Chronic Low ferritin. Need advice from those who have fixed low ferritin.

[Ateam2023]

@Ateam2023 any update on your ferritin after that protocol?

they didn't do the ferritin test , in fact they only did one panel my nephrologist ordered which was basic metabolic panel with cystatin c/eGFR test (which wasn't promising) , the more extensive one wasn't either submitted by pcp or insurance didnt approve, i have to go to "open line" at pcp tomorrow morning to get to the bottom of it,, Gotta jump through some "health care hoops" , as usual if you want anything done , you ABSOLUTELY have to be proactive or they sweep you away,,

 

[Tbaz192]

they didn't do the ferritin test , in fact they only did one panel my nephrologist ordered which was basic metabolic panel with cystatin c/eGFR test (which wasn't promising) , the more extensive one wasn't either submitted by pcp or insurance didnt approve, i have to go to "open line" at pcp tomorrow morning to get to the bottom of it,, Gotta jump through some "health care hoops" , as usual if you want anything done , you ABSOLUTELY have to be proactive or they sweep you away,,

Always something with health care. It’s ridiculous

 

[Photon]

they didn't do the ferritin test , in fact they only did one panel my nephrologist ordered which was basic metabolic panel with cystatin c/eGFR test (which wasn't promising) , the more extensive one wasn't either submitted by pcp or insurance didnt approve, i have to go to "open line" at pcp tomorrow morning to get to the bottom of it,, Gotta jump through some "health care hoops" , as usual if you want anything done , you ABSOLUTELY have to be proactive or they sweep you away,,

Fire your doc and get a new one..

 

[Tbaz192]

Well boys. Saw a hematologist. Still in the office for labs.
I Practically begged and said give me an iron infusion, my ferritin and saturation are low.
Have been for a while. Months. & I explained everything exactly so an infusion would be the next step.

Denied.

I’m done with doctors. Just over it, and am I bitching in a moment of being pissed and giving up? yup. I am.

I don’t show signs of anemia or any cause for an iron infusion. The office said
Insurance will deny me because of that. Every other number is fine but my saturation and ferritin.
They’re testing me for copper and celiacs / GI referrals for celiac.
Told me to take twice my dose of iron every other day. And see if in 3 months it’s better.

 

[Tbaz192]

I’m probably doing the protocol above. Iron multiple times a day seems to be the only thing that’ll do anything with TRT user.
Next to an iron Infusion smh

 

[Photon]

I don’t show signs of anemia or any cause for an iron infusion. The office said
Insurance will deny me because of that. Every other number is fine but my saturation and ferritin.

What's your hgb?
You won't get approved without a low hgb.
I'm not sure the specific number, but i think you need to be below 10.

i just started that above protocol (post #13) of iron ferrochel 72 mg 3x day for 5 days, i have a bloodtest on the 6 th day, i don't know if im getting tested for ferritin though? Ill pull a test anyway to get some data , because i have to figure out something,,

Are you still taking this?
I'm doing 36mg 3x now, while on 1g of EQ..

 

[Ateam2023]

What's your hgb?
You won't get approved without a low hgb.
I'm not sure the specific number, but i think you need to be below 10.



Are you still taking this?
I'm doing 36mg 3x now, while on 1g of EQ..

yes, i need to get bloodwork, but from my research it takes a some time to actually move the meter in regards to better numbers, so i was gonna wait a month or so and then get checked.

 

[Fattyone]

I have thalassemia minor and saw a specialist hoping to get some meds or infusions and he told me just to deal with it and I wasn’t feeling any symptoms regardless of what I thought lol

 

[Tbaz192]

I have thalassemia minor and saw a specialist hoping to get some meds or infusions and he told me just to deal with it and I wasn’t feeling any symptoms regardless of what I thought lol

Exactly what happened to me. Laughed when I said can we pull fresh labs.

 

[Tbaz192]

What's your hgb?
You won't get approved without a low hgb.
I'm not sure the specific number, but i think you need to be below 10.



