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

[Jin23]

Yeah I dropped the reta last week.
Lowering HRT & going to take 72mg iron empty stomach every morning. Get ferritin test in 2-3 weeks
See if any improvement.

My guess is, these prolonged cruise level. Just tanked my ferritin and it’s never been able to prooperly recover.
I go thru cycles of feeling fine and can get after it in the gym. And then a month or two later. I add in another compound or up the dose slightly & get hit with exhaustion and fatigue. And ferritin comes back Low every time. Body just needs time

That will just cause gi issues. Take it with a little bit of food or just a normal meal ... gain, you probably don't have any iron absorption issues.

 

[Superchicken]

Doesn’t help when you get told 20 different things including from doctors but everyone says vitamin C no matter what lol.

Doesn’t really hurt ig

The vit c helps suppress hepicidin when you’re taking higher and more frequent doses. If you’re sure you have low hepicidin, I don’t see why you would need to take it. I know Vorck’s protocol says to skip it and vit d for the same reason.

Restoring ferritin can take awhile and isn’t something I’d back off on. I ended up almost blacking out while doing back squats and again on the treadmill. It had gotten to the point that I saw stars when bending down to just pick up a case of water. The air hunger was the last and worst symptom, but didn’t stop me from training because I’m a dumbass and didn’t think I was really that bad. I remember running and wondering if I was having a stroke or something because of how hard it was to catch my breath. I couldn’t ever take a truly deep breath ever. At its worst, I’d have stop and sit down or lean my head down just to walk across my house.

My dr wants ferritin min 100 now, and if I start showing any cbc drops I get threatened with an infusion. Exercise both strength and endurance will burn through stores faster than most so it can feel like 5 steps fwd and 10 back.

The other lab I get checked is reticulocyte and folate in case you want to add either on jic.

 

[Tbaz192]

My dr wants ferritin min 100 now, and if I start showing any cbc drops I get threatened with an infusion. Exercise both strength and endurance will burn through stores faster than most so it can feel like 5 steps fwd and 10 back.

The other lab I get checked is reticulocyte and folate in case you want to add either on jic.

that’s all crazy issues! Mine has never gotten that bad. Just weak limbs, tingly, ear ringing, exhausted, very winded doing any high cardio work like my job lol.
But yet … not a single doctor I’ve seen gives a flying fuck.
“Oh you’re fine that’s not bad, you’re showing no signs of anemia or any major issues.”

I literally begged for an infusion to bump my number up just to see if life got better. Denied.

 

[Superchicken]

that’s all crazy issues! Mine has never gotten that bad. Just weak limbs, tingly, ear ringing, exhausted, very winded doing any high cardio work like my job lol.
But yet … not a single doctor I’ve seen gives a flying fuck.
“Oh you’re fine that’s not bad, you’re showing no signs of anemia or any major issues.”

I literally begged for an infusion to bump my number up just to see if life got better. Denied.

I started out more like you and it gradually got worse. I also didn’t know how bad it was until my ferritin was single digits. It’s not something drs check, but my primary did when I kept complaining.

Shocking to me how useless drs are for this. When I met with one of the best hematologists in my city and gave all my symptoms, he told me it was great that I’d stopped running. Absolute idiot didn’t want to listen that I didn’t stop because I wanted to. What dr tells a patient not to exercise?

I’m not sure if they work in your area, but Heme On Call is a telemedicine clinic that specializes in iron infusions. I’m not sure of cost or anything, but I do know they take some insurances. It might be an option.

 

[Tbaz192]

I started out more like you and it gradually got worse. I also didn’t know how bad it was until my ferritin was single digits. It’s not something drs check, but my primary did when I kept complaining.

Shocking to me how useless drs are for this. When I met with one of the best hematologists in my city and gave all my symptoms, he told me it was great that I’d stopped running. Absolute idiot didn’t want to listen that I didn’t stop because I wanted to. What dr tells a patient not to exercise?

I’m not sure if they work in your area, but Heme On Call is a telemedicine clinic that specializes in iron infusions. I’m not sure of cost or anything, but I do know they take some insurances. It might be an option.

Yeah my hematologist was like hm I’m not sure man. Let’s just try doubling your iron dose. But every other day instead of everyday.

Yeah sure. And look where that got me. Same numbers lol.
I’ve learned forums & AI, with cross referencing things prove to give better answers than normal doctors
I’d see specialists but have zero faith in them. And don’t want to dish out hundreds of dollars for the same answers

 

[Tbaz192]

Ran the Vorck protocol for 5 days.
Getting labs tomorrow.

(Gut was alright. Just didn’t pass BM’s as often. So that definitely was an issue)

Hoping my ferritin is elevated higher than what it was.
Needs to be way higher than 13-18. No shit.

