High Ferritin - suspected Graves

[Gutsy2]

Hi I have posted before. Please click on profile for past posts I'm being investigated for Graves disease, I'm type 2 diabetic ( in remission) only med I take is 10mg daily Carbimazole since January 2024. I wanted to keep a check my Thyroid levels but mainly vitamin levels. These are the results of bloods taken 1st of this month, July. Private, Blue Horizon. I am not surprised with my TSH reading ( still low) but the Ferritin level is quite concerning! Also my vitamin D is in the " adequate range" should I take a supplement? Thanks for anyones valuable insight. I am having an Ultrasound scan in a couple of weeks time.

[helvella Administrator]

My iron panel document has the current Medichecks reference intervals for ferritin. And they vary hugely. Might be worth a quick look to see how your result compares. (Though if your result does not come from them, you cannot take it as a proper interpretation - just to give some idea.)

helvella - Iron Panel

A short article about explaining what is meant by "iron panel" in relation to blood tests including some reference interval (range) information.

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...

[Gutsy2 in reply to helvella]

Thanks for your quick response helvella its all a minefield to me. It's OK paying for private tests, but interpretation relies on forums such as this one. As you suggest, taken in isolation, the results are unnerving to say the least. I've had full blood counts as recent as December and they all came back within range. I'm not sure if ferritin was included? Not sure what to do with this result now?

[Bertwills in reply to Gutsy2]

I had increasing ferritin results for years despite taking every measure I could think of. I discovered there is a diet that reduces it. I followed it & it worked. Halved my result in 3 months.

Lots of green leafy vegetables etc. V healthy. There is research that shows that ferritin is not just a sign of inflammation like CRP but can cause damage to organs by dispositing iron into them eg causing cateracts. Coincidently I was diagnosed with cateracts on both eyes a few months ago which might have been caused by the ferritin.

I’ve discussed this diet before several times so there are older posts.

I’ll send you a photo of the Pub Med article which details it all so you can do your research. The idea that high ferritin is damaging is a new one so most doctors are unaware.

[Gutsy2 in reply to Bertwills]

Thanks very much for replying to my post. I will take a look at the article and certainly try the diet recommendations. I'm all for trying natural approaches where I can. I did look at your posts but didnt see anything specific about the diet. Thanks for pointing me to this. I will do some research as it is worrying. How can raised anything not be a concern is beyond me! How very complex our bodies are. Thanks again and I hope you are keeping well.

[Bertwills in reply to Gutsy2]

I’m glad you think it an interesting approach. I was so pleased by my results. The smooothies are ok I find. I’m used to no sugar chocolate anyway. If you do nothing else greatly increase the green vegetables you eat & drop vitamin C.

I don’t know where the old posts go! I’ve written about the diet several times over the last nine months.

Anyway, let me know if you have any queries

[Gutsy2 in reply to Bertwills]

Thanks again. Yes I didn't see any dietary suggestions on your posts but maybe need to dig deeper. I fancy the smoothies, but again didn't find the recipe. If you have a minute sometime could you please send the recipe for this. Thanks very much, you've been a great help.

[Bertwills]

Here it is. There are some changes to your diet you’d need to make. I didn’t do all of them. Red meat should be avoided but I did eat a little every week . Vitamin C supplements should be stopped as they increase iron absorption. Let me know if you need more info. I think it’s worth trying as the consequences of high ferritin aren’t well understood yet.

Photo of LIFE DIET RESARCH ARTICLE. REDUCES FERRITIN

[1eskimo]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

thanks Bertwills it is very interesting

[Gutsy2 in reply to 1eskimo]

Thanks for link seems to work better for me

[Bertwills]

you need to read the article through carefully, there are no short cuts, sorry. The diet is detailed in the article.

[Gutsy2 in reply to Bertwills]

Thank you. I have scanned the article and will read throughly before I go and buy the items and get started on my latest health drive. I was / am trying to continue doing keto to reduce my Hba1c which has worked for me. I suppose my only concern, query is if this diet is high in iodine with all the green veggies, as I'm hyperthyroid It's low dairy so maybe not?? I will definitely be doing it though. Thanks again Bertwills. Stay well

[Bertwills]

I found lambs lettuce the nicest veg in the smoothie. I thought iodine was used in the past to treat hyperthyroidism? I know it’s not recommended for hypos.

[Gutsy2 in reply to Bertwills]

Hi again, yes, it's all a bit confusing to me. Your thyroid absorbs iodine doesn't it. I had to follow a low iodine diet prior to my radioactive iodine uptake scan. I'm maybe connecting the two. ? More reading I think 🤔