Ferritin Puns

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04784767

I'm having difficulty researching the tech used in this vaccine.

Is this different from the mRNA vaccines? Does this type of vaccine have a research history similar to mRNA vaccines? Is it a brand new tech or over 20 years of research like the mRNA viruses have?

Walter Reed Hospital believes this will have a wide application against many variants and different types of spikes used by coronaviruses. How wide are we talking? If I could never get another cold for the rest of my life, that would be great.

I read this community frequently. Thanks for all that you guys do!

So the supplements the doctor recommended are working BUT it seems incredulous to me that 15 is the highest you can be before you're "normal" with my symptoms as bad as they still are. I realize optimal is 40-60 or so, but my doctor is likely going to think this is "no big deal" because I'm so close to the normal range as set by the lab. (Not that their opinion matters much right now, my gyno took over so we can sort it out at the source)

I will admit I feel BETTER than I did when I was a 5 but I still don't feel great. Fatigued, doesn't take much to get short of breath, and the never ending wooshing in my ears. I think that may be the worst part.

35yrs old female. Non smoker. Non drinker. Not pregnant.

Hi, I have heavy bleeding(for 5 days) during my periods. The flow is heavy than before. I have been seeing this heavy flow for more than year now. It's not very heavy like soaking up the pad within an hour. I change pads every 5 to 6 hours. But the flow is heavy than before. I also see small clots in the toilet(like quarter size). I see these clots till Cycle day 4 and day 5 will be lighter.

I had annual checkup blood work in December and my iron is low and ferritin is high. I have low iron values last year too and doctor asked me to the iron supplements 3 times a day. I was taking it. But no changes. One thing to mention, I have been dealing with jaw pain under ear and neck pain for 11 months now. No proper diagnosis yet. Been to many doctors, dentists etc. I have been taking many medicines for that in the last 11 months. Does it make any change in the blood work? What does low iron and high ferritin indicates? I am worried about this. Is this normal or should I ask for more blood test/treatment? Iron. Dec 2019 - 54. Dec 2020 - 48. Normal 27-159ug/dl . Iron saturation dec 2019 -14. Dec 2020 -12. normal 15-55% . Ferritin dec 2019 -154. Dec 2020 -193. Normal 15-150ng/ml. TIBC Normal 250 - 450 ug/dL Dec 2020- 387 UIBC Normal 131 - 425 ug/dL Dec 2020- 339

Hemoglobin Normal 11.1 - 15.9 g/dL Dec 2019 11.9 Dec 2020- 13.1

I was taking antibiotics for a week before this blood test. Does it make any difference.one more value is high this time. Liver enzyme ALT. It was dec 2019- 21iu/uL. Now 55.normal range 0-32. AST normal. I have severe hairloss in the last 3 years. I asked my PCP about this and she is not concerned. My vitamin D is low too . Vitamin d is 34.
Not sure if this hair loss is because of the iron deficiency.

I am not taking iron supplements now. Pcp told me to stop it as my Ferritin is higher.
What does it indicate if FERRITIN is high? Do I need to worry about this? Is this normal? Is heavy flow cause iron deficiency? My iron levels were normal before.

P.S: I have constant jaw and neck pain for close to an year now.No injuries. Started all of a sudden. Been to multiple doctors and dentists. No diagnosis and relief yet. I have been told it's Myofascial pain dysfunction syndrome and because of muscle tightness and muscle tension which I turn cause inflammation in the jaw and neck. I am trying to understand if low iron is any way related to this. Taken neck ultrasound,CT.

Not too long ago I was having some of the worst nights I've had in my life (still am!), with no medications or help from any Dr. Everyone here suggested getting my irons levels checked and provided a bunch of very help support and info aside from iron checks. You guys are awesome!

I went privately (in the UK) and had my iron levels checked because my GP said my iron was fine over and over again. My saturation, binding capacity, transferritin all came back great, including the serum ferritin levels. The Dr who reviewed it said that it was within a good range BUT 'if you have RLS you need it to be at least 70ug/L'! She said there's tons of research showing this to be the case and said my GP & other Drs are wrong.

No one, I mean NO ONE, has highlighted this from within the medical community. Not once has anyone made any recommendations like this. In fact, I'd always been told my iron was high or within a good range. I even had a neurologist (seeing for another condition) tell me my iron was great for RLS, 1 month ago!

