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

[jeannielois]

@yusha Ferritin controls the storage of iron (to keep it from interfering with other chemistry going on in the cell). Narrows the highs and lows, preventing (short-term) iron toxicity and iron deficiency.

 

[shawn777]

@yusha To be more precise (if you care haha), ferritin is a protein as well as a storage molecule, as is another protein called transferrin (the body developed this mechanism not only to move iron in and out of cells, but also to sequester it from bacteria that also utilize iron). Ferritin's production is increased when you're taking in a lot of iron (so it can compensate and store it).



High ferritin levels: Storing too much iron (as in hemochromatosis), alcohol abuse, rheumatoid arthritis, liver disease, hyperthyroidism, and (sometimes) cancer.

Low ferritin levels: Iron deficiency anemia (there are many types of anemia!) It could be caused by low dietary iron intake, poor iron absorption in the intestine (anything that destroys the surface cells of the intestine messes with this, eg. celiac disease), blood loss (eg. heavy periods), or pregnancy.



Iron-rich foods for us vegs: Beans, dark leafy vegetables (spinach), dried fruit (raisins, apricots), iron-fortified foods (bread, pasta, cereal), and peas. A multivitamin can also help, if your diet is lacking.

 

[yusha]

@shawn777 Thank you!! Also, I did not know that dried fruit was a source of iron

 

[shawn777]

@yusha So most fruit isn't a great source of iron, but removing the pits/water of some fruits that contain a small amount of iron makes them smaller, more concentrated, and able to be consumed in larger quantities than the fresh counterpart. Someone might not be up for eating 5 peaches, but they might easily be able to put down 10 dried peach halves, and that's already a decent amount of iron. (and sugar too ofc, but yeah)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/generic-dried-peach-half-638217370

The RDA for iron for women 18+ is about 18mg. A multivitamin will provide this much, but people who don't want to do that have some other options!

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/

 

[vlo]

@yusha Ferritin is a measure of stored iron!

 

[yusha]

@vlo Thank you!

 

[vlo]

Disclaimer: iron toxicity is a real thing, so don't take supplements willy nilly if you haven't been tested.

 

[graceandjoy]

@vlo Any supplement recommendations? Preferably something you don't have to swallow since I have issue w pills that way

 

[ulcnetwork]

@graceandjoy I use the Lucky Iron fish. I had blood tests done because my mind was foggy, I could barely train and I was loosing lots of hair. Iron and transferrine saturation were low but within range (ex: 17% when the cut off is 15%-55% for example) so the doctors I saw dismissed it. I asked my doctor if I could use the fish anyway (hard to get too much from it) and saw a pretty fast change.

 

[hollersnhills]

@graceandjoy Gaia liquid iron! In addition to not being a pill which you don't like, apparently pill form iron supplements aren't absorbed by the body as well and the liquid form + presence of vitamin C in this supplement help you absorb more of it. It's a bit pricy but I honestly found a huge difference between taking pills vs. this

 

[graceandjoy]

@hollersnhills Do you just squirt it into your mouth?

 

[hollersnhills]

@graceandjoy Nope you just pour it into a little measuring cup that comes with the bottle. Kinda like cough syrup or pepto bismol

 

[vlo]

@graceandjoy I saw something about ferrous sulfate elixir in this post, which is a liquid you can mix with orange juice:

https://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/16h3i3/check_your_ferritin_if_you_care_about_your_running

Also, my doctor mentioned IV ferritin!

 

[kagenonikki]

@vlo Not a vegetarian, but I also had low-normal ferritin levels a few years ago. My hair was looking thin so I had my ferritin checked. It was 24 I believe. I read somewhere that it should be above 60 for healthy hair growth. Started taking iron and my recheck several months later was over 60. My hair started looking much better.

I know my situation is different from yours, but I wanted to mention it because there is a difference between “normal” and “ideal”. My ferritin was normal (low normal), but it wasn’t ideal. To all my female friends on xxfitness, don’t accept when your doctor tells you something is “normal”. Ask to see your results.

 

[mustangsvo]

@kagenonikki Huh, I had no idea that thinning hair could be iron related. I got the Mirena last year, bled for six months on it, and had to cut my waist length hair short because it was getting so thin. I just thought hormones or something but I imagine losing that much blood all the time depleted my iron, looking back.

 

[tippymoondawg]

@mustangsvo Thinning hair is apparently a common side effect of Mirena. Lots of women get the thinning hair when they get the Mirena put in. I got the thinning hair when I had mine removed. I lost half of my fucking hair over about six months. That was July to Dec last year (2017), so I still have thin hair. I’m keeping the ends trimmed so it doesn’t look ratty, and I have a bunch of little hairs growing in but I’m so bummed. I’m also pissed because the new hairs are grey instead of my pretty natural red color. But I digress... Anyway, I never knew this was a possible side effect of Mirena and it’s a bummer. People should know.

 

[dawn16]

@mustangsvo Holy smokes. My period went away on the Mirena. I loved it. Except my libido also went away, so I went back to paraguard. I wonder if the placement was bad, I've had markedly different experiences with 2 of the same brand of IUD and the only reason I can think that they would be different is if placement was slightly different. I'm on my second paraguard rn, the first one I had for 12 years. With the first one I got a lot more bleeding, and the cramps I would get would come in these waves that left me light-headed. With this paraguard the bleeding is much lighter and I never get cramps.

 

[tippymoondawg]

@dawn16 I had no period with the Mirena either. I would have a little light brown monthly spotting. Like, a tiny bit. I had four happy years of no periods and lovely hair. Then had it taken out to try to get pregnant and boom my hair fell out and I went back to serious bleeding and cramping so bad that for 24-36 hours it’s hard to stand up straight or walk comfortably without ibuprofen. Your paraguard sounds great! That’s wonderful!

 

[katgreeneyes]

@kagenonikki 15-50 is probable iron deficiency. 50-100 is possible.

 

[ifightforgood]

@kagenonikki My doctor says that although >20 is the generally accepted "normal" range, she prefers to keep her patients above 50, ideally closer to 100! I can say from personal experience being chronically iron deficient that I feel like a friggin rockstar the few days after I have an iron infusion and my ferritin is like 90, and 20 feels like garbage. I had to go through several doctors before I finally found one willing to even look into my iron issues because everyone else insisted it was fine.