Need help interpreting blood panel

Cloudhands

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Hi guys, i know some people on here are much more versed in interpreting blood panels than i am, and i know iron metabolism is very nuanced. I was hoping that while i research and try to learn for myself how to interpret these labs, some people could offer insight into their meaning and how to improve my numbers. Thanks to any help i can get!
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youngsinatra

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I am not an expert but what are your health problems you‘re trying to fix?

To me the blood test looks good.
If you know Morley Robbins, he is deep into the iron research and has valuable resources, but I would guess that you already know him because this looks like the Full Monty Iron Panel.

I‘d try to up the ceruloplasmin a little bit more until it reaches around 30-35 mg/dl.
The iron saturation seem too high to me.
Low ferritin could be a good thing, depending on who you ask - many iron researcher think that low ferritin is pro-longevity.

What does your diet / protocol look like?
 

Razvan

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Hi guys, i know some people on here are much more versed in interpreting blood panels than i am, and i know iron metabolism is very nuanced. I was hoping that while i research and try to learn for myself how to interpret these labs, some people could offer insight into their meaning and how to improve my numbers. Thanks to any help i can get!View attachment 22494
Too High iron bruh.
 
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Cloudhands

Cloudhands

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I am not an expert but what are your health problems you‘re trying to fix?

To me the blood test looks good.
If you know Morley Robbins, he is deep into the iron research and has valuable resources, but I would guess that you already know him because this looks like the Full Monty Iron Panel.

I‘d try to up the ceruloplasmin a little bit more until it reaches around 30-35 mg/dl.
The iron saturation seem too high to me.
Low ferritin could be a good thing, depending on who you ask - many iron researcher think that low ferritin is pro-longevity.

What does your diet / protocol look like?
Hairs thinning, but that could be vitamin D kinda low only at 35. But also i get ***t sleep like every night, can NEVER get out of bed in the morning. Im going DOWN in strength in the gym. Its hard to move sometimes like im so fatigued. Moods good.
I drink about 3 liters of milk, and eat about a lb of red meat. I have maybe 3 liters of coffee a day all with black strap molasses (low iron brer brand). I take b3, b1, magnesium taurate, calcium hydroxyapatate, vitamin d, vitamin K, inosine 1000mg, salt my food, eat 2 mangos, 2 kiwi, some pineapple. Macros are maybe 30:30:30 ish. Considering giving up dairy cause of the low **** ferritin, but idk what to do, especially since my iron is high but ferritin is low, im confused :/
 

youngsinatra

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I think that it could be a bit too much liquid in your diet and possibly too little calories. I would try incorporating more solid-foods instead of so many liquid foods.
Maybe try well-cooked skinless white potatoes or basmati rice with the red meat. I find starch also very good, because I get in more salt, when eating it. Starchy carbs are also better for gym performance imo.

I do think that iron is best managed by regular blood donation and some dietary iron-chelators like coffee or calcium, but when your iron-management systems are off and you feel fatigued, you might be better off by improving that system first. I think that organ meats are very vital for that iron-system - especially beef liver. I feel a big boost in bodily warmth and energy when consuming it regularly in smaller amounts - like 20-30g daily. Beef liver has plenty of copper and retinol, which should improve ceruloplasmin levels and thus the overall iron-management and energy production. Without adequate bioavailable copper you produce 90% less energy, because copper is needed in the Electron Transport Chain.

I would also suggest that you might reduce or cut out your pro-metabolic items / supplements for a while. From my personal experience, too much metabolic stimulation in an non-optimal aka stressed-out-state can be even more stressful. Especially B1 and B3 burn through my resources very quickly (cold hands, poor sleep, irritable) and I can't get behind with enough resources, so I stopped them all for now and I feel much better.

Re-visit the basics of health. Sufficient calories, avoidance of micronutrient deficiencies (cronometer), stress-reduction, sleep optimization, gut health.
 

Mito

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“On the full iron panel you want your transferrin saturation to be between 30% and 40%, probably your ferritin between 60 and 150 in American units.”

“So let’s compare ferritin and transferrin saturation here. In terms of sensitivity, the reason that ferritin increases in response to too much iron status is because on a mechanistic level, elevated transferrin saturation communicates through HFE to hepcidin to downregulate iron absorption and to increase storage of iron and ferritin. So transferrin saturation is much more sensitive than ferritin is because transferrin saturation is the cause of ferritin elevating in response to too much iron, and that’s consistent with my own story where my transferrin saturation was going out of the reference range while my ferritin was way, way, way within it. In fact, when ferritin is used to diagnose hemochromatosis, then it may be the case that they won’t recommend that you get a liver biopsy until your ferritin reaches 1000 nanograms per milliliter, and you could probably catch all of those people with hemochromatosis if you just screened everyone who has transferrin saturation over 45%.”

