Low Ferritin/Common with AAS use

[Thebigone]

Update:

It's now been two months since my last phlebotomy and my ferritin and iron dropped even more. This is just bizzare.

10/18
Total iron 79 range 50-180
Iron binding capacity 453 range 250-425
% saturation 17 range 15-60
Ferritin 18 range 20-345
Transferrin 309 range 188-349

I gave blood the same day and checked my results one month later


11/24

Total iron 94 range 50-180
Iron binding capacity 485 range 250-425
% saturation 19 range 15-60
Ferritin 16 range 20-345
Transferrin wasn't tested for some reason

Just got them checked again and it's even worse:

12/22

Total iron 54 range 50-180
Iron binding capacity 504 range 250-425
% saturation 11 range 15-60
Ferritin 14 range 20-345
Transferrin 376 range 188-349

I thought maybe I had a gluten intolerance and wasn't absorbing iron so I got an IgA test which came back normal.


The past four or five days I started taking a 65mg ferrous sulfate tab with 1000mg vitaminC when I wake up in the early morning to use the restroom then go back to sleep for a few hours so it fully digests. Is one tab enough or should I take more? I will get another blood test but how long should I stay on the iron before I take the five days off before the next blood test? Also I found out that Anemia runs in my family but I think this is more of a correlation between AAS somehow to depleting iron that we don't fully know about yet.

Update. So I started taking one iron tab with 1000 mg vitamin C first thing in the morning actually early morning and waiting about three or four hours before I eat since I fast in the mornings. This should ensure optimal absorption. I did this for two weeks and got blood work done. As you can see my total iron and ferritin increased from before.

Total iron 97 range 50-180
Iron binding capacity 506 range 250-425
% saturation 19 range 15-60
Ferritin 25 range 20-345
Transferrin 409 range 188-341

Then I took six days off iron and got the same blood work again and below are the results:

Total iron 63 range 50-180
binding capacity 487 range 250-425
% saturation 13 range 15-60
Ferritin 17 range 20-345
Transferrin 367 range 188-341

So it pretty much dropped back down to what it was before. This leads me to think I might have some type of an iron deficiency where I don't absorb iron. I have an appointment with a new hematologist on Monday so I'm going to bring Him my labs and see what he thinks.

 

[nothuman]

Update. So I started taking one iron tab with 1000 mg vitamin C first thing in the morning actually early morning and waiting about three or four hours before I eat since I fast in the mornings. This should ensure optimal absorption. I did this for two weeks and got blood work done. As you can see my total iron and ferritin increased from before.

Total iron 97 range 50-180
Iron binding capacity 506 range 250-425
% saturation 19 range 15-60
Ferritin 25 range 20-345
Transferrin 409 range 188-341

Then I took six days off iron and got the same blood work again and below are the results:

Total iron 63 range 50-180
binding capacity 487 range 250-425
% saturation 13 range 15-60
Ferritin 17 range 20-345
Transferrin 367 range 188-341

So it pretty much dropped back down to what it was before. This leads me to think I might have some type of an iron deficiency where I don't absorb iron. I have an appointment with a new hematologist on Monday so I'm going to bring Him my labs and see what he thinks.

Fuck this tells me my ferritin might have been artificially elevated since I didn't stop ferrous sulfate. I think I need to see the hematologist again

 

[Thebigone]

^^^. My appointment with my hematologist is Monday so I will fill you in. I just hope he can figure out what's wrong because I have done hours of research and now where can I find any thing about low ferritin while still having high hemoglobin. They work together so this seems very rare and makes no sense. Also with low ferritin it's very common to have low B12 and zinc levels and both of mine came back normal and B12 is actually high. B6 is high as well. Sometimes if people have a digestion disorder with gluten or something like Celiac that can cause Iron to not be absorbed so I narrowed that out by getting an IgA test which came back normal. So with all of the above I would point to having the complete opposite of low iron yet at the same time two major side effects of low iron are extreme fatigue and a weakened immune system. I do have extreme fatigue and I get sick all the time so that would make sense. Hopefully this hematologist is good.

 

[Stewie]

I believe you two are being a little impatience. It takes a few months to restore one's iron/ferritin status with supplemental iron (ferrous sulfate/gluconate). With a consistent daily basis.

