Low Ferritin

[bloathog21]

Ferritin came back at 11 (range 38-380)…most likely from draining three pints in 2 months. @Dexter what do you do to get your levels normal?

 

[thad54]

Take iron for a month after donating. The Nature Made 65mg one is fine.

 

[bloathog21]

thad54" pid='76931' dateline='1576449264:

Take iron for a month after donating. The Nature Made 65mg one is fine.

Ok I got some!

 

[Dexter]

Each unit of blood = 250mg of iron, possibly more because we have higher hgb. So lets round this up to 300mg lost when donating 10% of our blood volume which is around 500ml whole blood.

About 10% of your iron is free in plasma, so you’d have to add in more iron lost because whole blood donation, wouldn’t have to worry about this if you do a double red donation where they return donor plasma.

Multivitamin contains 18mg of iron. So it would take 17 days of supplement to restore lost iron from one unit of blood. That’s why I take a mv that has 18mg of iron everyday. I just take a Flinstone vitamin because they’re so easy on my stomach.

Ferritin is a good test to show your iron stores are being exhausted. As well as red cell indices on our Complete Blood Count showing low numbers for MCV which could indicate red cell microcytosis brought on by low iron.

 

[bloathog21]

Dexter" pid='76937' dateline='1576451981:

Each unit of blood = 250mg of iron, possibly more because we have higher hgb. So lets round this up to 300mg lost when donating 10% of our blood volume which is around 500ml whole blood.

About 10% of your iron is free in plasma, so you’d have to add in more iron lost because whole blood donation, wouldn’t have to worry about this if you do a double red donation where they return donor plasma.

Multivitamin contains 18mg of iron. So it would take 17 days of supplement to restore lost iron from one unit of blood. That’s why I take a mv that has 18mg of iron everyday. I just take a Flinstone vitamin because they’re so easy on my stomach.

Ferritin is a good test to show your iron stores are being exhausted. As well as red cell indices on our Complete Blood Count showing low numbers for MCV which could indicate red cell microcytosis brought on by low iron.

Thanks! Hoping the brain fog and high heart rate goes away!

 

[Dexter]

bloathog21" pid='76938' dateline='1576453621:

Thanks! Hoping the brain fog and high heart rate goes away!

Reflex Tachycardia happens when you remove too much fluid volume the heart has to compensate by increasing heart rate.

I learned that lesson when I removed about 800ml of whole blood in one setting and my heart rate increased for two weeks.

I’m somewhat torn when it comes to increased blood volume, it can make you feel fantastic, cardio is improved, everything physical seems easier. Then you remove blood and don’t feel near as strong, short of breath.

Blood pressure can be lowered with a calcium channel blocker like amlodipine at double dose 10mg/day with very few side effects.

I’ve personally accepted that a hct for someone like myself at 55% is fine, I feel good even though a doctor would probably be concerned.

 

[bloathog21]

Dexter" pid='76942' dateline='1576460456:

bloathog21" pid='76938' dateline='1576453621:

Thanks! Hoping the brain fog and high heart rate goes away!

Reflex Tachycardia happens when you remove too much fluid volume the heart has to compensate by increasing heart rate.

I learned that lesson when I removed about 800ml of whole blood in one setting and my heart rate increased for two weeks.

I’m somewhat torn when it comes to increased blood volume, it can make you feel fantastic, cardio is improved, everything physical seems easier. Then you remove blood and don’t feel near as strong, short of breath.

Blood pressure can be lowered with a calcium channel blocker like amlodipine at double dose 10mg/day with very few side effects.

I’ve personally accepted that a hct for someone like myself at 55% is fine, I feel good even though a doctor would probably be concerned.

I got isolated systolic hypertension… doc has me on Losartan but not much has changed. I might mention trying amlodipine. Thanks!

 

[system]

@“Dexter”

Insight on beef liver tabs for their iron content? They’re incredibly potent. Check out the ones from Beverly International when you get a chance and let me know your thoughts please.

 

[Dexter]

kingofcarbz" pid='76954' dateline='1576477221:

@“Dexter”

Insight on beef liver tabs for their iron content? They’re incredibly potent. Check out the ones from Beverly International when you get a chance and let me know your thoughts please.

For me iron is better consumed in small doses. I have a delicate stomach when it comes to too much iron.

I’m not sure we can even absorb high concentrations of iron, I think keeping it under 40mg a day would cause less stomach issues and I’ve found the 18mg/day taken on an empty stomach to be fine as far as experiencing no issues at all.

There is a certain point where iron becomes toxic, that’s why it’s on the bottom shelf of most pharmacies.

And of course red meat, probably ground up, making it easy to absorb would be smart to load the body up with iron if ferritin is low.