FallingInReverse
I’d be grateful to members of Thyroid UK on my latest iron results. These were taken after three months on a lactoferrin supplement and making a tremendous effort to each an iron rich diet:
Ferritin 83.9 (70-120)
Transferrin 191 (200-360)
Iron 110 (33-193)
TIBC 260 (229-430)
UIBC 150 (135-392)
Thank you for taking the time to review my post and your good advice.
Do you have a “before” version of your iron panel?
What are the contents of the lactoferrin (ie how much elemental iron, what else is in it?)
FIR,
Lactoferrin doesn't contain iron but regulates it in the body by absorption. It is found in milk and believed to have many other qualities belonging to the immune system.
As many people who can't raise iron have gut issues but can't raise ferritin which is the body's first line of defence in withholding iron from pathogens, lactoferrin is a good substitute until ferritin levels have built.
Once iron mechanisms start functioning correctly again, ferritin levels should hopefully be maintained but this can take many months.
My opinion
Your iron profile is pretty balanced and many indicators say sufficient. So next steps really depend on what your results were 3 months ago, how much iron you’ve been eating via food, and what the contents of your supplement are. Definitely maintain, maybe increase. No way to know without the other info.
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Measure by measure:
Iron: 110 (Range: 33-193) - 49.6% - Not bad, just a bit under the target 55-70% through range.
That’s the iron available in your blood.
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Ferritin: 83.9 (aim for 100) - also not terrible but a little under target of 100.
That’s the iron stores your body draws from when serum iron gets low.
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Both together - you’ve got sufficient available iron.
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Transferrin: 191 (Range: 200-360) - just below range
But it goes together with:
Transferrin Saturation Percent: 42.3% - which is quite perfect. You don’t want to go higher. Transferrin saturation needs to be a minimum of 30% and optimally 35-45%.
This is important - You do NOT want to exceed 45% as this would shift you into iron overload.
.
Here’s what those two mean;Transferrin are like Ubers for iron. Whereas you might not have tons of Ubers, the ones you have are well filled up with iron (saturation %). So your iron transport capacity is limited, the ones you are have busy carrying iron where your body needs it.
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TIBC and UIBC are a little more complex to interpret as their meaning changes depending on the other measures.
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For you, TIBC and UIBC are both on the lower side of range. Together, this likely reflects your ok/sufficient iron stores, as the body reduces transferrin production when less iron transport is necessary. If both were low but your serum iron and ferritin were too high, it would indicate iron overload.
Specifically, lower TIBC (total iron binding capacity) indicates you have a lower capacity to bind additional iron, suggesting your body isn’t triggered to increase iron-binding proteins because it senses sufficient iron.
UIBC (Unsaturated Iron-Binding Capacity) also lower in range. This means that most of your transferrin “Ubers”, the protein that transports iron, is already carrying iron. This is confirmed by your transferrin saturation being relatively high suggesting efficient utilization of available transferrin for iron transport
Dear FallingInReverse Many thanks for your comprehensive reply. I truly appreciate your explanations; this is something I’ve asked many doctors over the years to no avail!
My previous iron results were with supplementation. I now know from reading posts where you have helped other members that when i’m given iron supplements my saturation is too high. I wanted to see if something else worked and I’m pleased with these results.
I’m now trying two Three Arrows tablets per week and I will continue to try to eat iron rich foods.
My problem is maintaining my ferritin levels.
The lactoferrin supplementation says ‘Food supplement in the form of a hard capsule containing lactoferrin - a protein from the glycoprotein group that has the ability to bind and transport iron. Lactoferrin Proferrin is obtained from cow’s milk.
Ingredients: Bovine lactoferrin (contains milk, lactose) inulin, shell (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose)
It doesn’t say anything about elemental iron.
Many thanks for all you help. 🌟
I just read back to some previous posts, refreshed my memory a bit, and see previous results on 2x/daily three arrows.
So yes, your results now look great!
I will also say - in regards to 2 Three Arrows a week - my daughter (18 years old, not diagnosed, no antibodies, low Free Ts, iron anemic) has calibrated the perfect Three Arrows regiment for herself as 2 a week. Keeps her iron perfect and ferritin slowly creeping up without anything else going over.
Keep us posted and tag me in any future posts, very interested to see your progress.
❤️
Dear FallingInReverse
That’s very interesting to hear about your daughter. Yes, of course, I will be in touch after my next bloods. I am thinking I may need three tablets a week as I’m suffering a lot of headaches at the moment and that’s normally a sign that ferritin is dropping for me.