Without supplemention can take upwards of 6+ months unphlebotomized and keeping a watchful eye on inhibitory foods, ect.

If either of you two may have been supplementing with Fe for several months with no avail. One could possibly suspect hypochlorhydria (insufficient hydrochloric acid). In which supplemental Betaine HCl may help.

 

[Thebigone]

I believe you two are being a little impatience. It takes a few months to restore one's iron/ferritin status with supplemental iron (ferrous sulfate/gluconate). With a consistent daily basis.

Without supplemention can take upwards of 6+ months unphlebotomized and keeping a watchful eye on inhibitory foods, ect.

If either of you two may have been supplementing with Fe for several months with no avail. One could possibly suspect hypochlorhydria (insufficient hydrochloric acid). In which supplemental Betaine HCl may help.

Even though I only supplemented with iron for two weeks there was an increase in my ferritin yet after five days of ceasing usage my levels dropped back down again so even though it was only two weeks shouldn't my levels have at least remain the same instead of dropping?

 

[Stewie]

You essentially didn't get any therapeutic value from the short-term you was taking Fe.

Take a read through this.

Donating Blood? Taking Iron Supplements Afterward Helps Speed Recovery Time, Prevents Anemia

 

[Stewie]

Either of you two take curcumin?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2615657/

 

[Frito]

Either of you two take curcumin?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2615657/

WOW never heard about that before, so you would recommend curcumin users to do an iron test when they got blood work?

 

[Thebigone]

Either of you two take curcumin?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2615657/

Well shoot I take 3G curcumim per day so looks like I'll be dropping that. I had my appointment with my new hematologist today. I'm not very thrilled about his knowledge as he didn't seem to know much more than I already knew. In fact when I brought up the curcumin study he asked me what is curcumim and I had to say Tumeric before he understood. He basically thinks that even though I was doing phlebotomies too close together two years ago that it depleted the iron so much my stores never returned to normal And since I continued to donate once every three or four months after that it never made them improve. He said for me to continue taking my iron and not to be afraid of iron as you can't take too much and he was pretty strong in his believe that my hematocrit should have no negative affect when taking the iron. His quote was " ride out the iron as much as you can handle for two months and get checked out again." He said since it doesn't bother my stomach and I get no constipation to go ahead and take two tabs of iron first thing in the morning but he also said Iron absorbtion is not affected that much whether you take it on an empty stomach, with vitamin C, or with meals. He said it's all going to absorb pretty much the same which is the opposite of what I read online which kind of worries me about this guy but my next step is going to be just taking 2 iron tabs per day and I'll get retested in one month for peace of mind and then go back to him the following month as well.

 

[mike036]

So I received my bloodwork back today .in October my ferritin was a 9. I used ferrous sulfate for about 2 weeks and stopped due to upset stomach and constipation .i retested in November it climbed to 20.now without using any iron supplementation my new bloodwork has my ferritin at 79 and serum iron at 80.both well into the normal range.my primary checked my stool and found no blood .i am at a loss trying to figure out how my ferritin dropped so low and bounced right back up .

 

[Thebigone]

So I received my bloodwork back today .in October my ferritin was a 9. I used ferrous sulfate for about 2 weeks and stopped due to upset stomach and constipation .i retested in November it climbed to 20.now without using any iron supplementation my new bloodwork has my ferritin at 79 and serum iron at 80.both well into the normal range.my primary checked my stool and found no blood .i am at a loss trying to figure out how my ferritin dropped so low and bounced right back up .

Were you donating back when it was low?

I've been on 2iron tabs per day on empty stomach for about 10 days now with no issues. Stool a little black sometimes but never constipated. Gonna re check in about 2'ish more weeks so I can see what a month of 2 tabs has done. Dying to start another cycle but I'm going to wait because I need to see first if the iron effects my hemoglobin at all even though the hematologist said it wouldn't.

 

[mike036]

Were you donating back when it was low?

I've been on 2iron tabs per day on empty stomach for about 10 days now with no issues. Stool a little black sometimes but never constipated. Gonna re check in about 2'ish more weeks so I can see what a month of 2 tabs has done. Dying to start another cycle but I'm going to wait because I need to see first if the iron effects my hemoglobin at all even though the hematologist said it wouldn't.

