Help with Iron test results

That's definitely very low. Get on the iron tablets.

Any idea how this relates to a ferratin score? Because the normal range for iron serum levels is 12-16... I was looking for a ferratin score so I'm not really what sure what an 11 means....

bump

Serum iron and ferritin are related but not the same.

Serum iron refers to the amount of iron circulating in your bloodstream. It reflects the iron that has been mobilized to produce new red blood cells.

Ferritin reflects stored iron in your bone marrow.

Your serum iron could be normal but ferritin still low, meaning you currently have enough iron to make new red cells and the hemoglobin that fills them, but might run out soon if you don't add more iron to your diet.

Some coaches and exercise physiologists and docs also feel there is a more direct connection between ferritin and high level endurance performance, and try to maximize ferritin even in the absence of anemia or low iron.

If serum iron is low, ferritin should also be low, since serum iron is mobilized from the marrow stores that ferritin measures.

By the way, your iron normal range seems odd. Normal iron in our lab is 49-181. Ferritin range is 18-464, but as stated above, many believe 'normal' for an elite runner should be >50.

ok thanks ferroussulfate!

k...ok sorry I guess it was mixed up ...Im trying to help a runner I help coach interpret their scores...

"11 is the ferritin level..

.red blood cells was 5.22..a bit high..

hematocrit was 0.46

...RDW was also slightly high at 14.6. All of the rest are normal. "

So if 11 really is the ferratin score that is really low...

but the doctor said it was only slightly low and to take a multivitamin and wouldn't be a serious problem until it hit 6...

so something doesn't add up here..any help in interpreting these results would be much appreciated!

thanks!

That bit in quotes is just me relaying what the runner e-mailed me...sorry, kind of confusing!

Your athlete is not anemic but shows early signs of iron deficiency. In other words, the athlete currently has plenty of red cells. 46% hct is actually quite high. But iron stores are running out, indicated by low ferritin. Slightly high RDW means some of the red cells being produced are now too small, starting to run out of hemoglobin. MCV (cell size) should also be borderline low in this athlete. If not treated, anemia will develop and performance will suffer. Some would argue that performance is already suboptimal just with low ferritin. Treatment would be to increase dietary iron, take an iron supplement (more than a multivit) and investigate possibilities of excessive blood loss (menses). Hope that helps.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Is liquid ferrous iron the way to go?

Liquid iron is fine. 325 mg ferrous sulfate pills are cheap and will correct deficiency just fine as well. They should be taken with vit C or fruit juice to enhance absorption and with some food in the stomach. Constipation can be solved with a couple of prunes a day. Multivits have only enough iron for daily requirements but not enough to correct deficiency. Usually 2 or 3 months worth does the trick and blood work should be rechecked. This assumes there is not excessive blood loss.

thanks again....isn't 325mg high...I thought the rule of thumb was something like 1 mg per kg of body weight...or is rule that more for maintenance level rather than restoring from a depleted state?

325 mg ferrous sulfate is just a standard adult iron pill.

We treat young peds patients with anemia at a dose of 5-6 mg/kg/day, so our typical 12 kg 2 year old excessive-milk-drinking toddler gets 60 mg per day. Absorption is very poor. Believe me, you won't overdose. Failure to comply with recommended treatment is by and away our biggest cause of treatment failure.

Usually ferritin is the first thing to drop. Maybe for the average person, they won't notice a low ferritin having an effect on their daily life, but it is definitely a hindrance to a distance runner. Different people have different values but 11 is traditionally terribly low for a distance runner. Multivitamins have iron in them but other things in the vitamin can counteract the absorption of iron. I've always been a fan of taking iron on an empty stomach, along with a vitamin C.

If the athlete is running even moderate mileage and is high school or older, it could take several weeks for iron levels to slowly climb back up.

i think maybe the 11 you are referring to is hemoglobin level, which is borderline low, and at 6 would be very problematic. the typical cause for someone in your age group is blood loss from menses, which leads to low amounts of iron. The best solution for you would be to eat iron tablets. also, look at your mcv value from your blood test, if that is low or borderline low, then that most likely confirms low iron.

A serum iron level by itself is not really a good test.

even 11 seems low for hemoglobin, i think 13+ is ideal

Adult males: 14-18 gm/dl

Adult women: 12-16 gm/dl

source

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15737

i have similar problem, i am taking Feosol 65mg with orange juice (no calcium!) before bed

http://www.amazon.com/Feosol-Supplement-Therapy-Ferrous-Sulfate/dp/B002HQSRNM

blaznbison24 wrote:

I've always been a fan of taking iron on an empty stomach, along with a vitamin C.

The number one reason we are given for noncompliance from adolescents and adults (actually numbers one two and three) is stomach upset/nausea with iron. In my opinion less absorption due to food is more than offset by much less chance of stopping treatment due to nausea. Just my opinion based on practical experience for a long time. I agree with your other comments except I firmly believe it takes more than a few weeks to replenish iron stores in the body. A few months is more realistic.