Why You Need to Manage Your Iron Status and How to Do It
 
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Cloudhands

Cloudhands

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View attachment 22496
“On the full iron panel you want your transferrin saturation to be between 30% and 40%, probably your ferritin between 60 and 150 in American units.”

“So let’s compare ferritin and transferrin saturation here. In terms of sensitivity, the reason that ferritin increases in response to too much iron status is because on a mechanistic level, elevated transferrin saturation communicates through HFE to hepcidin to downregulate iron absorption and to increase storage of iron and ferritin. So transferrin saturation is much more sensitive than ferritin is because transferrin saturation is the cause of ferritin elevating in response to too much iron, and that’s consistent with my own story where my transferrin saturation was going out of the reference range while my ferritin was way, way, way within it. In fact, when ferritin is used to diagnose hemochromatosis, then it may be the case that they won’t recommend that you get a liver biopsy until your ferritin reaches 1000 nanograms per milliliter, and you could probably catch all of those people with hemochromatosis if you just screened everyone who has transferrin saturation over 45%.”

Why You Need to Manage Your Iron Status and How to Do It
Is the marker "% saturation" the same as transferrin saturation?
 

Mito

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Is the marker "% saturation" the same as transferrin saturation?
“The terms transferrin saturation and iron-binding capacity, saturation, are interchangeable; however, this value is now most commonly referred to simply as transferrin saturation. This minimizes confusion with another value, iron-binding capacity, which is used when determining a patient’s iron status”

“Transferrin saturation (TS), measured as a percentage, is a medical laboratory value. It is the value of serum iron divided by the total iron-binding capacity[1] of the available transferrin, the main protein that binds iron in the blood, this value tells a clinician how much serum iron is bound.”
 
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Cloudhands

Cloudhands

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“The terms transferrin saturation and iron-binding capacity, saturation, are interchangeable; however, this value is now most commonly referred to simply as transferrin saturation. This minimizes confusion with another value, iron-binding capacity, which is used when determining a patient’s iron status”

“Transferrin saturation (TS), measured as a percentage, is a medical laboratory value. It is the value of serum iron divided by the total iron-binding capacity[1] of the available transferrin, the main protein that binds iron in the blood, this value tells a clinician how much serum iron is bound.”
So what does low ferritin mean? Is my iron high? I dont know how to go about correcting my iron status. I appreciate all of the help
 

Mito

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So what does low ferritin mean? Is my iron high? I dont know how to go about correcting my iron status. I appreciate all of the help
If you listen to the Chris Masterjohn podcast (Why You Need to Manage Your Iron Status and How to Do It) he is suggesting that % saturation is a leading indicator and eventually ferritin will rise above normal. Chris himself has hemochromatosis and gives suggestions on what to do.
 
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Cloudhands

Cloudhands

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That’s a hell of a lot of coffee.
Yeah i ******* love coffee. I live in southern new mexico and im unemployed, so drinking coffee all morning and wandering the desert and relaxing in a hammock make me feel like what i imagine a greek god would feel lmao.
 

Sefton10

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Yeah i ******* love coffee. I live in southern new mexico and im unemployed, so drinking coffee all morning and wandering the desert and relaxing in a hammock make me feel like what i imagine a greek god would feel lmao.
If I drank 3L of coffee in a morning my iron status would be the least of my worries ?
 
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Cloudhands

Cloudhands

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If I drank 3L of coffee in a morning my iron status would be the least of my worries ?
It makes me feel super calm for some reason. Im surprised im not pooping out all of this excess iron haha
 

Sefton10

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I would also suggest that you might reduce or cut out your pro-metabolic items / supplements for a while. From my personal experience, too much metabolic stimulation in an non-optimal aka stressed-out-state can be even more stressful. Especially B1 and B3 burn through my resources very quickly (cold hands, poor sleep, irritable) and I can't get behind with enough resources, so I stopped them all for now and I feel much better.

Re-visit the basics of health. Sufficient calories, avoidance of micronutrient deficiencies (cronometer), stress-reduction, sleep optimization, gut health.
This is good advice. Go back to basics and start from the ground up again. Regardless of what the lab results says, go by how you feel with regards to sleep, fatigue, energy etc. Personally (and I’m by no means an expert so purely an opinion) I’d nix the supplements and vastly reduce the amount of coffee as a start and make sure you’re eating enough. You won’t like this, but it might be worth avoiding the gym for a couple of weeks too.
 

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