High Transferrin Saturation without optimal iron levels

[Thywotsit]

Hello,

I am currently trying to get my iron levels up and they are slowly creeping in the right direction.

However.

My latest bloods show that my TSAT is now too high at 65% (up from 39% two months ago), and ferritin at 70ug/L (up from 65ug/L.)

Is this just something to monitor for now?

It’’s never been high before and I do want to continue to try to raise my ferritin to an optimal level.

I’ve mainly modified my diet to do this.

I was taking iron supplements but reduced these lately due to gastro issues.

Is the result skewed from dietry intake?

I did stop supplements 5 days prior to testing but continued with the meat intake.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks!

[humanbean]

When you refer to getting your iron levels up, are you specifically referring to your serum iron? Or ferritin? Or are you referring to results from an iron panel?

If you've had an iron panel done could you post the results including the reference ranges?

What kind of iron supplements are you taking? How often? And how much iron is in each dose?

...

Another question...

Do you have recent results for your Serum Vitamin B12 and/or Active B12, and folate?

Do you take magnesium? If yes, what kind, how often, and what dose?

[Thywotsit in reply to humanbean]

Thank you for replying.

I am trying to raise serum ferritin to 90+.

I did a recent Monitor My Health postal prick.

Unfortunately MMH don’t supply ranges - I’ve asked for them but they could only give me cut off values for deficiency.

I currently take Ferrous Sulphate 200mg (65mg elemental) twice a week the last three weeks.

Previous to that I was taking Two daily for deficiency for a few weeks.

I occasionally take magnesium but I’m a bit lax about that.

I don’t have the bottle to hand but it’s a high dose glycinate.

Results

[humanbean in reply to Thywotsit]

Unfortunately MMH don’t supply ranges - I’ve asked for them but they could only give me cut off values for deficiency.

This is the main reason why I would never use MMH, despite their popularity with others. They seem to be remarkably cagey about their ranges and this triggers my suspicion of the company even though it is run by the NHS, as far as I know.

If you look at the FAQ : monitormyhealth.org.uk/faqs

it has the question "What's the format of the results report and what information will it include?" The answer is :

The reports we produce can be found on your own personal account dashboard. Easy to understand graphs are viewable on a desktop for each test. You will be given your actual result (test value, excluding Covid-19 Antibodies), the reference ranges that indicate if you are at risk and any recommended actions such as whether you should seek further advice from your GP or make lifestyle adjustments. However, these reference ranges are based on a person who is currently not being treated for any of the fore mentioned conditions.

I don't know if that part of the FAQ matches up with reality, having never used MMH myself.

[Thywotsit in reply to humanbean]

I see your point - they are definitely stating there that they provide reference ranges.

I hadn’t really thought about it as being strange until now, I’d just assumed some sort of standard set of ranges for some of the testing.

[humanbean in reply to Thywotsit]

Without the ranges I can't tell if your ferritin results of 70ug/L has a range of 30 - 650, or 13 - 150, or some other range.

But the interpretation of your result is heavily affected by the range. If top of the range is 650 then your result is only 6.45% through the range i.e. its very low.

If the range is 13 - 150 then your result is 41.61% through the range.

If your result really was 41% through the range you'd probably feel reasonably okay. But with a result only 6% through the range I think you might be suffering the effects of low iron.

Your Haemoglobin is at a good level (if I assume that the range is one of the standard ones), and it suggests that you aren't officially anaemic.

[Thywotsit in reply to humanbean]

That totally makes sense.

Thank you.

I’ve been using MMH mainly for the price but it’s not tremendously useful if there’s no clarity with ranges.

[Thywotsit in reply to humanbean]

And B12 etc

Results

[humanbean in reply to Thywotsit]

Your folate and B12 are at good levels.

Do you supplement either folate or B12? Do you take a multivitamin which includes either of them?

I'm curious which form of B12 and which form of folate you are taking (if any). Two very common forms of B12 and folate are cyanocobalamin (for B12) and folic acid (for folate). But there are better ones available if you need or want to take them. Personally I would always take active versions of B12 and folate i.e. methylcobalamin (for B12) and methylfolate (for folate).

As an example of the problems with B12 and folate, some people with MTHFR gene issues have trouble converting cyanocobalamin (inactive B12) into methylcobalamin (active B12). Similar problems occur converting folic acid into methylfolate - some people just have poor genes for it.

...

If your TSAT is indicating that the free iron levels in your blood are high, then you might find this link of interest :

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

My personal experience of high TSAT (it's only happened to me twice over approx 15 years, and I do test iron frequently) is that it will only stay high for short periods of time. If yours is usually low or mid-range then there is a chance yours will reduce too.

[Thywotsit in reply to humanbean]

Great, I’ll have a look at that, thank you.

I do take methylfolate - I was on the edge of deficient.

Just a couple of 400ug now that my levels are much better

I take a B complex with methylcobalamin weekly.

Really appreciate your feedback.

Thank you.