 mgs for women) and even more challenging to absorb that 18 mgs efficiently. It really takes effort.
There are other resources out there - but no quick fixes or magic formula you are missing unfortunately!
Your body needs to have a steady iron level in order for it to feel comfortable sending some to storage (ie, ferritin).
Curious - how long did it take to get to 57? Well done by the way!!
I have been working on increasing my ferritin through diet for years, and this is the first time I’ve seen any significant improvement.
My FT4 is 16.7 (9-19) and TSH 0.004 (0.35-4.94). I trialled T3 a while back and my TSH became suppressed. I stopped it almost a year ago but it has still not recovered. My understanding GP is retiring and the other GP’s I’ve since seen are jumping up and down trying to reduce my levothyroxine. That’s another battle.
I’m aware of the toxicity problem, excess vitamin A etc. Just desperate to keep my ferritin up and increase more, but with diet alone I know it will just drop again to pathetic levels. I eat red meat for example several times a week. I am conscious any more and my heart might then suffer, plus they’d be less variety without eg oily fish etc. It just feels like a battle I’ll never win.
ps I’ve just loaded my bloods although not sure if it’s legible. Photo looks blurry on my screen once uploaded. Do these give the iron panel results you needed? Thank you.
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