Now I'm booking in private IV iron shots to get to a level where my RLS might be helped.

TL;DR: Serum ferritin within healthy range but too low for potential benefits to RLS (below 70ug/L). Will now up my iron intake with an IV shot, to start.

Wish me luck! And, a huge thank-you to everyone here who provided the info and support. It sounds silly but if this helps it could be completely life-altering and without everyone here and our great mod u/Eulettes I would have been helpless and directionless. Please keep supporting each other. Please keep going through your options and reading the wiki.

I appreciate that everyone is different in how their bodies react, but I am curious as to generally what level of Ferritin you are likely to experience symptoms.

My most recent Ferritin was 434 ug/L which is not as high as some people experience but I feel that I am exhibiting all of the symptoms: fatigue, weakness, joint pain, brain fog, etc. Would my Ferritin have to be higher than that to be experiencing the main symptoms of Hemochromatosis?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971220304173?fbclid=IwAR1tS_DVktSDC8b7lY7Wmc4KZtZ9TQ69_3Syvw2669mO-FOArQVko-wTlEs

So, I have battled with anaemia for 1.5 years now. I go through cycles of being put on supplementation, having my levels come back to low normal, being told to stop supplementing, and then right back into anemia. My most recent labs, despite taking prenatals with iron and folate, are ferritin level 3, and low hemoglobin. I'm with a new GP right now and she seems to want to help me find out WHY rather than slap the supplementation "bandaid" on my anemia.

She said if my ferritin doesn't increase in 4 weeks, I will need to see a hematologist and probably have an infusion.

For those of you who have done the work of figuring out WHY you're anemic, where did you start? For females, GYN? GI doc? Hematologist? Any particular labs drawn? (I had a full panel including vitamin b12 etc 1.5 years ago, including a negative celiac result). My son has celiac and although I've tested negative in the past, and would be asymptomatic other than the anemia, I'm leaning towards this as the probable cause 🤷‍♀️

I was pretty much convinced I had androgenetic alopecia. But I just got my CBC and it came back completely normal. But this time they did my ferritin levels and that came back at 16. The normal range being 16-154. I know it is technically normal, but is this a bit on the low side? What levels should I have for optimal hair growth? I'm praying that I get some of my hair back!

Thank you!

Hi all! I discovered ~ 8 weeks ago my ferritin is low (12) and so far that’s what I’m assuming is the cause of my loss. I know low ferritin is a debatable cause for loss so I’m getting b12 and vitamin d labs soon. Feeling a little discouraged and just looking for some positivity. I’ve been supplementing and I have days/washes where I feel like I’m improving, but then I have days where I feel like I’m taking steps back.

I used to have extremely low ferritin levels and since September, my hair is now half the length it used to be. Now my ferritin levels are up but my hair still keeps getting shorter. These are what my readings have been:

June: <1 ug/L September: 2 ug/L (when I first started noticing hair loss) October: 6 ug/L April (now): 87 ug/L

So can someone please give me their input on this? I can tell within the last month I’ve lost more hair, and I don’t know if it’s maybe because there’s a delay or something or if my hair loss is caused by something else. It’s strange because considering how low it was in June, it must have been low for a while already, but I didn’t start losing hair until September. I’m hoping this just means there is a delay. Please can someone help me answer this, I’ve just been really stressed about it.

Edit: Also I forgot to mention I bleached my hair back in June, and it’s the first time I’ve ever bleached it, so maybe that could be why I’m losing hair?

So basically I’ve been struggling with extreme fatigue/ hungover feeling for 3 years now. I had blood tests 2years ago and my ferritin came back as 14. My doctor didn’t feel the need to tell me this so I carried on for another 2 years with this tiredness. Went back to the doc’s a few months ago and they told me that I ’looking back at your blood results it looks like your iron levels are low, did no one tell you?’.

Anyway, to cut a long story shortish I have been taking 200mg of prescription iron tablets for perhaps 3 months now and my ferritin levels have gone up to 38, however I’m still struggling with this crazy hungover feeling. Is 38 still low for ferritin or is it now normal? Also my blood pressure is lowish - can this be connected?

hope someone can help me. I feel like my doctor doesn’t give a crap.

