hypoT and ferritin testing

[lil_miss_understood]

When and why?

[tanyalynn]

Because you're tired? For comparison purposes, my bloodwork a couple years ago had serum iron of 108 (range 35-155) and serum ferritin of 70 (range 10-291). My DO and my acupuncturist both thought my ferritin was low enough that it may be contributing to my fatigue.

I don't tend to get anemic--wasn't in either pregnancy as far as I know, it doesn't seem to be an issue that comes up recurrently for me. Not sure how that figures in.

I was mildly hypo at that point (TSH=2.08, freeT3=2.9, range 2.3-4.2, freeT4=1.18, range 0.61-1.76), I felt tired, my TSH was higher than the last time when I felt normal, but distinctly better than, say, a year earlier.

I think B12 deficiency can cause fatigue as well... are you taking any sublingual B12?

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by tanyalynn

Because you're tired? For comparison purposes, my bloodwork a couple years ago had serum iron of 108 (range 35-155) and serum ferritin of 70 (range 10-291). My DO and my acupuncturist both thought my ferritin was low enough that it may be contributing to my fatigue.

I don't tend to get anemic--wasn't in either pregnancy as far as I know, it doesn't seem to be an issue that comes up recurrently for me. Not sure how that figures in.

I was mildly hypo at that point (TSH=2.08, freeT3=2.9, range 2.3-4.2, freeT4=1.18, range 0.61-1.76), I felt tired, my TSH was higher than the last time when I felt normal, but distinctly better than, say, a year earlier.

I think B12 deficiency can cause fatigue as well... are you taking any sublingual B12?

Yeah, according to my PCP there's nothing indicating that a ferritin test should be run.
So how do you convince them to get it run?

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

Yeah, according to my PCP there's nothing indicating that a ferritin test should be run.
So how do you convince them to get it run?

I've never had success getting a doc to run tests that I thought were important and they didn't. Only thing I've been able to do is choose a different HCP, or you could order your own bloodwork online. I've been looking around, it can be surprisingly affordable. Direct Labs has stuff, a few other places that may be cheaper. Direct Labs has LOTS of different tests, whereas a lot of other places offer fewer tests, but for slightly better prices.

Other option, and I'm not sure I'd want to do this with iron, is a trial of supplementation. But I don't know how quickly you should expect to see results, and I don't know if, in that time period, if you're average, will you go too high and start to see toxicity symptoms? For iron, I'd want to know those questions--one of the few minerals I've not supplemented to any of us.

For bloodwork that you can interpret yourself, ordering on your own seems reasonable and maybe economical, depending on the cost of seeing a HCP and the cost of bloodwork through your insurance--moreso for people without insurance, or high deductibles.