Ferritin level

[Savannah]

Ive had low ferritin for years on and off. I had it tested last week and it was 19. Gp this time has out me on Ferrous Furmerare, in the past he's given me gluconate.

My gp says 19 is very low. I've read about the ranges of ferritin but keep seeing different ideas of what it should be. I'll ask gp when I next see him, but does anyone know?

Has anyone taken ferrous furmerate? I'm feeling quite sickly on it, I've ibs so iron isn't easy to tolerate.

I'm feeling exhausted, heavy periods and palpitations occasionally. My gp says I'm not anaemic but low ferritin is causing my symptoms.

[miss_t]

My daughter had a low ferretin level. She had to take 3 months worth of folic acid.

Low ferretin levels can occasionally be a sign of coeliac disease and given that you have IBS it might be worth mentioning the possibility to the dr next time.

Good luck

[potato11]

Hey Savannah

Have you heard of spatone? it's a liquid iron supplement - 100% natural

http://www.nelsonsnaturalworld.com/en-gb/uk/our-brands/spatone/

I take it myself. You absorb 40% of it's iron content (compared to about 11% of an ferrous sulphate tablet) and there are no side effects like the horrible digestive ones

it's £8 in boots and thats for a 28 day supply (1 sachet a day)

it's good stuff! :)

---------- Post added at 21:40 ---------- Previous post was at 21:38 ----------

Daybyday - have you had your b12 levels checked? low levels can cause the off-balance sensation and can be related to low ferritin

[xfilme]

I can only assume, seeing as you know your ferritin levels that you are referring to your Serum Ferritin levels, as a result of a b12 blood test. The range considered 'normal' by doctors is between 12 and 250, so you are very fortunate that you have a doctor who is giving you iron tablets to improve it, as usually they generally wont do anything unless you are below this range.

Serum ferritin ranges fascinate me because they relate to your iron stores. Im presuming also that you had a full blood count and found that you were in not anaemic, just iron deficient. I have been in the same position. The problem being, even though your ferritin levels are considered normal and you are not anaemic, the fact that your levels are low, means you are probably experiencing symptoms similar to anaemia. I do wonder if your nausea etc, might be more as a result of the low iron than as a result of taking the iron tablets. Though depending on the tablet strength, feeling a little nausea is quite common, but your body adjusts faily fast. Sometimes this can be prevented by having something as simple as a biscuit or some milk, so the tablets not being swallowed on an empty stomach, although it is absorbed faster is your stomach is empty. Its down to personal choice really. Iron is in fact good for people with ibs, because ibs is often caused by low absorption of vitamin b/iron, in turn causing an imbalance in adequate amino acids for digestion, often causing the ibs symptoms in the first place. im not saying this is the case for you. i cant say that as i am not a doctor, im basing it on nothing other than my own experience with iron deficiency, ibs and nutrition knowledge.

Your iron stores will take a long time to come back to normal levels. Mine took a year and a half. this is because only a small percentage goes towards replenishing your iron stores, the majority goes towards your daily energy expenditure. Therefore, in order to speed up the process, you have to make sure your food intake daily contains enough vitamin B, in order for the iron supplements to have best effect.

There are other things you can do to speed the process up. Vitamin C speeds the absorption of vitamin b/iron. Vitamin C supplements are very cheap. Another thing to try, whilst you feel your ibs is playing up, is live active culture natural yogurt, available from practically anywhere. Just look for stuff that says it contains acidophillus on the packaging. Acidophillus is the good bacteria present in your intestines, alongside bad bacteria. Eating the live active culture yogurt, helps the good bacteria fight the bad, and in doing so, balances your intestinal flora (kinda like good vs bad bacteria levels) so that it functions more normally. Anyway. Sorry if this load of info bored you... xx

[Savannah]

Thank you all.

My hb is 13.5 so very good. Found out that my white cells are low too:/ I had this issue last year but in September they were normal again but now my white cells are back to 3.5 and Neutrophils are 1.6:/ No idea what this could mean.