Iron Panel Bloodwork Help Needed

Diesel_Dick · May 27, 2025

Looking to see if anyone can clear up some concerns I have about my iron panel. Started doing some more in-depth blood work the last couple of rounds and my most recent one I included an iron panel. As you can see I’m showing a very low iron saturation rate which is concerning me.

These bloods were taken 3 weeks into 700 Test E, 420 Mast P, and 5.9 IU HGH

Prior to that I was on a cruise dose of 300mg test and 4 IU HGH for 8 weeks.

Any insight into what is causing this, and productive path forward for treatment options would be appreciated.

BamaCrazy · May 27, 2025

Diesel_Dick said:
Looking to see if anyone can clear up some concerns I have about my iron panel. Started doing some more in-depth blood work the last couple of rounds and my most recent one I included an iron panel. As you can see I’m showing a very low iron saturation rate which is concerning me.

These bloods were taken 3 weeks into 700 Test E, 420 Mast P, and 5.9 IU HGH

Prior to that I was on a cruise dose of 300mg test and 4 IU HGH for 8 weeks.

Any insight into what is causing this, and productive path forward for treatment options would be appreciated.

View attachment 228204

Well, you have plenty of RBCs. Your iron is on the lower end but within range. Did you check ferritin levels also? Are you having symptoms of anemia? Fatigue and/or weakness?

I saw this response from a doctor when asked what it means to have normal iron levels but low saturation.
“Body needs more: One simplified answer is: Your iron level may be reported as within a normal range, but your body needs more iron than it currently has, and therefore makes more of the protein that transports iron in the blood. Your blood is now iron "absorbant" rather than "saturated," and your iron saturation is reported as low.”

I supplement with Iron bisglycinate and Jarrow Lactoferrin 250mg.

Diesel_Dick · May 27, 2025

BamaCrazy said:
Well, you have plenty of RBCs. Your iron is on the lower end but within range. Did you check ferritin levels also? Are you having symptoms of anemia? Fatigue and/or weakness?

I saw this response from a doctor when asked what it means to have normal iron levels but low saturation.
“Body needs more: One simplified answer is: Your iron level may be reported as within a normal range, but your body needs more iron than it currently has, and therefore makes more of the protein that transports iron in the blood. Your blood is now iron "absorbant" rather than "saturated," and your iron saturation is reported as low.”

I supplement with Iron bisglycinate and Jarrow Lactoferrin 250mg.

My ferritin is also on the low end of normal at 41 ng/dl.

I carry what I would consider a decent amount of fatigue day to day despite having most of my lifestyle variables in a close to ideal state.

I reached out to a trusted resource and he recommended starting with 25mg of ferrous bisglycinate + vitamin c away from meals, and retesting my levels after a month.

hogan87 · May 27, 2025

Very simple iron deficiency that can be fixed with a quality supplement. The cause maybe not enough iron in your diet, but the real cause is your body cranking out extra RBC`s due to AAS use. Very common.

Diesel_Dick · May 27, 2025

hogan87 said:
Very simple iron deficiency that can be fixed with a quality supplement. The cause maybe not enough iron in your diet, but the real cause is your body cranking out extra RBC`s due to AAS use. Very common.

Do you believe my above mentioned protocol of 25mg + vitamin c is a sufficient starting point, or should I be more aggressive with the dosage?

BamaCrazy · May 27, 2025

Diesel_Dick said:
Do you believe my above mentioned protocol of 25mg + vitamin c is a sufficient starting point, or should I be more aggressive with the dosage?

Also consider adding lactoferrin. It helps transport and regulate iron absorption.

Diesel_Dick · May 27, 2025

BamaCrazy said:
Also consider adding lactoferrin. It helps transport and regulate iron absorption.

Thanks for the advice. I’ll add 300mg to my protocol and retest at a later date.

hogan87 · May 28, 2025

Diesel_Dick said:
Do you believe my above mentioned protocol of 25mg + vitamin c is a sufficient starting point, or should I be more aggressive with the dosage?

Ferrous bisglycinate 25 mg iron is as effective as ferrous sulfate 50 mg iron in the prophylaxis of iron deficiency and anemia during pregnancy in a randomized trial - PubMed

In the prevention of ID and IDA, ferrous bisglycinate was not inferior to ferrous sulfate. Ferrous bisglycinate in a low dose of 25 mg iron/day appears to be adequate to prevent IDA in more than 95% of Danish women during pregnancy and postpartum.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Different subset of subjects but looks like 25mg iron biglys is enough, a good starting point

Ferrous bisglycinate 25 mg iron is as effective as ferrous sulfate 50 mg iron in the prophylaxis of iron deficiency and anemia during pregnancy in a randomized trial

specter · May 28, 2025

Take some iron, take it with vitamin c that help absorbtion and take iron eod that boosts levels faster.

alfresco · May 29, 2025

hogan87 said:
Very simple iron deficiency that can be fixed with a quality supplement. The cause maybe not enough iron in your diet, but the real cause is your body cranking out extra RBC`s due to AAS use. Very common.

