Iron - strange results

[Mandyj2]

Morning,

I’ve had an iron panel with Medichecks and the ferritin is double that of the last two NHS results. I don’t supplement iron and thought I’d need to so tested before starting.

Nov 23

Ferritin 76 ng/ml ( 11-306.8)

June 2024

Ferritin 90 ng/ml ( 11-306.8)

Jan 25

Ferritin 215 ug/L (30 - 264) 79.1%

Iron 21.2  umol/L (10 - 30) 56.0%

TIBC 48  umol/L (45 - 81) 8.3%

UIBC 26.8 umol/L (13-56)

Transferrin Saturation 44% (25-45%)

C-Reactive Protein (CRP) 0.22 mg/L (0 - 3) 7.3%

I’m a bit surprised here, are they now too high? I supplement D3 with K2 and I bathe in magnesium. I take Carbimazole for hyperthyroidism but haven’t found any info relating this med to iron.

Anybody have any info please?

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

hi Mandy, I see you haven’t had a reply.

Ferritin can be raised with inflammation so may not actually reflect your iron levels. I’m going to tag PurpleNails who is who I’d as about anything hyper 👍

[Mandyj2 in reply to Regenallotment]

Thanks Regenallotment.

I think the CRP result is for inflammation, it’s low so it’s thrown me! Another Google dive needed!

[helvella Administrator in reply to Mandyj2]

CRP is indeed an indicator of inflammation. (Tends to be more common these days than Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR / Sed. rate).

[Mandyj2 in reply to helvella]

Thanks Helvella. I’m interested in why the ferritin level is much higher because I tested cholesterol at the same time which came in very low. I’ve asked the GP nurse about low cholesterol and was told statins would help raise it, I’m not a medic but am sure that’s not right!

[helvella Administrator in reply to Mandyj2]

Absolute nonsense!

I too have low cholesterol, something like 3.57 (under 5 for my test). And have been offered, pushed, to take statins on two separate occasions. Neither had done a full lipid test, one had no test results at all. And my ferritin is over-range!

A fair amount of the ferritin result could be due to inflammation indicated by that CRP result.

I hope others who are more adept at interpreting iron results might now reply?

Adding:

Be careful of blindly following guidelines, but this does appear to be a reasonable start.

Interpreting Iron Studies in Primary Care

medscape.co.uk/viewarticle/...

[Mandyj2 in reply to helvella]

Thanks Helvella, the link is really handy! My inflammation is low so I think I might need to look at reducing dietary iron.

Has your cholesterol always been low? Mine is usually around 3.6 and has now dropped to 3, the reduction appears to be all LDL which surprises me as I eat meat, butter, full fat everything.

I’m really pleased that I don’t need to supplement / eat liver and now looking at giving blood!

[helvella Administrator in reply to Mandyj2]

Yes - my cholesterol has always been low. Not always quite this low but I remember someone had a cholesterol measuring device of some sort and they were convinced it would be high. She looked crestfallen, disappointed, when it came in below the range of doing anything at all.

[StitchFairy]

My ferritin is always high, and occasionaly over range, even though I don't supplement iron or eat much red meat or offal at all. My last doctors report on private test says this is quite normal for post menopausal women. (sorry if that label isn't appropriate to you 😊 ).

[Regenallotment Ambassador in reply to StitchFairy]

I’ve heard it with Mirena coil, zoladex, progesterone pill etc too