Thanks again for all your advice and information 🌟
LynLyn
Ferritin 83.9 (70-120)
Transferrin 191 (200-360)
Iron 110 (33-193)
TIBC 260 (229-430)
UIBC 150 (135-392)
An iron panel must be considered as a whole and no one result be viewed in isolation. The serum iron result is only a snapshot as hugely variable and an early morning fasting blood test is best. Great explanation by FIR and I agree with her T/S% calculation (110 divided by 260)100 = 42.3%
I just wanted to add, to help maintain/improve on these results other strategies in addition to supplementing lactoferrin might be increasing iron absorption with Vit C (orange juice with dinner) and/or gastric acid (supplement bitters or HCL + pepsin with dinner).
The protein transporters called transferrins (described by FIR as Ubers) and ferritin (that hold iron in storage) are frequently hampered by chronic inflammation (aka anaemia of chronic disease/inflammation). Therefore, sometimes supplementing natural anti inflammatories (fish oils, Vit D, curcumin, etc) can indirectly help iron mechanisms to function better. This will also help reduce autoimmunity (Hashi?), reducing risk of developing further conditions such as those that attack/destroy bone marrow.
Also consuming the full spectrum of amino acids as we need protein to make protein in our body, eg the transport carriers & ferritin, and healthy bone marrow.
Dear radd
Many thanks for your detailed reply.
I’m very interested to learn more about maintaining my ferritin levels - this is my main issue. I will continue with my iron rich diet, adding orange juice to meals and I have bought some digestive bitters.
I have been told my my current doctor that my hypothyroidism is most likely autoimmune (hashi) from an ultrasound. I was diagnosed at 23 years old and my thyroid is now totally inactive (I’m 48) so unfortunately this is the best diagnosis I have.
I’ve started taking a protein supplement and I will explore consuming the full spectrum of amino acids. I don’t want to develop further autoimmune disease and as this is prevalent in my family I need to do all I can to prevent this.
I know my vitamin d levels are now well controlled and I take omega 3 fish oil capsules too. Do you think it’s better to take actual fish oil (cod liver or krill) or is ‘fish oil’ enough? It doesn’t say any more in the label. It’s so difficult working out what to take.
Many thanks for your help today 🌟
LynLyn,
I used to take the fish oils from the Eskimo range, Now I manage omegas with copious amounts of seeds which I love.
A turning point came for me when it was suggested I supplemented Kapperest which contains a whole host of anti-inflammatories that suited my body perfectly. It is expensive but I only took the full dose for a few months. Now I dip in and out as have changed my diet radically to include lots of anti-inflammatory foods and avoid gluten.
If you want to learn more about managing autoimmunity, a great read is with 'The Root Cause' with Isabella Wentz. She suffered Hashi herself and I think is also a fan of lactoferrin.
Dear radd
Many thanks for this information.
I have one of her recipe books so will order myself a copy of ‘The Root Cause.’
Thank you for taking the time to reply with such helpful information. I’m learning so much from this forum - I’m very grateful for your insights.
LynLyn,
The other great source of info I found useful was anything by Datis Kharrizian, particularly if you have suffered the weird stuff many of us have experienced that doctors seem to think is in our heads 🤪.
I took lactoferrin via colostrum in transfer factor supplements whilst medicating prescribed anti-mould meds to support the immune response. It is very powerful stuff.
Dear radd
Many thanks for this. You’ve given me so much extremely useful information today. I’m definitely at the ‘weird stuff’ point in all this. I will be reading more on this and working out what to do next. I know, despite huge improvements in my health, I’m not ‘right’ yet, and I believe it’s the autoimmunity working in different ways now. My doctor did tell me to stick to low gluten for inflammation but other than that I’ve been on my own with all this, depending on this wonderful forum for support.
Thank you so much for everything today. You given me some real hope in all of this 🌟
Can you say a bit more about the seeds you take? Like which seeds and how much.
I appreciate you might well just grab some here and there making quantities difficult to assess. 
I eat all seeds whole bought organic from Whole Food Earth and mixed up in a glass large storage jar - pumpkin, sunflower, chia, sesame (both colours), flax (both colours), etc. Also mill the mix and keep them in the fridge. Add to anything cold or warm.
Also soak chia with frozen berries over night to make a delicious jam, and use flax seed and eggs as a base for g/f bread (sometimes add seeds such as fenugreek and/or caraway for a bit of zing). And use seeds such as mustard, cumin, coriander, fennel, etc for stir fries.
I was told to cut my intake down after a fatty acids profile but it’s difficult coz I love my seeds hel. I’m known as the Seed Queen in my house, better than the Acid Queen I guess 🤣.
Iron levels after 3 months of supplementing
Iron Results 
Iron Panel Results
Radio 4 Inside Science - about iron supplementation
