Low Iron Levels

[hiconscience]

also If your thinking you may have H.pylori I have been told something as easy as pepto bismal kills the little buggers. peptos combination of bismuth and our beloved asprin help's kill them. I have also heard that zinc carnosine is highly effective for a more advanced problem of H.pylori.

 

[Regina]

also If your thinking you may have H.pylori I have been told something as easy as pepto bismal kills the little buggers. peptos combination of bismuth and our beloved asprin help's kill them. I have also heard that zinc carnosine is highly effective for a more advanced problem of H.pylori.

Good tips. I'm also taking ceylon cinnamon pinches just in case.

 

[Matt1951]

How did you feel, with ferritin at 17?

I noticed at my annual physical my metabolism was slowing, higher TSH, lower temperature. So I did some research, and found people could have low ferritin with normal hemoglobin. My energy level was lower than I wanted, but thought it could be due to old age, 65. So I tested ferritin, and found it was below range. After not donating blood this time, I feel better, and am sleeping well.

 

[dbh25]

I noticed at my annual physical my metabolism was slowing, higher TSH, lower temperature. So I did some research, and found people could have low ferritin with normal hemoglobin. My energy level was lower than I wanted, but thought it could be due to old age, 65. So I tested ferritin, and found it was below range. After not donating blood this time, I feel better, and am sleeping well.

Thanks for the info Matt1951. I donated blood for years also, taking a break the last few months, and will get a ferritin test again.

 

[michael94]

I think certain micobes and viruses need iron(oxygen) to survive. So some parasitism may be involved. I know Lyme disease uses iron and if there isn't enough uses manganese. but this is just an example of hundreds and hundreds of different possibilities..
eat a wide variety of easily digestible foods and organic juices without pulp (hard to digest)
Best of luck to you

Without a doubt. Iron is essential to all life, but it can be a great promoter of bacterial and viral growth. It was an experiment where iron completely inactivated antibiotics that spurred E.D. Weinberg's career researching iron initially.

These posters are right on the money. If you took a look inside your liver it will be full of iron. Your body is keeping blood levels low because you are immuno-compromised and under a lot of oxidative stress. Also, excess iron and copper are dumped through the bile ducts so any obstructions there will lead to these issues ( extremely common ). Now, there is a caveat in that sometimes in order to preserve organ/cell integrity you body will strongly crave something that is problematic long term. Your body wants what is best for you overall but it also doesn't want to succumb to immediate problems as you are healing. So if you are strongly craving iron-rich foods, I would trust your intuition and understand that it's not the end of the world to eat a bit of iron. Blood tests, from my years on various health forums, rarely provide useful information and often spur people to go against their intuition. @Endew57

 

[Regina]

These posters are right on the money. If you took a look inside your liver it will be full of iron. Your body is keeping blood levels low because you are immuno-compromised and under a lot of oxidative stress. Also, excess iron and copper are dumped through the bile ducts so any obstructions there will lead to these issues ( extremely common ). Now, there is a caveat in that sometimes in order to preserve organ/cell integrity you body will strongly crave something that is problematic long term. Your body wants what is best for you overall but it also doesn't want to succumb to immediate problems as you are healing. So if you are strongly craving iron-rich foods, I would trust your intuition and understand that it's not the end of the world to eat a bit of iron. Blood tests, from my years on various health forums, rarely provide useful information and often spur people to go against their intuition. @Endew57

Thank you for your insights icl.
I gotta say, I'm not really craving iron-rich foods at all. I did buy the liquid iron supp mentioned in the 1st article and it arrived today. I looked at the bottle and put it up in my cabinets. I'm in one of those frozen states where I am perplexed. Chicken???/egg??? and I'm kinda throwing my hands up. What am I supposed to fix first?
Yeah, I ate a big giant juicy burger for dinner the other night but didn't sleep a wink. I have a stack of TJ's canned oysters but I'm sick of them.
What I do like for breakfast is an entire can of frozen OJ concentrate (ht dave) straight up and a couple of eggs.

