Can anyone help me with these iron results?

[turtlepie]

iron 18.7 (range 10.5-28)
ferritin 38 (range 30-400)
transferrin saturation 21% (range 20%-55%)

Symptoms are brain fog, very easily tired, worn out, needing more sleep than others. Told all within normal range.

From what I could discover on the net the iron is great, ferritin fine (?) and transferrin saturation, although at the bottom of the range is apparently only significant if iron is also low, in which case it would indicate iron deficiency? But iron is not low.

Would an iron supplement be of any benefit with these figures? And what (if any) is the significance of the apparently low transferrin saturation? (maybe it is good for it to be low like cholesterol for all I know??!)

Thanks
Turtle

[RooneyMara]

I think an iron supplement wouldn't make you feel better as your iron is already pretty high imo - I'm not a doctor though so I'm only going on what I've read.

I think the average is around 14 - in pregnancy a lot of women go down to 11ish, mine went down to 7/8 and I needed supplements or I'd have needed a transfusion.

Your ferritin is the stored iron in your body. It looks a bit on the low side of normal to me, but then your HB is super normal so probably not an issue - sorry, I don't know.

I have read that overdosing on iron can cause some issues though so don't take any unless your Dr advises it.

[sunnyday123]

Hi when I had similar symptoms I had blood tests showing my ferritin was 10. (Not sure what other things she tested but she did refer to this as my iron level) As the normal range is up to 300 ish (level doctor told me so maybe for women's its lower?) she said she wanted it to be increased to the top of that range and I was put on daily supplements. It took 18 months to get my levels to 80 so its not a short term fix! I stopped in the end as they made me feel sick.

Don't think over the counter iron is enough as I think that's only giving you your daily recommended amount- not enough to replenish low stores too.

[turtlepie]

So if iron level is good but ferritin very low end of range, could this make you feel rubbish or not?

[sunnyday123]

Not sure tbh? Did gp not offer iron then?

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Was wondering if they've ever considered the thyroid gland being the root cause of your current problems. Have you had your thyroid levels properly tested?.

[sunnyday123]

Yes that's def worth getting tested, I had that diagnosed at age 23! My main symptoms were dry brittle hair and difficulty losing weight.

[Thumbwitch]

Normal ranges vary from country to country and lab to lab.

Low ferritin means that you have low iron stores, which could mean a high turnover of blood (loss from periods etc.). It's important to raise your ferritin levels so that you have enough to make new blood cells or you may run the risk of becoming iron-deficient anaemic in the future.

You apparently have enough iron (although not sure how that was measured, it's not a measure we did in our haematology labs in the UK hospital I worked in). I'd be more interested in your full blood count results, tbh - the size of your blood cells and haemoglobin levels would be useful.

Transferrin saturation refers to how much iron is being carried around on the transferrin (a transport protein for iron) and is a ratio of serum iron and total ironbinding capacity (TIBC), not a direct measurement. Do you have your TIBC measurement?

Your GP (or whoever did the tests) should have told you if you needed iron supplementation and should have explained to you what the results meant. Did they not do this?

[turtlepie]

Still waiting for tibc results and so no full answer from gp yet except that results so far all within the normal range.

Thyroid normal (around 2)

I have called it iron, it probably has a "lab" name as well!

Does the transferrin saturation result in my op mean anything? I mean, is there any significance if it is low end of normal range and other figures within range?

[Thumbwitch]

It's not a measurement I'm familiar with, I'm sorry. I think it must be a biochemistry test! We used to measure haemoglobin, size of blood cells, number of blood cells, ferritin and B12, to give indications of whether an anaemia was iron deficient or B12 deficient (or something else).
At a guess though (and that's all it is), I would say that a low end transferrin saturation is related to your low-end ferritin result - if you haven't got that much stored iron, then there won't be that much available to cart around on transport proteins.

What I don't quite understand is how you have the transferrin saturation figure if you don't have the TIBC - as I understood it, you would need that result to get the ratio that is the transferrin saturation. How odd!

[mercibucket]

Lots of people apparently feel crap until their ferritin is up towards 100. Buy some spatone and see how you go

Did you also get b12 tested?

[turtlepie]

waiting for B12
Vit D about 75 in uk figures

I wonder if it is safe to take spatone if iron is already 18 though? I dont really understand how it works, how does the body choose whether to use an iron supplement to boost the iron or the ferritin levels?