Or the real cause could be and was in my wife’s case, her inability to absorb iron (malabsorption) hence biannual iron infusions. She did take all the iron supplements as discussed here to no avail. They won’t do squat if you lack the ability to absorb iron. Not saying this is the case here but something you could be tested for if this low iron / anemia persists.

Diesel_Dick · Jun 2, 2025

alfresco said:
Or the real cause could be and was in my wife’s case, her inability to absorb iron (malabsorption) hence biannual iron infusions. She did take all the iron supplements as discussed here to no avail. They won’t do squat if you lack the ability to absorb iron. Not saying this is the case here but something you could be tested for if this low iron / anemia persists.

Thanks for the insight into your wife’s situation. I’ll be sure to refer back to this if the issue persists.

bbxtreme · Jun 2, 2025

This is more of an iron utilization issue based on your numbers IMO. Could your iron levels come up slightly? Sure. But you also have high RBC and Hematocrit as I’m sure you’re aware.

Have you been sick recently? I saw a bit of immune issues in the CBC panel that could indicate you were recently sick.

Inflammatory markers? Ferritin is in a low to good range IMO so likely isn’t chronic inflammation.

Based on just these markers I’d lean more towards co-factors for utilization of iron- vitamin c, retinol, b vitamins and copper.

If you wanted to start with “one thing” I would say Ferrasorb by Thorne. The second would be a good cod liver oil supplement for retinol. I would just keep an eye on the hemoglobin and hematocrit and ensure hydration is good.

The_Beast · Jun 2, 2025

Diesel_Dick said:
Looking to see if anyone can clear up some concerns I have about my iron panel. Started doing some more in-depth blood work the last couple of rounds and my most recent one I included an iron panel. As you can see I’m showing a very low iron saturation rate which is concerning me.

These bloods were taken 3 weeks into 700 Test E, 420 Mast P, and 5.9 IU HGH

Prior to that I was on a cruise dose of 300mg test and 4 IU HGH for 8 weeks.

Any insight into what is causing this, and productive path forward for treatment options would be appreciated.

View attachment 228204

One possibility is that you are using more of your iron to produce red blood cells. AAS increases erythropoiesis (creation of red blood cells), so if you create more red blood cells you are using up more of the iron that you have, leaving less iron.

iron lifter · Jun 2, 2025

hogan87 said:
Very simple iron deficiency that can be fixed with a quality supplement. The cause maybe not enough iron in your diet, but the real cause is your body cranking out extra RBC`s due to AAS use. Very common.

this is what i think im going thru, higher demands from AAS use.

Diesel_Dick · Jun 4, 2025

bbxtreme said:
This is more of an iron utilization issue based on your numbers IMO. Could your iron levels come up slightly? Sure. But you also have high RBC and Hematocrit as I’m sure you’re aware.

Have you been sick recently? I saw a bit of immune issues in the CBC panel that could indicate you were recently sick.

Inflammatory markers? Ferritin is in a low to good range IMO so likely isn’t chronic inflammation.

Based on just these markers I’d lean more towards co-factors for utilization of iron- vitamin c, retinol, b vitamins and copper.

If you wanted to start with “one thing” I would say Ferrasorb by Thorne. The second would be a good cod liver oil supplement for retinol. I would just keep an eye on the hemoglobin and hematocrit and ensure hydration is good.

Have not been sick recently to my knowledge.

My CRP came back at .30
GGT came back at 18
eGFR came back at 90 which is a little low for me cause I can normally sustain 100-105 on or off cycle.

My hydration is normally fairly consistent at roughly 1.75-2g daily with sodium and potassium being tracked daily with TD and NTD values.

I currently only take 2,000 Natto so will be bumping that up and increasing my cardio to see if I can improve the RBC and Hematocrit while supplementing for the iron deficiency.

naps_for_gains · Feb 8, 2026

I made myself anemic by doing two power red donations 4 months apart last year, while on GLP1s, and finally fixed it with high-dose non-heme iron supplementation. Next step would have been to try a heme iron supplement (ex. proferrin) or an injectable version, but thankfully neither of those were necessary.

I took 4 of these per day for a total of 108 mg/d of elemental iron from iron bisglycinate: https://www.vitacost.com/now-iron-complex

Gizmo · Feb 8, 2026

naps_for_gains said:
I made myself anemic by doing two power red donations 4 months apart last year, while on GLP1s, and finally fixed it with high-dose non-heme iron supplementation. Next step would have been to try a heme iron supplement (ex. proferrin) or an injectable version, but thankfully neither of those were necessary.

I took 4 of these per day for a total of 108 mg/d of elemental iron from iron bisglycinate: https://www.vitacost.com/now-iron-complex

View attachment 247039

I was going to ask if he donated blood frequently (stop doing that).