Hi - I just got results back and have the C282Y double mutation. Saturation is 75% but Ferritin is only 202. I am a mid 30s female. Will I need phlems? I am very confused by this whole thing and my doc isn't super informative. Thanks!

Hi everyone! I'm new.

My doctor mentioned Hemochromatosis a couple of years ago but we checked blood work again a few month later and everything was normal so we didn't pursue teating. Now a year later and a bout of low ferritin numbers (took iron supplements) then normal and now normal ferritin but high saturatin and high iron again. My ferritin was normal the last time my numbers were high also. I guess my question is can you have normal ferritin range and still have HH? I'm getting the genetic test to see but just wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience. I guess I'm curious if we should be exploring other things besides HH. I'm definitely having a lot more joint pain, extremely fatigued and some fluttering of the heart that seems like it came on fast. Also hypothyroid and low platelets that have plagued me for ever but the thyroid is under control.

A few months ago I started reading around here when I was first diagnosed. I guess I assumed when you get a hereditary affliction that people like me (34/M) go to webmd to learn how to die or come to Reddit to find comfort and search for sidelines they can use in their journey… I figured “well surely there are multiple people worse off than I am, that’s how I’ll find comfort.” I know that is a selfish way of coping but the concept didn’t last long…

After lots of reading, it seems like my starting level was one of the highest even mentioned on the internet - 6048 ng/ml. I’ve been dropping a pint weekly for about 10 weeks and down to 2712, so hopefully I keep reducing at current pace; but it seems unlikely. I’ll make up a chart and post when I get a moment

I’d like to hear more from other people with severely high concentrations and see what their symptoms were over their lifetime - I was diagnosed with a “very mild fibromyalgia” in my teens that seems to just be the beginning of iron overload symptoms and was wondering if others had similar issues.

I’ll continue to post beginners guides to everything I come to learn

I'm a 26 year old female who just got blood work with strange iron levels. My iron level was 270ug/dl (ahh!), my transferrin saturation was 90% (also terrifying), with a normal IBC (296). My ferratin level was normal at 33ng/ml. I did not fast before the blood test, nor do I take supplements (Edit: other than vitamin D). My test also came back indicating hyperthyroidism. The last time I got my iron levels checked in 2018 they were perfectly normal. I get iron levels checked for my ulcerative colitis. Does anyone have any insights? Thanks!

Finally for my iron up after 3 months of very high dose ferrous fumerate. But now it’s up my GP won’t give me anything else to help maintain. My iron always always drops.

Anyone else struggle with this?

Better still anyone have any tips on how to keep it up without prescription?

Hi I’m 19F, I had really low iron a while ago. It’s gone up significantly and I’m no longer iron deficient, but I’m still taking supplements and getting my iron checked because i’m losing my hair and I read that ferritin has to be above 70 for new hair to grow. My last three result are kind of strange though. These are the results:

April 6: hemoglobin: 134, ferritin: 87

April 24: hemoglobin: 136, ferritin: 48

May 6: hemoglobin: 138, ferritin: 66

Idk why my ferritin is all over the place like this, in such a short amount of time. I have been taking my supplements and I haven’t done anything differently. Also in every test, my white blood cells have been high and I recently found out it might be from an ear infection. Idk if maybe the white blood cells affect ferritin or something, but can anyone tell me what this means?

Recently tested and confirmed to have Alpha Thalassemia trait...so Alpha minor?

In the past, my iron levels (like from a complete Iron Panel) would show I'm in a normal range min the 70s and 80s. However, my Ferritin levels would always be low, usually 6-8.

Before knowing about thalassemia, this one doctor prescribed Iron pills for anemia, 65mg a day. Took it for maybe no more than a week and a half before I started feeling worse and went in. Got more tests done: Iron was 87, meanwhile my Ferritin jumped up to 31...hadn't taken any Iron that day yet or night before either.

This kind of puzzled this other doctor cause according to my labs I wasn't Iron deficient anymore, and told me to not continue. And this confused me lol, cause I'd heard it would take weeks if not months to improve.

Is this experience (i.e. quickly rising Ferritin but low-avg iron) typical of Alpha Thalassemia, or even Thalassemia in general?

My ferritin is at 2,9 ng/mL, how bad is that? How worried should I be?

