Ferritin & Folate Blood Test Results 10 yr old Boy

[Silveryfox]

Hi, new here.... my 10 yr old boy is, and has been for quite a while, having symptoms of breathlessness, exhaustion, sleep disturbances, behaviour and mood disturbances. He had a blood test before xmas that showed he was low in iron/ferritin but although the printed test results actually said he was below the lowest number of their range, 2 GPs I saw said they were normal, no action needed. He was tested again 2 weeks ago and it's taken me this long to get the results from the doctor beyond being told hes low but normal., so thos afternoon I've rung and asked the receptionist to actually read out the results which are:

Folate 4.3 (which I believe are again below the range they use in the NHS)
B12 851
Ferritin 53

Does anyone know what these results mean? I did speak to a doctor yesterday, but he refused to tell me over the phone what the results were, and when I said if my son was low I would put him on children's iron supplements (and obviously now I've seen his folate levels I'm going to probably give him children's folate too) the doctor got annoyed with me and said he doesnt need iron supplements and that he would send him for another blood test. Why ffs??

Just for background, I suffer low iron, folate and B12 so am now taking supplements myself - we eat a varied healthy diet he's not allowed fizzy drinks, we eat beef 2x a week, plus lots of chicken, fish and eggs, he has fresh fruit with his breakfast and fresh veg with his dinner every day.

[Silveryfox]

Bump

[GrumpyHoonMain]

I would question whether they are looking at the correct information. It is never normal for boys, men or prepubescent / menopausal women to be iron deficient to that extent. I would expect further tests. Get a second opinion

[Silveryfox]

GrumpyHoonMain

How though? I've seen 3 different Gps at our surgery now and theure all towing the party line. It's just every time I mention supplementing with iron or any other vitamins for that matter, everyone from my mum to the Gps look horrified and start warning me about iron poisoning. I'm only talking about giving him children's vitamins, not high strength ferrous sulphate or something. I'm so fed up of struggling with him like he is (and like I said I have health issues as well as low levels of B12 folate and iron, so really struggle with exhaustion) and trying to fight against gp ignorance of nutrition, I might as well just give him the kids supplements, and do without the stress. I guess I just wanted to know if anyone here thought I was being unreasonable. You're the only one who's replied though lol (thank you by the way!) X

[Mummyofbananas]

If all three are low should they not be looking into the cause, my doctor said if my folate had been low they'd have considered celiac disease x

[Musicaltheatremum]

They look perfectly normal to me.

[Musicaltheatremum]

Although folate a little on the low side. Multivitamin with folate or big bowl of broccoli or special K would be better. Ferritin and B12 are fine for a child.

[Violetroselily]

Folate is low end of normal I think - the range my surgery uses is 3.8

[BlackInk]

It's hard to be sure as you haven't been given the normal ranges or the units of measurement, but based on the ranges/measurements my GP uses his iron stores and B12 look fine (well within normal range) but his folate is at the lower end of the normal range.
Do you have his results from the tests before Christmas?

[Silveryfox]

Normal range for ferritin in children is 7-140 (so at 53 my son is in the lower 3rd of that range) and normal range for folate is 11.3-47.6 nmol/L (so at 4.3 hrs well below that range). When my folate was tested last october it was 3.5 and I felt like I was dying, along with the low iron and B12. His total B12 at 851 is on the face of it ok, but the active B12 is often lower than what the NHS test for. Anyway, I was hoping there might be someone who's had this scenario with their children. I just don't understand it, because he has school dinners every day, and then I cook from scratch also at home in the evening. We eat all the right things but both of us are deficient in at least folate and iron. He does have runny poos (sorry if tmi) but hes not thin, he's a bit overweight if anything.