[mercibucket]

I have no clue what the transferritin figures mean, but in general, yes it is absolutely fine if ferritin is low to boost iron levels with something like spatone. Your ferritin (the iron stores) is low but not at a level you will get treatment for in the uk. Which is a good thing as iron tablets are disgusting! Spatone is just iron enriched water, so you can take it as a normal daily supplement regardless of iron levels really. It's also safe for toddlers upwards so it isn't anything dangerous. Alternatively, you could try floradix. Both are supposed to be v gentle.
When the b12 levels come in, our range in the uk for normal is apparently on the low side so you want your b12 to be well within normal limits not dragging along the bottom

[RockinD]

iron 18.7 (range 10.5-28)
ferritin 38 (range 30-400)
transferrin saturation 21% (range 20%-55%)

Your serum iron is just under mid-range, your ferritin is much lower than it should be (needs to be at least 70 and preferably 90 to avoid symptoms like fatigue, breathlessness and hair loss) and your t/s is right at the bottom of the range.

Do not confuse serum iron with haemoglobin - that's a different test.

You would not just benefit from a supplement - you need a supplement! You may also need a GP that understands this stuff!

[lazydog]

RockinD - Surely that "iron" figure the OP quotes is not the right range to indicate that they mean serum iron? Looks like a result more consistent with it actually being her HgB measurement...? (If it was serum iron then the normal range wouldn't start at 10.5!)

[turtlepie]

oh! is serum iron not the one that is fine if it's 11 or more? Was I thinking of haemoglobin for which 18 would be great???

[lazydog]

Hold, on, sorry. I was looking at serum iron ranges for the USA and different places use different units.

Yes, sorry, that could be iron if, where ever you are, they're measuring μmol/L.

(I should have known that because here in Canada serum iron should be 11 ? 32 μmol/L, which kind of matches up with the range you stated.)

[lazydog]

Grrrr... Units should say micromoles/L

[Thumbwitch]

Let me just reassure you that your first measurement is definitely NOT haemoglobin - normal UK range for Hb is 12.5-17.5 for women (iirc), 18.5 for men. 28 would be unfeasible for a Hb measurement!

[Reenypip]

If I had these results my GP / hospital doctor would be pleased and happy with them as they are in normal range.
Doctor only concerned if iron (or hb) starts to go 10 below and will suggest increasing iron in diet and then tablets. Similar with ferritin (iron stores level )

[mercibucket]

Sadly true, reenypip, despite many people finding their symptoms of tirednesss etc disappear once ferritin is higher

[mercibucket]

Sadly true, reenypip, despite many people finding their symptoms of tirednesss etc disappear once ferritin is higher

[lazydog]

Yes, sorry for confusing things.

I wish different labs and countries would standardise on their units. For example, I've just been told that my haemoglobin is 123 but that's a factor of 10 out for how my results were quoted in the UK. That one's obviously easy enough to translate, but my serum iron (7 as I've been forgetting to take my tablets for months and should be between 11 and 32 micro-moles/L) is a bad enough result looking at the correct (Canadian) range, but I was initially pretty freaked out when I was initially comparing to the USA's normal ranges (i.e. 60-170 mcg/dl).

And yes, even though I'm barely anaemic now (based on my haemoglobin result) my low ferritin (17) is apparently enough on its own to make me feel like absolute shit until I get it above 50, according to my GP.

You do need to supplement, for sure.

[TataClaire]

My doc just precribed me 200mg iron tabs as my ferritin was 9 amd she said you start to feel rubbish anywhere under 50. Though will take a long time to fix.

[lazydog]

TataClaire - How often are you meant to take them? Mine, that I've been taking (nowhere near regularly enough) for years, are 300mg ferrous fumarate, which is 100mg of elemental iron.

Whenever I let my levels creep back down, after taking these 2x a day for a few weeks I'm like a different person again.

I have my bloods taken every 6 weeks or when I remember and you're right, it'll take a long time to get ferritin >50, (that's my aim too, and I've never yet achieved it, lol) but you will still feel a noticeable benefit of the additional iron much sooner than that.

[turtlepie]

I have now got results of

serum iron 15.4 (10.5-28)
tibc 74 (41-77)
transferrin saturation 21% (20-55%)
ferritin 38 (30-400)

Does this lot together look like iron insufficiency?