Your TSH is slightly low. I would keep an eye on it.
Your TSH is slightly low. I would keep an eye on it.
MidBest wrote:
Your TSH is slightly low. I would keep an eye on it.
Meant to say high. Your TSH is slightly high.
High TSH => hypothyroidism => fatigue.
BouldeRunner wrote:
vegetarian diet
Just think, if you weren't vegetarian you probably wouldn't be having all these problems, hassles and expense.
BouldeRunner wrote:
Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this.
My echocardiogram and treadmill ordeal came back normal. No signs of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which would be the main concern with the t-wave inversion. Doctor said, that with that ruled out, there isnt much of a reason to keep chasing the source of the t-wave inversion.
Additionally, with further discussion, we're on the same page that the hct/hgb and ferritin are the culprit for performance. Fortunately Ive been able to get to 45.8 hct, and 35.1 ferritin in 6 weeks. He said thats a great response to the iron supplement, but that 40 is necessary to not feel the effects and 50 should be the goal to have a buffer. That bump in hct is proportional to the minor gains in fitness I have seen recently as well.
He also is pretty well-versed on iron absorption and said that there is recent evidence that every other day, is better than every day. He also said that .5 mg/kg is a LOT, and not to take more than that. I did a few days of 10 ml and it did a number on me digestively, so Im happy with this plan.
Like I was saying above, your ferritin was in the gutter. Still is. And I know a lot of people get triggered that doctors are not omniscient, but your doc doesn't truly know what they're talking about. 50 is not the goal for an endurance athlete. That is still too low. The goal is 100-150. Additionally. .5 mg/kg is NOT A LOT. This is a huge red flag that your doc doesn't know what they are talking about in regards to iron supplementation. It also sounds like your doc skimmed through or just read the abstract of a recent article or two about iron absorption. Taking it every other day will not raise your ferritin faster than taking it every day. The studies that have looked into this make that very clear. They point out that absorption will go down slightly the more often you take iron, but the absolute amount absorbed is still significantly higher taking it every day versus every other day.
If you really want to take a day off from supplementing with it, don't take any 12 hours before or after your hardest workout of the week.
.5mg/kg is a joke. For most men that would be 1/2 a serving of the popular supplement, Hemaplex.
I totally appreciate the help and would love to get closer to 100 if possible. But digestively Im already struggling with .5 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg was brutal. Having to stop during workouts because things finally "get moving" isn't ideal either. I understand those studies show increased absorption percentage, not increased absorption amount, but If I can get 75% of the overall impact on every other day, and keep things regular, Im all for it. That seems like a good compromise. Im learning first hand that there are definite downsides to high doses of iron.
MidBest wrote:
Meant to say high. Your TSH is slightly high.
High TSH => hypothyroidism => fatigue.
Im waiting for you to say "I've got a guy in Houston named Dr. Brown..."
Joking aside, that dropped into the low 1s on the more recent blood test as well.
I hear ya with the GI issues. I’m lucky to be able handle just about anything.
Have you had your vitamin D tested? When it’s low we can’t absorb iron as well.
I think it was tested on the first test and was fine. According to the doc (who I know you dont necessarily agree with) the rate that my ferritin has come up suggests that Im absorbing quite well for the dosage Im taking. So I dont think its an absorption thing.
Also, with respect to the vegetarian diet comment. I was iron deficient in 2005/06 when I still ate meat. And have gone 10 plus years veg without problems until recently. I know thats a small sample size but there doesn't seem to be much correlation for me between vegetarian and problems arising.
BouldeRunner wrote:
I think it was tested on the first test and was fine. According to the doc (who I know you dont necessarily agree with) the rate that my ferritin has come up suggests that Im absorbing quite well for the dosage Im taking. So I dont think its an absorption thing.
Also, with respect to the vegetarian diet comment. I was iron deficient in 2005/06 when I still ate meat. And have gone 10 plus years veg without problems until recently. I know thats a small sample size but there doesn't seem to be much correlation for me between vegetarian and problems arising.
Check out what your vitamin D was at. Hopefully they tested 25-OH-D as opposed to 1,25-D. Anyway, you want your levels to be at least 50. Many doctors will say anything over 20 is fine, which it probably is for most of the population, but we can't transmit as much energy when our levels are significantly below 50. And like I was saying, additionally we won't absorb/store iron the same way either.
If your levels are going up at .5mg/kg/day just cross your fingers they don't plateau soon. Whatever you do, don't give up on getting your levels close to or above 100 for ferritin. It's not worth going through life tired.
if/when you do plateau and if it's lower than ideal, consider trying .5mg/kg/day of this one.