I donated about 6 weeks before my first ,when my ferritin was a 9 and haven't donated since .my hema/hemo are still normal but have been rising

 

[nothuman]

Ok wtf, for the last 2 months I was taking ferrous sulfate, I had not many sides. Well ever since I've been off it for three days now, suddenly my stomach is a mess and having a lot of bowel issues. I didn't find much about having this kind of withdrawal online. Anyone else have this happen when stopping ferrous sulfate?

 

[Thebigone]

Ok wtf, for the last 2 months I was taking ferrous sulfate, I had not many sides. Well ever since I've been off it for three days now, suddenly my stomach is a mess and having a lot of bowel issues. I didn't find much about having this kind of withdrawal online. Anyone else have this happen when stopping ferrous sulfate?

Constipated or loose stool? If comstipated that's weird if loose maybe your not absorbing certain foods from low iron. My stool is always loose.

 

[nothuman]

Constipated or loose stool? If comstipated that's weird if loose maybe your not absorbing certain foods from low iron. My stool is always loose.

Sorry, loose...NOT constipated at all

 

[Thebigone]

Sorry, loose...NOT constipated at all

Mine is as well. Part of me is thinking the loose stool is due to low iron sense iron affects certain food absorption's. But in about five more days I'm getting another iron test done and my Gastro just ran a full panel for me to see if I have any food allergies.

 

[Thebigone]

Update:
Had a phlebotomy done around June 1. I hadn't had one for like six months. Hematocrit was around 56.

Ever since then I've only been on around 175 mg test per week instead of 300-500 like in the past. So about two weeks ago I went to get another one done and my hematocrit was 63. I only had about 8 ounces of water in me from the time I woke up until the time I got tested which was about a 4 to 5 hour period. I was pretty dehydrated because that's extremely high for me. Anyway I was curious how my iron was affected by this so I got blood work done on Wednesday and I got my results back.

Rbc 6.04 range 4.2-5.8

Hemoglobin 19.2 range 13.2-17.1

After I saw the hemoglobin I was pretty pissed until I saw the hematocrit.

Hematocrit 53.6 range 38.5-50

RDW was 12.2 range 11-15

Rdw actually improved a lot. It was always high in the past around 16 or 17. I had my CPAP adjusted to a higher pressure(from 12-14) so maybe that's why.

I'm not sure how they ever came up with that hemoglobin multiplied by three because it's a drastic difference from my blood work. I'd still like to get my hemo down to 50 but it looks like my iron is just starting to get affected so I might be better off waiting a couple more months to let it replenish.

Here are my iron results

Total Iron 125 range 50-180
Iron binding capacity 400range 250-425
Ferritin 31 range 20-345
Transferritin 345 range 188-341
Folate 12.9 range >5.4
B12 1617 range 200-1100

( I had a pre-workout that morning which had B12 in it)

So judging from this I think instead of doing another phlebotomy right away I'll wait a few more months and my iron should be better since it looks like it's trying to get back to normal due to the transferritin.

 

[nothuman]

Update:

Had a phlebotomy done around June 1. I hadn't had one for like six months. Hematocrit was around 56.



Ever since then I've only been on around 175 mg test per week instead of 300-500 like in the past. So about two weeks ago I went to get another one done and my hematocrit was 63. I only had about 8 ounces of water in me from the time I woke up until the time I got tested which was about a 4 to 5 hour period. I was pretty dehydrated because that's extremely high for me. Anyway I was curious how my iron was affected by this so I got blood work done on Wednesday and I got my results back.



Rbc 6.04 range 4.2-5.8



Hemoglobin 19.2 range 13.2-17.1



After I saw the hemoglobin I was pretty pissed until I saw the hematocrit.



Hematocrit 53.6 range 38.5-50



RDW was 12.2 range 11-15



Rdw actually improved a lot. It was always high in the past around 16 or 17. I had my CPAP adjusted to a higher pressure(from 12-14) so maybe that's why.



I'm not sure how they ever came up with that hemoglobin multiplied by three because it's a drastic difference from my blood work. I'd still like to get my hemo down to 50 but it looks like my iron is just starting to get affected so I might be better off waiting a couple more months to let it replenish.



