PSA: Are you female? Are you a vegetarian? Is your performance suffering? CHECK YOUR FERRITIN!!!

[hollersnhills]

@ttyler Thank you!

 

[fideminillalux]

@hollersnhills Thanks for the info!

 

[mathighas]

@fideminillalux Doctor recommended that I increase my water intake if I got any issues with my iron supplement.

 

[thanksman]

@fideminillalux Vegetarian Female here with low iron - Most over the counter iron supplements or iron prescriptions are not vegetarian (they are made form desiccated cow liver) and I have been told these will likely cause constipation.

I take a vegan iron supplement pill called Blood Builder (that you are not able to get with a prescription) which has managed to raise my levels from 4 to 12. My hair has never grown faster than in the past year, I have more energy, and far less blue tinge under my eyes. I am able to take it at my convenience and what works best for my body to absorb it.

There was one other vegetarian option that also did not require a prescription at a health food store called Floradex/Floravit (one is gluten free) but I found it a hassle to keep it refrigerated all the time, taking it to work, and taking it at the ideal time.

edit for accidentally posting before completed sentence

 

[ttyler]

@thanksman That doesn’t sound accurate. Ferrous fumarate, gluconate and sulfate, which are the the most common iron salts in supplements, are prepared by dissolving iron in acid and adding the compound with the counter-ion. Heme iron supplements (or desiccated liver) are a specialty product and, IME, are clearly advertised on the label. It’s a lot more work to isolate the heme and extract the iron than to file off some elemental iron.

 

[fideminillalux]

@thanksman Thank you! I'll check this out.

 

[darren19]

@thanksman My doctor recommended Blood Builder too and it definitely increased my iron levels. I just couldn't get past the strong smell/taste though! I guess that's an issue with most iron supplements though.

 

[thanksman]

@darren19 Yes, I've also noticed blood builder smells and taste a bit odd. I've gotten used to it out of necessity.

I took the plain drugstore iron supplement pill and that didn't smell funny to me. But I'm sure there must be something else that is vegetarian that doesn't taste weird.

 

[qianer]

@fideminillalux I just got prescribed iron supplements (small red blood cells and eventually will be anemic) and the pharmacist said if I experienced constipation to use/take? a stool softener.

 

[vlo]

@qianer This is what my doctor said!

 

[lawrencemcdonald123]

@vlo Prunes are yummy

 

[mjlavall]

@vlo My ferritin is frequently low. I first found out after a few weeks of being fatigued. I didn’t realize it was such a common thing among women.

 

[wifikitten]

@mjlavall Might I add to this conversation that the most common cause for iron deficiency in young women is excessive blood loss with menstruation.

As for normal values for ferritin: lower limit of normal is indeed 20, however over 30 is considered adequate to prevent anemia. As OP pointed out, iron overload can be dangerous so don't go overboard.

I'm an internal medicine physician.

 

[dawn16]

@wifikitten Hey! Just saw this post and I know you can’t provide medical advice online but just wanted an opinion if you get a chance.

I just saw my lab results for ferritin, and it says 29 rn, I have been supplementing with iron and still had this result. Over the last week or so I’ve been so fatigued that I had to take this week off lifting.

I know my results are technically in the normal range but does it make sense to have a meeting with my doctor to get some more testing done for iron? The rest of my lab results seemed fine so this is the only thing I can point to as a potential cause for the crazy fatigue

 

[wifikitten]

@dawn16 Hi! Couple of questions: are you anemic? If not, I wouldn't worry about it. Second, how are you supplementing your iron? Through over the counter stuff, or with a prescription? Most over the counter stuff is very low dose, so that might explain why your ferritin level stayed about the same.

If you're not anemic, your iron stores (ie ferritin) is sufficient enough, so I personally wouldn't do anything else about it. Some people, however, do feel better with higher stores, so you could ask your physician for proper supplementation for say, 3 months, and see if it does anything for you.
If you are however anemic, you would need proper supplementation and depending on your patient characteristics you'd need a workup. Consult your physician.

All the best!

 

[isaiah226]

@vlo I'm super glad that you were able to turn your performance around so quickly, but I've had friends (female distance runners) with low ferritin who took iron supplements for weeks if not months before they truly started to feel better. I wanted to share this just in case anyone is going through something similar and feels discouraged - you'll feel better eventually!

 

[jeannielois]

@isaiah226 There are also specific ferritin supplements. I use the one from Cardiovascular Research.

 

[youthlights]

@isaiah226 Was going to say the same thing. Surprised that the doctor didn’t immediately go for iron infusions with a ferritin of 4. My ferritin was at a 1.7 when I had it checked and my dr immediately had me go on iron infusion therapy stating that iron pills would not help me get to a normal range. After 4 infusions I was feeling much much better.

 

[stb]

@youthlights This is dependent on any coexisting situations such as whether there's simultaneous anemia, whether oral iron is well tolerated or causes upset stomach for the person, whether they have malabsorption, etc etc. Generally for healthy people who aren't actively losing blood oral iron is cheaper, easier a little safer, and effective.

There's more to these things than meets the eye. My suggestion is, share with your provider any questions or concerns that you have, but don't assume that their clinical judgment is correct or incorrect without consulting another qualified clinician.

 

[yusha]

@vlo Ferritin... is a different thing than iron, but helps our body store it? Therefore low ferritin leads to low iron, even if there's enough in your diet?

Or does ferritin = iron?