Do doctors care about Ferretin??

Yes, they do. Ferritin is super important. If your ferritin is low, your hemoglobin will go down as well. Besides, a 11.9 is low too.

Your doctor is an idiot. Go somewhere else, get iron IVs, or a decent supplement, and inform yourself about foods.

I know what I am talking about. I am often in the single digits for ferritin with a low of 2.

Both of you are low even by NORMAL PEOPLE standards.

The normal range is from 20 - 250 ug/L. Yes, they should care about ferritin. Your doctor is a moron.

Klo98 wrote:

I have been exhausted for the past month or two so had some lab work done. My hemoglobin was 11.9 but my ferretin was a 6. My doctor didn't seem to think that was too bad and said I was only mildly anemic. I honestly think she was referring to my hemoglobin and not considering my ferretin. Do doctors even care about ferretin in regards to iron deficiency?

I'm a doctor. You are anemic and iron deficient - are you female? How old? I think you would benefit from more iron in diet and possibly IV iron. Definitely not normal . What's your RDW?

Yes I am female, 31 years old. I am a vegetarian, so that cuts out

some good iron sources. Unfortunately with the health insurance I have, I usually have to be pushy or ask a bunch of questions for the doctors to notice. I guess I am wondering about IIV iiron...is that better to do than supplements? I'm not thrilled about the side effects of iron supplements (GI problems), but of course my MD didn't mention IV iron. Not sure what my RDW level is.

Also have low neutrophils and high lymphocytes (something that Has never occurred in the past). Wondering if that could be playing a role in my symptoms?? Dr didn't seem too concerned, but getting everything checked again in a month.

Most of them don't. The ones that are endurance athletes often do. This is why I try to ensure my primary care doctor is an endurance athlete, so that they understand this sort of thing.

I think by normal people standards, you're mildly anemic, but by athlete standards, you're severely anemic. Most people don't have the same demanding lifestyle you have.

Most doctors have no clue about running. You're lucky to even get them to test your ferritin at all.

That's way too low. Also, "mildly anemic" means your running is going to be complete crap. Mildly anemic is a big deal for training and racing. You can be only slightly iron-deficient, not be technically anemic at all, and have your running be impacted a lot.

So if your question is whether this is a big problem and you should take major steps to fix it, the answers are resounding yeses to both.

RDW is a measure of RBC variation in size. 12 is normal. The greater it gets, the more likely that you might have a dimorphic RBC population consisting of microcytes and normocytes.

A higher RDW indicates that the anemia may be more recent.

I am not a doctor. A Clinical Laboratory Scientist who performs CBC's in a stat lab.

RDW is 13.6. Not marked as abnormal on my report. Hoping the supplements help quickly and don't upset my stomach!

I went vegetarian for 3 months for medical reasons, during which time my iron plummeted.

Once I started eating meat it returned to normal levels within 3 months.

I'm not recommending you eat meat, but you should take iron supplements until your levels return to the the normal range.

And get a new doctor!

To my knowledge ferritin is a measure of you iron stores, so a low ferritin can mean that someone is iron deficient but not necessarily anemic. Ferritin is a tricky thing because the healthy range is HUGE, I had a friend who said he was low with a 26, and said that it kept him sluggish, while 28 is above average for me. 11.9 Hgb is low, but not horrible (I had a hemoglobin of 6.9 once). My advice (note that I do not have a medical or college degree yet) is to take ferrous sulfate pills (I use one with 65mg of iron per pill)

Klo98 wrote:

Yes I am female, 31 years old. I am a vegetarian, so that cuts out

some good iron sources. Unfortunately with the health insurance I have, I usually have to be pushy or ask a bunch of questions for the doctors to notice. I guess I am wondering about IIV iiron...is that better to do than supplements? I'm not thrilled about the side effects of iron supplements (GI problems), but of course my MD didn't mention IV iron. Not sure what my RDW level is.

Hello,

Time to start eating meat, we are the top of the food chain, red meat should be a part of your diet if you are going to maintain health. If you are not thrilled about the side effects of iron supplements are you thrilled with the side effects of being a vegetation?

If you eat your meat you won't have to worry about either.

Cooking with an iron skillet is something to consider especially things high in acidity like spaghetti sauce.

Iron supplements do not necessarily lead to GI issues.

I'm sure being vegetarian doesn't help, but I've been a meat eater for my entire life and I've still struggled with iron deficiency several times, and unless I supplement, it inevitably drops every season.

I should say that I have been anemic in the past even when I wasn't a vegetarian, so I don't think that is entirely the only reason why. I have a GI condition (chrohns), so don't absorb stuff as well. For now I think I will see if I can get my levels up with the supplement.

Klo98 wrote:

I have been exhausted for the past month or two so had some lab work done. My hemoglobin was 11.9 but my ferretin was a 6. My doctor didn't seem to think that was too bad and said I was only mildly anemic. I honestly think she was referring to my hemoglobin and not considering my ferretin. Do doctors even care about ferretin in regards to iron deficiency?

No.

If you have Crohn's I'd definitely ask about IV iron. Poor iron absorption is really common with Crohn's.

Klo98 wrote:

I have been exhausted for the past month or two so had some lab work done. My hemoglobin was 11.9 but my ferretin was a 6. My doctor didn't seem to think that was too bad and said I was only mildly anemic. I honestly think she was referring to my hemoglobin and not considering my ferretin. Do doctors even care about ferretin in regards to iron deficiency?

Op, to answer your question. I'd say many, MOST don't care about it. They should but they don't. Please email me and I'll try to help you.

I've had talks with Alberto S about this. He like me wants it high. Yet during my last year at Cornell, a recent grad of Columbia med school who was the knew iron doc in town told me she cared zero about ferritin. She said it was a sign of inflammation and absence low blood levels, she'd prefer it to be low.

Shameful.

Any coach worth anything knows a ferritin level that is low will result in awful performances.

I remember a story when Kara Goucher was in college. Hers was something like yours 6. They got it up and she was suddenly a star - so much so that people on her own team couldn't comprehend it - they wondered if she was on drugs.

So get it up. Dave Martin told my brother not to even bother going to altitude if hiss ferritin was below 30. I'd aim for over 40. Salazar likes it even higher.

I finally found a professor at Cornell that is the only guy in the world to have done a study showing low ferritin by itself impacts performance. The Science of Sport guys hadn't even heard of it but told me they knew it was true and wqas the classic case where the coaches are ahead of the scientists.

Email with any questions.