Need suggestions for supplementing iron and ferritin?

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Systemlord

Member
I started supplementing iron in the beginning of May do to discovering an borderline iron deficiency upon starting TRT and a worsening iron deficiency two and a half years later. I started supplementing 325mg iron daily and 28mg ferritin and 4 weeks later scored an iron 81 and ferritin 80 and felt fine.

So after another month it would seem iron and ferritin levels continued to rise and I noticed I was feeling worse, now on the same dosages of iron and ferritin I'm seeing iron at 118 (59-158) and ferritin 101 (25-336). My skin is taking on a reddish bronze tone and experience a slight burning sensation or oversensitivity in skin.

If I drop the ferritin and only supplement the iron, I feel much worse and feel good again after adding back in ferritin, it's almost as if the iron by itself does almost nothing for my iron deficiency symptoms.

I'm told ferritin is better absorb in the stomach and gut, should I supplement more ferritin and less iron since I seem to feel almost nothing on iron supplements alone?

Advice appreciated, thank you.
 
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pmgamer18

Active Member
HI Systemlord,



I was a mod at STTM forum for Thyroid problems and after talking to Dr. Mariano on the web. He says one needs to take some Vit. C with there Iron pills. I have been on Iron pills for yrs. I take this with it Solaray Super Bio C Buffered 1000 mgs. 2x's/day. My starting dose was 3x's / day on the iron Cypress Ferrous Fumarate 324 mgs. now 3x's/week. It took a long time to get my levels up and leveled.

pmgamer18
 

Systemlord

Member
I'm curious as to why you are taking the iron 3x/week instead of daily, I'm wonder is this to keep iron levels from getting out of hand?
 

MarcoFL

Well-Known Member
I went from 140 iron and 45% saturation to 40 and 15%. I have no clue what happened but am now back on 30mg elemental iron 2X per day with some vitamin C. I am 56 on TRT and do not donate blood given I never recover. I know it takes a long time and I high fatigue and need to nap usually 2-4pm daily. I also noticed dark circles under eyes. I hope this will clear in a month or two.
 

DragonBits

Well-Known Member
I do a lot of cooking with cast iron, I prefer it.

The iron content in 100 grams of spaghetti sauce jumped from 0.6 mg to 5.7 mg after being cooked in a cast iron pot.

I had pretty good iron levels, but I have never done a blood donation, at least not in the last 30 years.

So maybe it's healthier also.
 

Systemlord

Member
My labs show I am level yet if I stop taking the iron levels fall 3x's/week keep me level as per labs.
pmgamer18
Would you say iron levels fall very fast when you stop iron supplements?

A few weeks ago I stopped iron supplementation for about a week and a half after supplementing 650 iron and experienced low iron symptoms. I then restarted iron and felt great for about a little over a week and recently experienced high iron again.

Whenever I decrease or stop iron supplementation it's as if when levels are declining I experience symptom of iron deficiency.
 

MarcoFL

Well-Known Member
Would you say iron levels fall very fast when you stop iron supplements?

A few weeks ago I stopped iron supplementation for about a week and a half after supplementing 650 iron and experienced low iron symptoms. I then restarted iron and felt great for about a little over a week and recently experienced high iron again.

Whenever I decrease or stop iron supplementation it's as if when levels are declining I experience symptom of iron deficiency.
maybe just try a lower daily dose. Sorry do not mean to sound smart about : )
 
How do you supplement "Ferritin"...isn't that the form the body stores Iron in..just throwing me off when you say 28mg Ferritin daily, didn't think you could supplement Ferritin, directly.
@Systemlord
 
Too as mentioned about Vitamin-C can aid absorption, about 1g of Vit-C. Also supposedly the amino L-Lysine can aid absorption. lastly, the cast iron cooking can also help as stated above.
The bottom line in my limited iron knowledge though would be to look at stomach and gut issues if you're having a problem like this; malabsorption of nutrients/minerals.
 

pmgamer18

Active Member
That is why I take my Iron pills Mon. Wed. & Fri. Also how are your Thyroid levels low Thyroid can lower iron levels.
pmgamer18
 

Systemlord

Member
Too as mentioned about Vitamin-C can aid absorption, about 1g of Vit-C. Also supposedly the amino L-Lysine can aid absorption. lastly, the cast iron cooking can also help as stated above.
The bottom line in my limited iron knowledge though would be to look at stomach and gut issues if you're having a problem like this; malabsorption of nutrients/minerals.