I'm kinda leaning toward TheLaw's thinking of clean out the liver first with caffeine/K2. I can tolerate 600-800mg caffeine nicely but 1000mg gave me horrendous stress response (in spite of plenty of sugar/fructose). It's a horrible hooks in upper back and poisoned feel that stops me in my tracks.

I feel like I've had some breakthroughs such as improved insulin sensitivity.
I don't want to be defensive or in denial but my fingernails and hair are growing like weeds and my skin and eyes have never been clearer.

Would caffeine/K2 help get iron out of liver?

p.s. I clipped my nails before aikido on wednesday and this is how long they are two days later (fwiw?) and they are strong

Color me confused. Appreciate your thoughts so much. Do you know of any test(s) to determine the source of oxidative stress?

 

[hiconscience]

would methylene blue help increase iron levels? doesn't it transform ferric iron into a usable form of ferrous? I just ordered mitoblue and I am interested.

 

[Regina]

would methylene blue help increase iron levels? doesn't it transform ferric iron into a usable form of ferrous? I just ordered mitoblue and I am interested.

Thx hiconscience. I'm not sure but I dose Oxidal daily for lowering N.O.
Cardiolipin, Cytochrome Oxidase, Metabolism, & Aging – Functional Performance Systems (FPS)

 

[sele]

Thyroid increases ferritin levels.
One should try other methods before deciding to supplement iron. You will pay a high price if you overload on iron. I've learned the hard way.

"Iron is a potentially toxic heavy metal. In excess, it can cause cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses." -RP


"Q: Don't you need iron supplements if you are anemic?

• 
  In general, no.

• 
  Many doctors think of anemia as necessarily indicating an iron deficiency, but that isn't correct. 100 years ago, it was customary to prescribe arsenic for anemia, and it worked to stimulate the formation of more red blood cells. The fact that arsenic, or iron, or other toxic material stimulates the formation of red blood cells doesn't indicate a "deficiency" of the toxin, but simply indicates that the body responds to a variety of harmful factors by speeding its production of blood cells. Even radiation can have this kind of stimulating effect, because growth is a natural reaction to injury. Between 1920 and 1950, it was common to think of "nutritional growth factors" as being the same as vitamins, but since then it has become common to use known toxins to stimulate the growth of farm animals, and as a result, it has been more difficult to define the essential nutrients. The optimal nutritional intake is now more often considered in terms of resistance to disease, longevity or rate of aging, and even mental ability." -RP

Below is Mittir's response to a forum member's question about ferritin

To measure your total iron storage you need both Ferritin and Transferrin saturation index.
RP is not alone in this. Ferritin is less reliable than Transferrin SI, because infection,inflammation and some diseases can increase Ferritin when iron index is low.
Ferritin - Wikipedia
SI also can give false high and low.
A good doctor will test both to identify iron deficiency. You did not mentioned if you tested
your saturation index before supplementing with iron. Hypothyroidism can cause
anemia even when someone has sufficient iron.

 

[Regina]

Thyroid increases ferritin levels.
One should try other methods before deciding to supplement iron. You will pay a high price if you overload on iron. I've learned the hard way.

"Iron is a potentially toxic heavy metal. In excess, it can cause cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses." -RP


"Q: Don't you need iron supplements if you are anemic?

• 
  In general, no.