Hoping the lower TRT dose will help sustain it longer and that was my main issue.
Absolutely no shot I could’ve waited 3-12 months for any change with basic iron supplementation. And how I felt.
Obviously that didn’t work from August to now. My ferritin remained the same. So daily supplement didn’t do jack.

We’ll see what comes back

 

[Photon]

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.

Would an iron infusion speed things up?
It does increase hepcidin afaik.

 

[Tbaz192]

Would an iron infusion speed things up?
It does increase hepcidin afaik.

It should. Jin32 seems to know what he’s talking bout with this stuff. Obviously I don’t. But my guess at those doses I was on, I’d get drained again eventually. Which If insurance accepts the fact I need infusions. They’d be covered and cheaper.

But that also requires my f’n doctor to get on board with it.

Also just now understanding all this slightly more. So it’s been a cluster.

 

[Jin23]

Would an iron infusion speed things up?
It does increase hepcidin afaik.

Yes but they are unhealthy and thus not something you can use continuously.

Chronic low iron is always a symptom of something that needs to be fixed.

 

[Jin23]

But that also requires my f’n doctor to get on board with it.

He shouldn't get on board with it. You have issues that need fixing. Infusions are a last resort.

 

[Tbaz192]

He shouldn't get on board with it. You have issues that need fixing. Infusions are a last resort.

Well that’s interesting, given my labs all come back fine, no GI issues, no inflammation issues to cause problems. No legitimate issues to cause this low ferritin.

Just very low ferritin probably from my TRT use & apparently my body doesn’t do jack shit with any sort of iron supplementation. Been taking iron 2-3 different ways since July… no change.

Which at that point infusions would be a next step don’t ya think? Given I can’t absorb iron worth a shit.

Making iron infusions seem like they’re the devil or something Jin

 

[Tbaz192]

Yes but they are unhealthy and thus not something you can use continuously.

Chronic low iron is always a symptom of something that needs to be fixed.

Not sure when iron infusions became unhealthy?

Sure over doing them & iron overload.
But that’s why places/doctors pull labs before administering.

 

[Tbaz192]

Vorck protocol labs are trickling in

I’ll post once they’re complete.
For the experiment it was.

Did it truly help me? Not sure. Dealing with some other issues probably.
Did I do it for the sake of the forum? yes.
————————
Going forward after these results.

I’ve changed/added digestive enzymes, different iron protocol daily, changing doses, different meal timing and combos, and a few different supplements.
( to figure out and be more natural or an approach)

 

[Tbaz192]

well nothing changed tbh. Just was slightly dehydrated and ferritin went up 12 points lol

 

[Photon]

Not sure when iron infusions became unhealthy?

Sure over doing them & iron overload.
But that’s why places/doctors pull labs before administering.

They come with risk.
Google iron infusion staining.
If it subq leaks you'd get staining that can be permanent or take 10 over years to clear..

 

[Tbaz192]

They come with risk.
Google iron infusion staining.
If it subq leaks you'd get staining that can be permanent or take 10 over years to clear..

My luck thatd happen to me & I’m super pale so it’ll be very noticeable. YIKES

 

[Photon]

The posts on low iron are all over the forums in different threads lol.

I did my piggy iron shot today.
Used gleptoferron which has significantly lesser chance of staining.


Mixed in an old insulin vial
3ml L-carnitine 700mg/ml
3ml glutathione 700mg/ml
3ml piggy iron 200mg/ml


Injected 3ml IM DG 25g 1.5in.
Used an IV hose.
Flushed with 1ml of carnitine + airlock method.
Total was 3+1=4ml.




Will do 2 more shots in the following weeks then pull labs.

@AllGoodThings
@Ateam2023
@Tbaz192

 

[Photon]

Linking this, trying to keep relevant posts together.

Iron dextran shot done by @AllGoodThings

Post in thread 'Defiant Pharma (US Domestic)'

Oct 25, 2025

Your iron sat is insanely low the last time you posted labs <5.
Did you ever get around to doing any IM iron dextran shots?

Just a bit ago I did a 25mg (0.5ml) iron dextran test shot (to check for possible allergic reactions) followed by a 100mg (2ml) injection an hour later. I diluted the 100mg/ml vet preparation down to what human versions typically are, which is 50mg/ml, using 0.9% sodium chloride. I made 30ml this way. Google told me to use a 19g or 20g 2" needle for injecting... yeah, I don't think so. It said the gauge needed to be thicker due to iron dextran being...

• AllGoodThings

• 

 

[Tbaz192]

The posts on low iron are all over the forums in different threads lol.

I did my piggy iron shot today.
Used gleptoferron which has significantly lesser chance of staining.

View attachment 358197

Looks like the burnt up ATF fluid I just removed from a 6L90 trans on our work trucks we have at my company lol

Definitely interested to see how it affects your labs. Also appreciate the doses / method to help avoid staining.

 

[Tbaz192]

@Photon
Also how was the IM pain/pip with this iron. I’ve read/heard IM iron can hurt like a bitch.