Are you still taking this?
I'm doing 36mg 3x now, while on 1g of EQ..

HGB was normal. Exactly what he said. You don’t get approved with these numbers. Was worth a shot.

How was / is your CBC on that protocol?
And are you doing 36mg x3 daily? Or ?

 

[Photon]

HGB was normal. Exactly what he said. You don’t get approved with these numbers. Was worth a shot.

How was / is your CBC on that protocol?
And are you doing 36mg x3 daily? Or ?

Yea 3x daily

I'm not sure whats going on, i have ferritin but my body is not using it.
My iron keeps dropping together with my saturation.

Started my blast with 48 HCT, 1g T, 1g EQ.

My HCT is around 40 now.
HGB around 12.
Iron sat below 10 lol...

Even i wont get approved for an infusion.

 

[Tbaz192]

Yea 3x daily

I'm not sure whats going on, i have ferritin but my body is not using it.
My iron keeps dropping together with my saturation.

Started my blast with 48 HCT, 1g T, 1g EQ.

My HCT is around 40 now.
HGB around 12.
Iron sat below 10 lol...

Even i wont get approved for an infusion.

My new doctor would say go see a GI specialist lol exactly what he told me.

but damn that’s shitty.
I have barely any ferritin, low iron sat, and lower MCHC.
Last time I took EQ. My CBC was elevated. Wild it’s actually lowering yours that much.

I’m Waiting to see my celiac antibody test & labs.

 

[Tbaz192]

Can’t make this shit up.
Got labs last Thursday. TAKING IRON for a couple months. on iron - low saturation, low ferritin. So odd…

One week later (this pic/yesterday) got these labs ^
Improvement on my iron and ferritin.
NOT TAKING IRON.

Copper came back at 74. Range is 70- 175

Celiac antibodies came back at <0.5/0.8 negative. Above <14.9 is consistent with celiacs.
I’m no where near close. But I’ll still get scoped.

Hmmmmm what next… more copper & still iron every other day. See if I can get my ferritin up.

 

[Tbaz192]

Well so much for copper and iron supplements. Zero improvement. I’m at a loss this time.
Was taking 60mg+ of iron every other night on its own, away from other supplements.

Nothing. Explains my fatigue and issues still.
If anyone else has recommendations lmk.

Still no iron transfusion (doc won’t do it)

 

[Photon]

View attachment 354856
Well so much for copper and iron supplements. Zero improvement. I’m at a loss this time.
Was taking 60mg+ of iron every other night on its own, away from other supplements.

Nothing. Explains my fatigue and issues still.
If anyone else has recommendations lmk.

Still no iron transfusion (doc won’t do it)

I'm gonna start injecting.
Something you might want to consider.

Before IV infusions they used IM Iron.
IM is still being used, tho less now.

Waiting for new needles currently.

Alternatively, there's private med spas that can do IV iron infusions.
Interestingly some of them cost the same as what people pay post insurance (~$400 an IV)

Edit: Your iron SAT HGB HCT looks fine to me.

 

[Tbaz192]

I'm gonna start injecting.
Something you might want to consider.

Before IV infusions they used IM Iron.
IM is still being used, tho less now.

Waiting for new needles currently.

Alternatively, there's private med spas that can do IV iron infusions.
Interestingly some of them cost the same as what people pay post insurance (~$400 an IV)

Edit: Your iron SAT HGB HCT looks fine to me.

Heard IMA IRON is painful. But that’s also where I’m at too. Nothing else is messed up.
I gotta figure out where to source it or the methods used.

Recently labs came back all normal. HGB was 17.2. So elevated by .1 or so.
So there’s demand for RBC creation but not enough to warrant 18 ferritin for months.

Med spa might also be an idea.

 

[Photon]

Heard IMA IRON is painful. But that’s also where I’m at too. Nothing else is messed up.
I gotta figure out where to source it or the methods used.