Thanks to you guys I asked my doc to test iron and ferritin along with some other things. I have hashimotos and am still currently under medicated on 150mcg Levo at time of test. My tsh was 5.33. Ferritin 9, iron 116 . Vitamin D 29. And cholesterol a little high. I (Male 32)am in good shape and exercise frequently. I do find I have “air hunger” sometimes along with typical hashi symptoms. My doc is a nice guy but can overlook things unless I press him. Can anybody here tell me what is going on here and what tests or treatment I should push for next?

So, my hair was so silky and nice to the extent I wouldn't even necessarily need a conditioner but lately I observed clumps of hair falling out. Like I would run my hand and hair would come out and the texture too has changed massively. The hair looks burnt on worst days. I did consult a Dermat, got a blood test done and now on supplements.

Please suggest

For everyone who is asking “might I be?”…”am I?”…”could it be hemochromatosis?” - PLEASE GO GET YOUR FERRITIN LEVELS CHECKED and follow up with a Dr (a regular doctor you come to know, not the guy filling in at the emergency clinic - they will not notice this issue or be invested in the long road to normal if you happen to have it).

Ferritin is one of the cheapest and easiest entry level tests; and shows how much iron your body is storing in your joints, organs, etc. If you are above 300-350, consult with your doctor and possibly a 2nd opinion (and come back here for the peanut gallery).

Did a blood donation today and getting a blood test at the end of the week for unrelated issues. i want to add a ferritin test to that and was wondering will the results of the blood donation show up by then? TIA

My ferritin is 21 but all other results are normal. I have been feeling light headed and dizzy spells almost going to faint. Iron supplements give me awful constipation. I like iron fumarate but my ferritin is not going up. I had an iron infusion over a year ago and that made me feel dizzy after too for a while.

Hello!

I'm a 19 year old guy and I've been losing my hair for quite some time now (diffuse thinning all over scalp, no receding hairline or crown bald spots so I don't think it's just regular genetic male pattern baldness).

A recent blood test showed that I had low ferritin levels (16 ug/L , the reference range says 22-275). Apparently all my other blood test results are normal so it's highly unlikely that it's because of an underlying condition, probably just because of not getting enough iron from my diet.

My doctor suggested iron supplements so I started taking the following every morning on an empty stomach.

• 1 Ferrous Gluconate tablet (320 mg, with 35 mg elemental iron)
• 2 500 vitamin C chewable tablets (500 mg each, to help absorption)

Do you guys think this will help regain my lost and thinning hair? I'm so scared, especially since I read that low ferritin/iron is uncommon in guys and so it would suck if my hair loss thus far was permanent and it doesn't come back.

Thank you so much for reading! Have a great day :)

I am not trying to make you scared or spread rumours around but there's this misconception which needs to be covered. People often think that ferritin shows total iron stores in body, which couldn't be further from the truth. There may be free iron that can be found in tissues, which are incredibly damaging as they are free and they will cause formation of free radicals. The thing is, free iron doesn't show up in ferritin, hence the free iron itself is "unbound".

This was my case, as I started donating blood and doing wet cupping; my ferritin lowered from 150++ to 60s but stucked in there. It was a bit weird, I simply couldn't understand. Because with each phlebotomy session 250 mg of iron is supposed to be removed from my body and with wet cupping the amount is probably a bit more. Not to mention all the potent iron chelators and absorption blockers I took: Phytic acid, green tea, coffee, milk thistle, thiamine, berberine, turmeric, alpha lipoic acid etc.

Then I wondered if ferritin itself is a good biomarker of total iron in the body. I encountered some studies while searching in pubmed which was arguing ferritin levels can totally be normal in hemochromatosis.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/870791/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1246269/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2444506/ (this one argues ferritin and total body iron are in a complex relation)

So it can be a little more wise to look for additional medical tests and panels which include far more than simply ferritin. Iron saturation is essential and probably more reliable than ferritin test alone, but even beyond that I will probably request a MRI from my doctor as well to guarantee things.

is 13 low? If so what should i take/how much? my doctor didn’t really say much about it. the range was 11-305

i have had severely low ferritin (but normal iron levels) over the last ~6 years and am finally getting an infusion on friday. in the past i've shed a lot, and this time i have been shedding so badly since the beginning of march that my scalp is now visible, after having a full, thick, fuzzy head of hair.

the thing is, i don't understand why my ferritin is chronically low, despite years of taking iron supplements. my doctor did a full workup and there's no indication of inflammation/celiac/etc.

i did have a thyroidectomy, however, many years ago and take synthroid now. just wondering if there's some relationship between taking thyroid hormone and having low ferritin?

