High Iron, High Prolactin, Low Lithium, What To Do

[barefooter]

I finally decided to order a few tests on my own, as no doctor or naturepath I've ever been to has ever tested my iron, prolactin, or lithium. I'm a 31 year old male, and over the past 5 years have been having increasing problems with energy, motivation, focus, and mood swings (maybe some kind of bipolar, but I never get super manic). Anyway, the results came back with high iron, high prolactin, and low lithium. I'm feeling pretty hopeful about this, since both iron overload and low lithium are linked with a lot of mental issues, so I feel like I can maybe get past all this crap. I won't post all the results, just those that were high.

Iron, Serum 189 High ug/dL 38-169
Iron Saturation 62 High % 15-55
Ferritin, Serum 60 ng/mL 30-400
Prolactin 20.5 High ng/mL 4.0-15.2
Lithium (Eskalith(R)), Serum <0.1 Low mmol/L 0.6-1.4
LDL Cholesterol Calc 117 High mg/dL 0-99
Bilirubin, Total 2.6 High mg/dL 0.0-1.2
MCV 98 High fL 79-97


I'm planning to go see a doctor, and get even more tests, now that I'm actually getting pointed in the right direction, but just wanted to see if anyone on here had thoughts about these numbers and suggestions for what to do. I've been using some concentrace mineral drops the past two days, which have 1.7mg lithium per 40 drops. I tried to donate blood months ago, but I was not eligible due to being in SE Asia within the year. Would it be a good idea to try therapeutic phlebotomy to reduce my iron and then regular blood donation once I'm eligible again? I've also been reading about lithium orotate, does anyone have experience with it?

And any thoughts on how to bring the prolactin down, and if the bilirubin is something to worry about?

 

[tomisonbottom]

Cyproheptadine can bring down prolactin. So can progesterone.

One of the forum members on here recently posted about iron chelation with cilantro. 1 tablespoon a day (away from meals) to pull out excess iron.

 

[barefooter]

Cyproheptadine can bring down prolactin. So can progesterone.

One of the forum members on here recently posted about iron chelation with cilantro. 1 tablespoon a day (away from meals) to pull out excess iron.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into all these. Regarding the iron, I've been doing more research, and I'm not sure if I actually have high iron, considering my ferritin is on the low end of normal. From what I've been reading, a high iron saturation and low ferritin is actually a sign of iron deficiency or inability to use to iron in the blood efficiently, but I don't know if that's actually true. I looked at some labs from a couple years ago, and my ferritin was actually 100, but that test didn't have the other iron numbers. Based on that, it would seem that my iron has potentially been decreasing over the past couple years. Anyone have any ideas about this, I'm really struggling to find decent information about iron for this situation.

I am curious how my ferritin would drop in half, when I don't ever donate blood and eat red meat somewhat regularly. I've had stomach issues for years, and now I'm beginning to wonder if there is a possibly I've been loosing small amounts of blood through an ulcer.

 

[tomisonbottom]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into all these. Regarding the iron, I've been doing more research, and I'm not sure if I actually have high iron, considering my ferritin is on the low end of normal. From what I've been reading, a high iron saturation and low ferritin is actually a sign of iron deficiency or inability to use to iron in the blood efficiently, but I don't know if that's actually true. I looked at some labs from a couple years ago, and my ferritin was actually 100, but that test didn't have the other iron numbers. Based on that, it would seem that my iron has potentially been decreasing over the past couple years. Anyone have any ideas about this, I'm really struggling to find decent information about iron for this situation.

I am curious how my ferritin would drop in half, when I don't ever donate blood and eat red meat somewhat regularly. I've had stomach issues for years, and now I'm beginning to wonder if there is a possibly I've been loosing small amounts of blood through an ulcer.

I think there's a tendency to not see the forest from the trees, when symptom problem solving. I've come to realize I have done that myself and noticed it is common among the people on here who constantly have issues and never get better. I discovered this site years ago, and have learned a ton about what an optimal long-term diet looks like, but when you're hypothyroid it might be best to just focus on temp and pulse, at first.

Peat seems to think that almost any hormonal issue will resolve itself with proper temp and pulse. But when you're hypo, you often don't eat enough to ever get better because stress hormones lower your appetite.

I've been reading the posts by the forum user named, @Sea, and I suggest you do too. I found it very helpful, and mindset changing.
I have lab work that isn't good, and other problems and symptoms, but after reading those posts I realized I just need to track temp/pulse after each food to figure out what foods increase metabolism>then eat those>then fine tune, if needed once I consistently get to higher temps.