Hi Doctors,
Just listened to your podcast episode on anemia and wanted to quickly share that I can totally relate to what you say about wrong cutoffs etc. A year ago I had ferritin measured as part of a routine lab (first time in years) and it came back at 18 (whatever unit that is), cutoff according to the lab at 15. I asked the Doc shouldn’t I take some iron? And their response was ‘nope, your hemoglobin is fine, do not take iron’.
Wouldn’t be a alternative interpretation that my body is pretty good at prioritizing making blood vs using iron for other stuff? I had pretty significant hair loss (which they knew).
I didn’t listen and took iron. I guess as premenopausal woman the risk of overdoing is rather low. I took it for 3 months or so and was able to get up to around 60 and it’s been stable since. I don’t feel much of a difference tbh, hemoglobin went up a little, and it didn’t help my hair either (probably just age). But I 'd rather have enough than borderline ok.
As I don’t tolerate standard iron pills well (massive gut pain) I did some research and bought iron bisglycinate. I tolerate it much better, almost no side effects, and it seems quite effective. I also got this stuff for my mom (anemia) and her hemoglobin improved with no side effects. Maybe useful info for anyone not having access to i.v. iron.