Chronic Low Iron In Females

[brongfogboy]

I'd like to discuss low Iron levels in females. I know someone who has low energy unless she supplements with Iron every day. Blood tests show her Iron is low unless she supplements with it. It's my opinion that the classic "menstrual cycles cause low iron in women" doesn't make sense. There are millions of women who have menstrual cycles and feel fine without Iron. There is some type of pathological or genetic problem that causes this and I believe it can be resolved by treating some underlying problem or supplementing a deficiency.



Any ideas?

 

[greengr]

Yes my iron is almost always low, but since iron supplements can feed bactera I'd rather not take it.
Would eating liver be enough?

 

[Ella]

Have you ruled out parasites and malnutrition?

 

[michael94]

Have you ruled out parasites and malnutrition?

can you elaborate

 

[lollipop]

can you elaborate

+1 Thank you @Ella

 

[mmb82]

To get a better idea of iron status, it's useful to see Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC), Serum Iron, Iron Saturation %, and Serum Ferritin, i.e. I would have her get a full iron panel: Iron+TIBC+Ferritin

Why? It is possible to have low levels of "good" iron in the body and high levels of "bad" iron in the body. Iron overload (too much "bad" iron accumulated in the wrong places) is often mis-diagnosed as anemia. True anemia is called "iron-deficiency anemia" and is characterized by LOW ferritin, LOW iron saturation, HIGH transferrin and sometimes LOW serum iron. Iron overload is defined by HIGH ferritin, HIGH iron saturation, LOW transferrin, and maybe LOW serum iron.

This someone you know might actually be iron toxic, not iron deficient, and taking additional iron supplements will only harm them in the long run. Does the someone you know have any of the symptoms associated with iron toxicity aside from fatigue?

 

[lollipop]

To get a better idea of iron status, it's useful to see Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC), Serum Iron, Iron Saturation %, and Serum Ferritin, i.e. I would have her get a full iron panel: Iron+TIBC+Ferritin

Why? It is possible to have low levels of "good" iron in the body and high levels of "bad" iron in the body. Iron overload (too much "bad" iron accumulated in the wrong places) is often mis-diagnosed as anemia. True anemia is called "iron-deficiency anemia" and is characterized by LOW ferritin, LOW iron saturation, HIGH transferrin and sometimes LOW serum iron. Iron overload is defined by HIGH ferritin, HIGH iron saturation, LOW transferrin, and maybe LOW serum iron.

This someone you know might actually be iron toxic, not iron deficient, and taking additional iron supplements will only harm them in the long run. Does the someone you know have any of the symptoms associated with iron toxicity aside from fatigue?

Helpful post. Thank you.

 

[greengr]

Is there anything to take for raising ferritin besides lactoferrin?

 

[ecstatichamster]

I suspect high estrogen, low D3, low calcium, high parathyroid hormone and low A are the reason.

Increasing A along with other co-factors can mobilize existing iron and "raise" iron levels.