Recently labs came back all normal. HGB was 17.2. So elevated by .1 or so.
So there’s demand for RBC creation but not enough to warrant 18 ferritin for months.

Med spa might also be an idea.

You don't need it lol.
I wouldn't do it with those values either.
At those values i doubt you're getting any sides.

Your stores are low, but what's circulating is not low (In fact more then adequate).

Did you change oils recently?
Do you have historic wbc and neutrophils values?

 

[Tbaz192]

You don't need it lol.
I wouldn't do it with those values either.
At those values i doubt you're getting any sides.

Your stores are low, but what's circulating is not low (In fact more then adequate).

Did you change oils recently?
Do you have historic wbc and neutrophils values?

Haven’t donated in about a year now.
My iron values except ferritin have been average/normal.

I’ve had occasional elevated WBC. But didn’t show signs of sickness.
CRP has been normal. So no inflammation issues causing the ferritin drop.

Just don’t want to go blast more gear and be drop dead exhausted. Happens everytime. 4/5 weeks in. I get hit with feeling like shit and dead tired exhausted. Like my body can’t put on size or anything as well.

Been on TRT / Low HGH since I posted these. Had slight improvement briefly to ferritin being 31 now back to 18

 

[Jin23]

Haven’t donated in about a year now.
My iron values except ferritin have been average/normal.

I’ve had occasional elevated WBC. But didn’t show signs of sickness.
CRP has been normal. So no inflammation issues causing the ferritin drop.

Just don’t want to go blast more gear and be drop dead exhausted. Happens everytime. 4/5 weeks in. I get hit with feeling like shit and dead tired exhausted. Like my body can’t put on size or anything as well.

Been on TRT / Low HGH since I posted these. Had slight improvement briefly to ferritin being 31 now back to 18

An elevated crp, when on cycle, can cause high ferritin. If absorption is high enough.

In cases like yours The issue is low hepcidin expression caused by "TRT" and GH. Keep in mind, you have normal serum iron levels, your TSAT is perfect at 35% it's only the ferritin which is the issue and that is because of low hepcidin and no amount of normal iron supplementation will solve it. I thought you understood this as you linked Vorck's blog on the first page.

Hepcidin expression genetically varies a lot and so do other factors which influence it (like local inflammation, insulin resistance, etc.). So if you are genetically predisposed to low hepcidin activity vis a vie which ever mechanism, trt will cause you issues.

One important question is; how high are your free T levels? If TRT for you means supraphysiological T levels or even high "normal" range that is probably your issue. Especially if coupled with rhGH use, which also lovers hepcidin. So Where are your levels?

 

[Tbaz192]

An elevated crp, when on cycle, can cause high ferritin. If absorption is high enough.

In cases like yours The issue is low hepcidin expression caused by "TRT" and GH. Keep in mind, you have normal serum iron levels, your TSAT is perfect at 35% it's only the ferritin which is the issue and that is because of low hepcidin and no amount of normal iron supplementation will solve it. I thought you understood this as you linked Vorck's blog on the first page.

Hepcidin expression genetically varies a lot and so do other factors which influence it (like local inflammation, insulin resistance, etc.). So if you are genetically predisposed to low hepcidin activity vis a vie which ever mechanism, trt will cause you issues.

One important question is; how high are your free T levels? If TRT for you means supraphysiological T levels or even high "normal" range that is probably your issue. Especially if coupled with rhGH use, which also lovers hepcidin. So Where are your levels?

You’re right.

I totally forgot about the blog and hepcidin. The Brain fog is terrible. I don’t remember shit. And the fact with TRT it’s a crap shoot raising that to help increase ferritin, hence the protocol. Duh.

Damn HGH use.

Test is 1000 peak - free was 250-270ish peak. I’d pull up the test it’s self but it’s thru my Endo and their portal locked me out.

Looks like I need to follow the blog huh? My only shot other than lowering my TRT/HGh