• 
  Many doctors think of anemia as necessarily indicating an iron deficiency, but that isn't correct. 100 years ago, it was customary to prescribe arsenic for anemia, and it worked to stimulate the formation of more red blood cells. The fact that arsenic, or iron, or other toxic material stimulates the formation of red blood cells doesn't indicate a "deficiency" of the toxin, but simply indicates that the body responds to a variety of harmful factors by speeding its production of blood cells. Even radiation can have this kind of stimulating effect, because growth is a natural reaction to injury. Between 1920 and 1950, it was common to think of "nutritional growth factors" as being the same as vitamins, but since then it has become common to use known toxins to stimulate the growth of farm animals, and as a result, it has been more difficult to define the essential nutrients. The optimal nutritional intake is now more often considered in terms of resistance to disease, longevity or rate of aging, and even mental ability." -RP

Below is Mittir's response to a forum member's question about ferritin

Thanks sele for your commentary.
I put the liquid iron supp away in the cupboard. I'm retesting in mid-July. My copper panel came out okay. I'm inclined just to keep working on liver and keeping endotoxin down--maybe choose a little more iron-rich foods and ease off on the aspirin and see how it goes in a month.
Once again. Very interesting topic.

 

[Matt1951]

Thyroid increases ferritin levels.
One should try other methods before deciding to supplement iron. You will pay a high price if you overload on iron. I've learned the hard way.

"Iron is a potentially toxic heavy metal. In excess, it can cause cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses." -RP


"Q: Don't you need iron supplements if you are anemic?

• 
  In general, no.

• 
  Many doctors think of anemia as necessarily indicating an iron deficiency, but that isn't correct. 100 years ago, it was customary to prescribe arsenic for anemia, and it worked to stimulate the formation of more red blood cells. The fact that arsenic, or iron, or other toxic material stimulates the formation of red blood cells doesn't indicate a "deficiency" of the toxin, but simply indicates that the body responds to a variety of harmful factors by speeding its production of blood cells. Even radiation can have this kind of stimulating effect, because growth is a natural reaction to injury. Between 1920 and 1950, it was common to think of "nutritional growth factors" as being the same as vitamins, but since then it has become common to use known toxins to stimulate the growth of farm animals, and as a result, it has been more difficult to define the essential nutrients. The optimal nutritional intake is now more often considered in terms of resistance to disease, longevity or rate of aging, and even mental ability." -RP

Below is Mittir's response to a forum member's question about ferritin

If someone has a ferritin level of 3.5, then clearly infection is not raising their ferritin level, which is approaching zero. Someone can be anemic with adequate iron, but they can also certainly be anemic if they have low iron. Iron is necessary to convert T4 to T3. There is nothing wrong with using iron supplements, but it should be prescribed by a doctor, or at least by someone who understands potential drawbacks of supplements, and who can recommend the correct useage/doseage. Most the posts on longevity boards feel ferritin lower than 50 gives symptoms of anemia, fatigue. It is utter nonsense to believe people cannot have low iron stores that impairs their health. While most elderly will have excessive iron, which they need to address, this does not represent 100% of humanity.

 

[Regina]

If someone has a ferritin level of 3.5, then clearly infection is not raising their ferritin level, which is approaching zero. Someone can be anemic with adequate iron, but they can also certainly be anemic if they have low iron. Iron is necessary to convert T4 to T3. There is nothing wrong with using iron supplements, but it should be prescribed by a doctor, or at least by someone who understands potential drawbacks of supplements, and who can recommend the correct useage/doseage. Most the posts on longevity boards feel ferritin lower than 50 gives symptoms of anemia, fatigue. It is utter nonsense to believe people cannot have low iron stores that impairs their health. While most elderly will have excessive iron, which they need to address, this does not represent 100% of humanity.

thx Matt. Great notes!
Oddly enough, I did not get my "breakthrough" with temps and ability to handle large fructose/sucrose intake until I did a trial supplementation of succinic acid. It's all just wild conjecture because I have no before and after data. Indeed, I have exercise intolerance and fatigue but something flipped . I would say, it has only been recently that I feel "uncoupling."