(also, any advice for the iron infusion is very welcome!)

25 yo male.

2021-02-05 Iron 121 ug/dl (70-180)

2021-03-25 Ferritin 36 ng/ml (24-336)

I might be symptomatic, that would include: cold extermities, dry, pale skin, dark circles under eyes, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, sometimes shortness of breath and very slight lightheadedness, exercise intolerance, fatigue, weakness. I've read that the optimal value for a male is 50-70 ng/ml.

Not sure what to do, I'm completely clueless on this topic. I want to try supplementing to rise my ferritin a bit, but I'm scared of rising my iron too much and exceeding the normal range. Any advice?

Hey ya'll, I recently got a testosterone test and iron / ferritin / tibc test for hairloss. Specficically the iron tests below (attached the image below), my doc didn't mention it... but just realized that its barely in the normal range, and should be pretty much flagged. I'm still a little confused as to why my Ferritin is so high when my total iron and iron binding capacity is so low. Anyways, if anyone can give me more explanation as to what's wrong with me, and whether taking iron supplements (these ones: https://www.amazon.com/Pure-Micronutrients-Supplement-Natural-Bisglycinate/dp/B00NQTP53Y/ref=sxin_4_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?cv_ct_cx=iron%2Bsupplements&dchild=1&keywords=iron%2Bsupplements&pd_rd_i=B00NQTP53Y&pd_rd_r=3398a56a-3f6b-498a-8317-829a3a0e4f65&pd_rd_w=gYTCq&pd_rd_wg=sZa7G&pf_rd_p=9d5c7dec-ad7e-424f-9792-7751bf0f49a3&pf_rd_r=YMTGX87N37JZ2JH1R7FB&qid=1619758246&sr=1-1-a73d1c8c-2fd2-4f19-aa41-2df022bcb241-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExRkc5NDhCT1IyWjNUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTgyODA3MUk0Uk04UFVCNlc0VyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjc3NTkzM01CNzBOUlJRVkJPTiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3NlYXJjaF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1)

would be necessary for me to address the problem. Thank you all and much love.

https://preview.redd.it/i6oreybrv8w61.png?width=825&format=png&auto=webp&s=57ff6eca3b13aa832142b5c137e36481cc365c18

I found out I had low iron and ferritin levels as a teen and then I started taking iron supplements and my iron went up but my ferritin did not. I was confused because my B12 was very high (which if it’s low you should take B12 vitamins as it will help with skin and hair growth). As the pandemic hit I decided to start taking vitamin D because I noticed my Vitamin D was low and everyone was saying it was good for fighting infections. I kid you not, I went for a blood test and my ferritin climbed up and my iron was at a great number and I haven’t taken iron for a while (I was taking iron for 7 years so after a couple of years I got lazy with iron and usually don’t take iron some time before blood work to see how my body is doing on it’s own). I learned that when hepcidin goes up, iron absorption goes down and vice versa. Vitamin D is one of the few nutrients that can reduce hepcidin levels and allow more iron to be absorbed.

Basically check your VD and VB12! But note do not take iron and VD at the same time, take them 2 hours + apart.

I've been having some crazy long covid neurological symptoms. They started one month after infection and to summarize in order annoyance they are constant dizziness (feels like I'm on a boat or in motion or my legs are walking on a jumping castle), visual disturbance and static, tinnitus, tight chest which comes and goes and headaches. I know I had covid because I tested positive.

When I came out of isolation I did a full blood test and my ferritin was off the charts at over 900. Three months later and my ferritin is still clocking at 900. Someone the other day who is a health coach told me high ferritin levels have been consistent with neurological long covid symptoms..

Wondering if anyone else has a similar case?

My ferritin level was 9 (15-150 range) with 10% saturation. Dr. Said it’s due to my heavy bleeding during periods, but how do I know it’s not Hashimoto’s related?

I have Hashimoto’s(hypothyroidism). F/39 yrs old/113 lbs., 5’1

Edit: Thank you everyone for your reply. All responses and info is helpful. This sucks that all of us have some kind of health issue and hope you all get well soon.