Hi everyone.
Sorry to be on here so often, but I imagine that is a newbie thing to do! lol
My Blood stores (Ferritin) is at 13. Normal is 10 - 232ng/ml
Don't you think 13 is on the very low side of normal?? Both GP and Rheumy were not much interested in this.
I am thinking of taking iron on my own as I was anemic, for no given reason in the past, and even when I pointed this out to these two docs, it didn't seem to matter much.
I don't want to go overboard on the iron so I plan on taking one Vitron-C (65 mg Elemental Iron with 125 mg vit c) a day.
Also, Rheumy wants me to have a bloodtest in 6 weeks (cbc with dif and hepatic function panel) is this normal to have done after starting Plaquenil. Already had eye exam and am good to go with that.
Thanks for any insight you can give. :)
Kristine
All I can say is when my Ferritin was 13, my gastroenterologist was very concerned. He did a colonscopy and upper endoscopy to make sure I wasn't bleeding internally. He gave me a prescription for an Iron tablet. Never did find the cause, except he thinks it's malabsorption---my Vit D was also very low.
The CBC with diff and hepatic panel is standard to check on a regular basis whenever someone is on long term meds to check for potential side effects with blood, kidney and liver function.
All I know about the iron is when my periods stopped, my doctor had me stop taking iron because she said I could build up too much which is also not good. my levels were low (below normal range) when having periods, now in the low to mid normal range.
13 is low and most hematologists would be a little concerned. However, that said, it does make a difference what your actually hemoglobin and hematocrit are, since these are the indicators for anemia. After all the ferritin is "stores" so the body can go pull some iron when needed. If your other blood counts are good then they might not be so worried. I have iron deficiency anemia and my hematologist does not allow my ferritin to go below 100, since my blood counts can drop without warning. I routinely get iron IV infusions to keep the level within reason.
Iw ould ask them what your other blood counts are if you are still concerned.
Hi Kristine,
I understand your frustration about your doctors not really being interested in your low normal blood test, but please don't take anything like iron without talking to your primary first (just to be safe, okay?). Does your primary have a PA working for him? I often find they are a bit easier to talk to than the doctor on certain issues.
Take care of yourself -
Patze
Thanks everyone.
I have in the past had doctors ignore the fact that I was hypothyroid, had Fibro and blamed all of my fatigue and pain on being basically a female - for years! I just never get answers from the doctors. They seem to brush me off and that is upsetting when YOU are the one that has to deal with the effects of feeling the way we do. I just recently started seeing them again.
I want to know why I am not storing iron. No one wants to look into it. I get so frustrated trying to figure out "OK< who do I see about this and then that?? I want to know why my thyroid is not functioning properly. No answers, no searching further.
This is part of my self advocacy. If something on my blood work is low, why not question it?
Doctors are good at saying "We don't know if this medication will work for you, (ie Plaquenil) it works for some but everyone is different." EXACTLY!! If everyone is different with medications, why does that not translate to Labs??!! Maybe my low is too low for ME!! I hope you see were I am going here.
Thanks for the help and suggestions! I will try to figure out if it's worth going to yet another doc.. I just hope someone can help me feel better. I asked the Rheumy about side effects of Plaquenil, (starting tomorrow)he said "nothing really, other than the eye problems that are rare. I found out on this forum that I should start it slowly - The doctor never mentioned gastro problems or to start slow and build up. GEEEEZZZEE! ::)
You guys are awesome!!
Kristine
Hi Everyone,
Since I am experiencing extreme fatigue (two naps a day; and sluggishness during a good part of my waking hours), I am very interested in this iron discussion. My ferritin level is 19, which is normal but very low.
Actually, if the fatigue is caused by low iron, then that is a good thing as I can do something about it.
But not so easy. I just talked with my husband who is a pathologist.
DH told me that the first thing that happens when one is low in iron is that the ferritin levels become low.
Anemia doesn't happen until the second stage. In the second stage the hemoglobin becomes low. (Standard hemoglobin for a woman, he said, is 12-16.) The third stage, he told me, is when the person becomes "microcytic." In this stage the red blood cells are on average smaller. (He was getting technical and I stopped him at this point.).
He said because my hemoglobin was 14 (when it was tested in March) that the fatigue I am experiencing is NOT due to low iron. He said I'm iron depleted but not anemic. I still need to supplement, however with iron because of the low ferritin. He recommends bringing it up to 100.
So it's back to the fatigue drawing board, I guess. I will be interested in seeing what the thyroid tests show this week.
If they are normal too, I'm not sure what I will do. I'm getting very tired of being tired :-\
Livvie2
I have low ferritin levels and when I was checked during an episode of anemia of 9.8 my ferritein was 6. My doc was very concerned and I also had to have a colonoscopy to see if I was bleeding.
I did a lot of research on the ferritin level because it sort of helped solve one of my health problems. I was having a terrilble time settling down at night and was moving my legs all the time and moving the covers, etc. Very weird thing that I had never done before. I just figured I was uneasy. Welll, low ferritin levels can cause restless leg syndrome. My psych increased my zoloft and that helped me. I didn't want to add another med to the restless leg. Figured more of one drug was better than adding another one and screwing my body up more.
Anyway, I had to take iron tabs for a long time and I got it up in the 40's or so. Also, had to see hematology and they said to take iron tabs every day for the rest of my life. I was not happy with that because it was higher than it had been and I had not had any more anemia. I decided to check out all the cold cereals and I found Total cereal that has 100% of practically all the vitamins including iron. I also try to eat raisins and other foods that contain iron. Green leafy vegetables, etc I have my RBC's checked quite often so I know where my hemg is at.
The reason I didn't want to take the iron all the time is because it is such a pain trying to take it before and after calcium and other medications. Also, autoimmune diseases can cause the bone marrow to cut down on the fed cells that they produce and anemia is common in all autoimmune diseases. Some people have it bad and others never have it. I also have had to be on some meds for a year that caused the red cells to be affected and I am not longer taking those drugs. Do some googling and you will find lots of info. Good luck. Irish ;D
Mine was 9.9 and endo didn't seem much concerned. I also had low b12 and low vit. d. Now I am taking supplements of both. I also always have high RDW and low Bun. Never had a doctor care or see any problem with it :-\