 

[sele]

Iron is necessary to convert T4 to T3

 

[Regina]

I am inclined to believe that there is somebody gobbling up my iron. But this rabbit-hole is very deep. I would love to be able to bring some research to my Doctor. Because the Doctor is more inclined to prescribe iron infusions. But the real story, I think, is more likely chemical warfare (siderophores) in my gut--and that the course of action is in that direction.
Siderophores: More than Stealing Iron
http://www.cell.com/trends/molecular-medicine/pdf/S1471-4914(16)30147-2.pdf
Norepinephrine Mediates Acquisition of Transferrin-Iron in Bordetella bronchiseptica

I'm supplementing with B2, famotidine and floraphage.

 

[dbh25]

I won't donate again until I hit 80.

I think this is wise, and I'll be waiting until I hit 80 again. I may be down to one blood donation a year.

 

[tankasnowgod]

would methylene blue help increase iron levels? doesn't it transform ferric iron into a usable form of ferrous? I just ordered mitoblue and I am interested.

It might, vitamin C does this exact thing. But you have to take it the same time you take iron (be it in pill or supplement form).

 

[tankasnowgod]

Thanks sele for your commentary.
I put the liquid iron supp away in the cupboard. I'm retesting in mid-July. My copper panel came out okay. I'm inclined just to keep working on liver and keeping endotoxin down--maybe choose a little more iron-rich foods and ease off on the aspirin and see how it goes in a month.
Once again. Very interesting topic.

How much aspirin are you taking? Cause that with lots of eggs and lots of dairy and/or calcium could be the thing that's keeping everything super low. Along with any sort of blood loss, plus any activities the make you sweat.

I think I mentioned desiccated liver, but you could also do a ferritin supplement (like this-https://www.amazon.com/Ecological-Formulas-Ferritin-Health-Beauty/dp/B003TV99ZO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498273606&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=ferritin&psc=1), or if you can find lactoferrin that contains iron.

Popping a vitamin C supplement with any high iron meal might also help. Oh, and if you want and excuse to have a few drinks, alcohol also improves absorption of iron (just sayin' ). Pick anything but Red Wine. should you want to indulge. (Personally, I would LOVE to use this as an excuse to eat lots of steak and lamb with a few beers...... you know, in the name of health?

Still, from what you've said, it doesn't sound like you have any big anemia issues. Are you feeling good overall? The fingernail growth is actually pretty impressive!

 

[Regina]

How much aspirin are you taking? Cause that with lots of eggs and lots of dairy and/or calcium could be the thing that's keeping everything super low. Along with any sort of blood loss, plus any activities the make you sweat.

I think I mentioned desiccated liver, but you could also do a ferritin supplement (like this-https://www.amazon.com/Ecological-Formulas-Ferritin-Health-Beauty/dp/B003TV99ZO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498273606&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=ferritin&psc=1), or if you can find lactoferrin that contains iron.

Popping a vitamin C supplement with any high iron meal might also help. Oh, and if you want and excuse to have a few drinks, alcohol also improves absorption of iron (just sayin' ). Pick anything but Red Wine. should you want to indulge. (Personally, I would LOVE to use this as an excuse to eat lots of steak and lamb with a few beers...... you know, in the name of health?

Still, from what you've said, it doesn't sound like you have any big anemia issues. Are you feeling good overall? The fingernail growth is actually pretty impressive!

Tanks tank! I used to gobble up traumeel pills and use the cream to do aikido but switched to aspirin since Peating. Kuinone eliminated joint pain so I tended to do maybe up to a 1 gram aspirin on days I train. So, like 3 grams a week? I bought Dr. Ron's Thyroid, grassfed New Zealand freeze-dried organs & glands, 180 capsules
I've been taking 6 capsules in the morning with a can of frozen OJ concentrate for about a week.
My most obvious anemia issue is norepinephrine and a horrible stress feeling in my upper back that I believe is coming from vagus nerve. I can feel the compensatory NE in class. First, I hear the wheezing in my lungs and after about 20 falls, I am already struggling. After 45 minutes of class, I feel like I could have bowel distress and I have to frequently sit down. However, I don't need any time for joint or muscle recovery. I am in no pain at all after class but feel like I could die on the mat (lungs, heart, endotoxin). I'm a bit freaked out and taking some time off from aikido to see if I can improve.
I would hate to have to quit because oddly enough, aikido is the best thing that ever happened to my adrenergic tone. Without aikdo, my overall anxiety level increases, my balance falters and dyslexia and stammering come back.
I trained on tuesday night and my wonderful training partner, Dimitrina, asked what is wrong. She said after class that I looked wiped out. I told her about my low iron and she said her workmate was recently diagnosed with aplastic anemia and has to get weekly blood transfusions. I really hate to go that route because there probably is a better way.
Thanks so much for your thoughts. Tonight, I skipped aikido and had a beef stew with an OJ and gin cocktail.