My GI doctor informed me recently he is seeing inflammation in the stomach and gut, back in April when I was having all those issues my stomach was bloating out badly before all those other symptoms appeared.

My labs over the years are seeing low iron, low potassium and low vitamin D, the question is which came first, the deficiencies do to poor diet or the stomach and gut problems do to another cause.

I've had muscle spasms in legs going back years, went on TRT and it went to the next level. All these stomach and gut issues seem to resolve after supplementing iron, potassium and vitamin D. I'm hoping it's do to poor diet and lifestyle because these are more easily fixable.

Now I just need to get iron in a range that doesn't give me problems, probably somewhere above 60 and no higher than 90, but 118 is a too much. It's seem whether iron or testosterone a little bit goes a long way.

I'm thinking about 325mg M/W/F, ferritin M/W/F as well. I was told by my GP that ferritin is more easily absorb and with stomach and gut issues it's not hard to understand why ferritin works so well.

On another note Total T is 97 ng/dL, Free T 3.15 ng/dL and SHBG 14. It would seem SHBG was higher on TRT, as high as 22 at times. My insulin is a little higher now, so it's not hard to understand why SHBG is lower.

I'm still doing everyday stuff, riding bikes at the beach and enjoying life. I don't have the best energy, but ok. I still do get erections in the mornings, during the day as well, but not 100%. Still notice women and can't help but look.

Ribs, collarbone and shoulders hurt when lying in my tempurpedic if I stay in the same position too long.
 
Last edited:
My Ferritin is subterranean right now in the teens and I'm donating again in a few days, ugh, but when i've supplemented with the 325mg and Vit-C/Lysine...I got it to raise to about 40 being very aggressive with it but I never felt better. Not that I feel bad now, but I didn't subjectively feel "anything".
I have (had) a lot of the gut issues...reflux, GERD, indigestion/gas/bloat...something that has helped me in that area is using quite a bit of Pre/Probiotics and digestive enzymes.
 

DragonBits

Well-Known Member
I do a lot of cooking with cast iron, I prefer it.

The iron content in 100 grams of spaghetti sauce jumped from 0.6 mg to 5.7 mg after being cooked in a cast iron pot.

I had pretty good iron levels, but I have never done a blood donation, at least not in the last 30 years.

So maybe it's healthier also.

I have never supplemented iron, I took an iron panel to get a baseline in May 2018 before starting TRT.

Iron and TIBC
Iron Bind.Cap.(TIBC) 357 250-450 ug/dL 01
UIBC 249 111-343 ug/dL 01
Iron 108 38-169 ug/dL 01
Iron Saturation 30 15-55 % 01

Ferritin, Serum
Ferritin, Serum 224 30-400 ng/mL 01

Haven't looked at iron since then, I don't donate blood, last HCT was 45.5, I was assuming Iron is about the same as when I started. I don't think testosterone causes any sort of iron depletion?
 

Systemlord

Member
That is why I take my Iron pills Mon. Wed. & Fri. Also how are your Thyroid levels low Thyroid can lower iron levels.
pmgamer18
Thyroid levels during the iron deficiency were pretty good, TSH 1.01, Free T4 1.35, Free T3 3.6 and Reverse T3 17 ng/dL. Off TRT TSH is 0.6 and Free T4 1.45.
 

Systemlord

Member
I feel way better today after stopping iron and ferritin supplementation 6 days ago, but I do not want to allow iron definitely to become an issue again by allowing it to get too low.

Do anyone know how long it takes for iron and ferritin to decrease after stopping iron and ferritin supplementation?
 
My doctor likes me to take liver capsules to to try to raise my ferretin plus eat more organ meats. He wanted me to stop donating every two months which I’ve always done. I did for a while but donated and then did labs and my ferretin is low again. Ugh. Taking high dose liver tabs can be expensive on top of all my other supps.
 
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