Here are my iron results



Total Iron 125 range 50-180

Iron binding capacity 400range 250-425

Ferritin 31 range 20-345

Transferritin 345 range 188-341

Folate 12.9 range >5.4

B12 1617 range 200-1100



( I had a pre-workout that morning which had B12 in it)



So judging from this I think instead of doing another phlebotomy right away I'll wait a few more months and my iron should be better since it looks like it's trying to get back to normal due to the transferritin.

Man i feel for you because I generally have the exact same numbers as you. It’s pretty shitty when you want to dump tons of blood but can’t because of a low ferritin. This is why I’ve stayed on ferrous sulfate a long time.

 

[alfresco]

For what it is worth . . .

This thread just caught my eye. Good info on iron. Thanks all for
of your fine contributions.

Just an FYI . . .

My wife had been low in iron for the longest time. Could never
give blood as her iron was too low. She has been a vegetarian
(a well-informed one I might add) for 30+ years. Was recently,
finally, diagnosed as anemic. Funny thing is she walked, solo,
from Mexico to Canada, 20 – 30 mile days . . . anemic. And gained
size in her legs (I measured before and after) despite a calorie
deficient diet; could not carry an ‘excess’ amount of calories.

But I digress . . . Her doctor now just thinks her body (and
brain) has the uncanny ability to adapt. But I would be remiss
not to mention she has the strongest will, mind, the ability to
focus on a goal and achieve it. She must have just adapted to
the low iron over time and knew no different. And . . . to be
totally transparent, she is ‘wired’ for endurance. Must be all
‘slow-twitch’ as she can just go and go.

Now . . . finally, as a function of being diagnosed as anemic,
they looked up from the bottom and down from the top and found
nothing to explain her low iron. Is he losing it from someplace?
We don’t know. I even read her doctors report on-line and he
was amazed, could not believe her accomplishment while anemic.
He had never seen anybody like her before in all his years of
practice. Her total iron was / has been 6 as she could not tolerate
any oral iron supplementation.

It has already been mentioned, and I am endorsing it, something
some of you guys might want to think about, something she finally
had to do, and that was go in for an iron transfusion, to fill up the
tank so-to-speak. It worked great for her. Zero side effects. She
gets iron checked monthly now and it is declining ever so slowly
(still can’t figure out where it is going). Maybe she will need this,
perhaps, once a year. We will see. She as so much more energy now,
the closest thing to a perpetual motion machine I have ever seen.
Scary. Plus, an added benefit was a nagging back problem she had
has had gone away. Poof. No longer there. (Palates helped too.)

I feel for you guys that are stuck between a rock and hard spot.
Damned if you . . . damned if you don’t.

I on the other hand, who gave blood earlier today; immediately after
my weight workout. I have given give blood consistently, every two
months since I started TRT over 10 years ago. I am 63 years old. My
hemo today was 17.6, bp 132 / 63, pulse 63, temp 97.1. Gave a full
pint in 6 minutes and 57 seconds. (I was super hydrated, very important)
My iron has always been good. Don’t know why. I just eat a ‘balanced
diet,’ take zero dietary supplements, eat very little meat, maybe fish
about 2 – 3 times a week, am damn close to being a vegetarian. Guess
I just am one of the lucky ones in that department . . . about time I got
lucky at something

 

[XstarchildX]

Since this thread has been revived, I thought I would drop some questions in here for the experts (Stewie comes to mind lol) since I am in a similar situation.

I was iron deficient and my H and H were low from frequent donations. Got on ferrous sulfate 325mg 3 times a day for about 4 or so months then the doc retested with just a CBC. RDW and everything was back in range but my RBC, hematocrit and hemoglobin shot up. I donated blood twice and my Crit is much better but creeping up again. I have an appointment to donate again in two weeks but I'm worried about my iron and ferritin stores as well. It seems like guys in our shoes should donate less frequently despite higher H and H and just try to stay hydrated and take all the other precautionary measures? I'm at a loss as to what to do. My doc is being a complete asshat because he wants me to stop TRT (he doesn't believe in it. Says low T is "myth" and TRT doesn't work). I can't get a new doc right now due to insurance, so I'm back to running my own bloods, treating myself, etc. Any advice?