 

[tankasnowgod]

Tanks tank! I used to gobble up traumeel pills and use the cream to do aikido but switched to aspirin since Peating. Kuinone eliminated joint pain so I tended to do maybe up to a 1 gram aspirin on days I train. So, like 3 grams a week? I bought Dr. Ron's Thyroid, grassfed New Zealand freeze-dried organs & glands, 180 capsules
I've been taking 6 capsules in the morning with a can of frozen OJ concentrate for about a week.
My most obvious anemia issue is norepinephrine and a horrible stress feeling in my upper back that I believe is coming from vagus nerve. I can feel the compensatory NE in class. First, I hear the wheezing in my lungs and after about 20 falls, I am already struggling. After 45 minutes of class, I feel like I could have bowel distress and I have to frequently sit down. However, I don't need any time for joint or muscle recovery. I am in no pain at all after class but feel like I could die on the mat (lungs, heart, endotoxin). I'm a bit freaked out and taking some time off from aikido to see if I can improve.
I would hate to have to quit because oddly enough, aikido is the best thing that ever happened to my adrenergic tone. Without aikdo, my overall anxiety level increases, my balance falters and dyslexia and stammering come back.
I trained on tuesday night and my wonderful training partner, Dimitrina, asked what is wrong. She said after class that I looked wiped out. I told her about my low iron and she said her workmate was recently diagnosed with aplastic anemia and has to get weekly blood transfusions. I really hate to go that route because there probably is a better way.
Thanks so much for your thoughts. Tonight, I skipped aikido and had a beef stew with an OJ and gin cocktail.

I don't think you'll have to quit akido, but I think a break of a few weeks would be a good idea. There's actually some research out there that suggests a break from training (the study used three week intervals, and was in regards to weight training) was highly beneficial. So, force yourself to take a mini vacation!

That's pretty interesting. I've kept my ferritin pretty low (below range, sometimes), and felt pretty good (better than when I was seriously iron loaded), although I have noticed recently that when I have liver for dinner, about 20 minutes later or so, I feel "TURNED UP!" or something. Almost like a switch was flipped. Could be a number of things (seeing as liver is highly nutritous), but I certainly didn't rule out the iron factor.

From what it sounds like, you're iron levels would (likely) be fine if you were really sedentary, but being active (which I myself prefer at this point), they should prolly be a bit higher.

 

[Regina]

I don't think you'll have to quit akido, but I think a break of a few weeks would be a good idea. There's actually some research out there that suggests a break from training (the study used three week intervals, and was in regards to weight training) was highly beneficial. So, force yourself to take a mini vacation!

That's pretty interesting. I've kept my ferritin pretty low (below range, sometimes), and felt pretty good (better than when I was seriously iron loaded), although I have noticed recently that when I have liver for dinner, about 20 minutes later or so, I feel "TURNED UP!" or something. Almost like a switch was flipped. Could be a number of things (seeing as liver is highly nutritous), but I certainly didn't rule out the iron factor.

From what it sounds like, you're iron levels would (likely) be fine if you were really sedentary, but being active (which I myself prefer at this point), they should prolly be a bit higher.

Cool! I'm going to Miami next week so no aikido until at least July 5th. Cheers!