ferritin

[Oliva1955]

many thanks gor all your replies about my ferritin level as !

I’m really not interested in being supplemented by my GP

As I would prefer to source my own from the advice everyone has given me !

I just want to know why it’s so low as I’m sure if they I know I’ve asked before and I was fobbed of !

But now my symptoms are impacting my day to day life !

I want to know why it’s so low ? Is there any underlying problem ?

Im going to take notes fro: the links that everyone has kindly given me and on Tuesday

I am going back to see another Dr and see if I can get any further testing done !

The previous dr I saw said the6 had done a full blood count and the results were normal ?

is there other tests they can do ?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

In a not very helpful fashion, the simple answer is either that you are not absorbing enough. Or you are losing too much.

Absorption issues start with whether your food has enough in the first place. Then whether your digestion can extract the iron that is present and transfer it into your bloodstream.

Loss issues include the very obvious but also potentially nasty issues like internal bleeding.

Correction of either absorption or loss will, in time, see improvement. But you might well need to be active in addressing the deficiency. Otherwise improvement can take years.

Also, red blood cell issues can affect how much you appear to have. For example, low B12 results in large red cells. Iron deficiency results in small red cells. Traits such as sickle cell affect the shapes of the red cells.

I suggest another site (don't think it was mentioned in your previous post):

IRON DISORDERS INSTITUTE

A NATIONAL VOLUNTARY HEALTH AGENCY

irondisorders.org/

Based in the USA but the science and medicine is good. Just brand names and some language differences, etc.

You could well need the support of a doctor to get to the bottom of the issues.

[FallingInReverse]

Have you ever tracked your food/eating?

I do now now that I am working in raising my ferritin.

As helvella notes, it’s simple math. You are either not getting enough in… or you are losing too much out.

Keep in mind, we shed about 2-4 mgs a day (higher when on our periods)

Getting enough in begins with 1) ingesting iron and 2) absorbing that iron.

When you do the math, it’s actually incredibly hard to ingest and absorb enough iron.

Heme iron absorbs at about a rate of 15-35%, while non heme is 1/3 that. When you look at naturally “iron rich” non-heme foods a serving is around 1.5-2 mgs… maybe some have 3 mgs. Fortified foods are better - maybe 10 mgs. Animal organ meat can be 6-10 mgs a serving.

Remember that vitamin C will increase non- heme absorption. But these things will block absorption of both: high fiber, calcium, coffee and a few other things. Our faulty thyroid doesn’t help either.

Recommended daily value is about 18 mgs. And that’s just to maintain.

Net net - from my experience trying, I found it impossible to ingest enough iron from food to break through my anemia, without consuming entirely too many calories and needing every single serving of food to be iron rich.

It’s really easy to not get enough iron, and anemia is very very common, with a higher than average rate of hypos being anemic.