I recently had an iron panel done and the results came back showing I have low iron, but very high ferritin. The exact results are as follows:
Iron 10.4 (range 5 - 30)
Transferrin 2.2 (range 2 - 3.2)
TIBC Calc 50 (range 46 - 70)
Saturation 21% (range 10 - 45)
Ferritin 343 (range 30 - 300)
I should note that I've been having an increase in my thyroid autoimmune antibodies over the past few months (I have Hashimoto's) and also that I was sick with the flu when I had this blood test. However, from what I've read, being sick with the flu usually only affects the ferritin numbers by around 50 mg/L or 10%, so even then my numbers would still be around 300.
Also, my RBC (red blood cell count) is chronically low and has been for years. By that I mean that it's in range, but always hovering at the very lowest point of the range.
I'm completely confused as to how I should interpret these results. Do these iron results indicate that I have low iron and would benefit by increasing my iron intake, or should I in fact decrease my iron intake because of the high ferritin?
The last time I had my iron checked was around 2 years ago and back then my iron was 15 and my ferritin was 137.
Iron 10.4 (range 5 - 30)
Transferrin 2.2 (range 2 - 3.2)
TIBC Calc 50 (range 46 - 70)
Saturation 21% (range 10 - 45)
Ferritin 343 (range 30 - 300)
I should note that I've been having an increase in my thyroid autoimmune antibodies over the past few months (I have Hashimoto's) and also that I was sick with the flu when I had this blood test. However, from what I've read, being sick with the flu usually only affects the ferritin numbers by around 50 mg/L or 10%, so even then my numbers would still be around 300.
Also, my RBC (red blood cell count) is chronically low and has been for years. By that I mean that it's in range, but always hovering at the very lowest point of the range.
I'm completely confused as to how I should interpret these results. Do these iron results indicate that I have low iron and would benefit by increasing my iron intake, or should I in fact decrease my iron intake because of the high ferritin?
The last time I had my iron checked was around 2 years ago and back then my iron was 15 and my ferritin was 137.