Iron/ Ferritin frustrations

Oh good, thank you!

I live at almost 6000 ft above sea level, my haemoglobin is generally between 14 and 16!!! I'd feel dead at 10 lol

are you sure the RBC 10? a typical numbers are 3.8-5.5 millions per uL. Normal. some labs have 4-5.5

I feel OK with RBC around 4.4-4.6. taht is the number that is normal for me when I feel OK and have enough iron.

10 seams really high.. Maybe you mean hemoglobin? typical hemoglobin 11.5-16.0 g/dL

i was mixed up with hemoglobin

As I understand it, total iron binding capacity (TIBC) measures how well iron is moving through your body. It measures transferrin, which is the main protein your blood that binds to iron. It's an indirect measure of how much transferrin is available to bind to iron and absorb it.

A high TIBC can indicate iron deficiency. This number would be high because your liver is producing more transferrin-- it's trying to maximize the use of what little iron is available in your body.

If anybody has a better explanation, feel free to correct me please :)

Somif range is 250-400 336 is considered okay?

I can't say "ok" since I'm not a doctor, but yeah, 336 is within the "normal" range from all of the medical info I've read.

I always use my doctor's advice on how much and what kind of iron to take. Taking too much iron can be deadly. You can also have a second opinion.

Everyone commenting on this post has taken time to educate themselves, has regular blood tests and works in a collaborative relationship with their medical providers.

Blindly accepting what a provider tells you is a recipe for disaster because nobody cares more about our health than we do.

I can agree so much with you. Even when labs are still in "Normal" range - most of us can feel like crap when they get low normal. Plus lab to lab may have different "normal" range.

Even now - as I deal with severe symptoms of low iron - shortness of breath, depression, anxiety, RLS like severe pains, etc. my labs are technically "normal".

I am well informed to know better. And I am lucky that I have docs who understand and whose motto is "I don't treat blood test, I treat people" .

First time I ever felt like i do feel now- my docs were telling me that my labs were OK, while I felt like dying or killing myself. A long term vet, whose health was permanently changed because of a bad doc advise (take Flintstones and tums, you will be dine) reviewed my labs and showed me where my numbers were either barely low normal - or even below normal. The items that dropped so much during my first 2.5 years post op were the vital numbers : proteins, B12, Iron, ferritin, RBC, D3. Plus I was missing a bunch of labs.

I had to insist on getting referral to a hematologist. After my first iron infusion series I felt like I could clime a mountain . And i could. Before infusions I had shortness of breath getting up the stairs. I would fall asleep after drinking triple shot espresso while sitting on the sofa. A month after infusions i was hiking in high altitude in Colorado. I could stop taking my anxiety - depression pills.

Since then - not only I get supper proactive with tracking my own labs - but I also changed doctors who are on my "team". Or educating the ones that are willing to learn and treat me - not my lab work.

When I see my numbers dare dropping I can increase my dosages to prevent a complete fail. Since my first iron infusion series I had 2 more. Every one lasted longer that the previous one because I try very hard to prevent the numbers bottoming out.

I compare my blood work numbers to money in my account:

• barely normal/below normal- is like constantly struggling to pay bills, always stressing, always short
• low normal - having just enough to pay bill and nothing left to have some-quality of life,
• mid range - not only having enough to pay bills - bit some extra for unexpected expenses (i.e surgery)
• optimum - not a=only having enough to pay bills but also enough to have fun - like travel, and be happy.

My goal is to have my blood work optimal - better than average but not too much to become toxic. To balance all together. IMO -Low is bad - but too high - is not good either, it can be toxic.