Iron and Anemia - What Am I Dealing With?

[mike21p]

I was convinced I had anemia since my iron was 50 and so was my ferritin and I was told normal for males is 120 and 80. Im pretty sure both are still low, and I am extremely fatigued, but my hemoglobin levels are exactly mid range. Does this mean that even though I have low iron and ferritin I just dont have anemia? Rbc is close to top of the range, hemoglobin and hemocrit are smack dab in the middle. Mch and mchc are borderline low.Is anemia determined by hemoglobin and hemocrit levels or iron and ferritin?

 

[CoastWatcher]

The conversation you want to have will unfold more smoothly if you post all your lab work, with the associated lab ranges.

 

[Vettester Chris]

What is your current labs? We are just speculating a straw man without actual lab results. Let us know ...

 

[mike21p]

rbc 5.56 (4.4-5.8)
Hemoglobin 15.1 (13.1-17.1)
Hemocrit 46 (40-50.4)
Mch 27.6 (26.6-33)
Mchc 32.5 (32-34.9)
Iron 49 after supplementation ---> 114 (50-175) but I heard over 120 for thyroid purposes
Ferritin 40 (18-464) but i heard it should be over 50



Based off this, is it possible that I should continue 25mg iron supplementation? While im techinally not out of range, I heard low iron can cause low dopamine and affect the thyroid in certain ways and also cause brain fog.

 

[Vince Carter]

I get the same type of numbers, HGB/HCT are normal/high but ferritin and iron are very low. When I supplemented with 62mg Elemental iron per day I never felt any different, my ferritin barely budged and my serum iron was up a few points to approaching mid range but I never felt any different. But I think it didn't spur my HGB/HCT numbers to where I needed to donate again so I specualted that iron supplementation only aggravated my HGB/HCT so I discontinued supplements. I only use 1000mg of Vit C which is supposed to help iron absorption.
I considered Anemia but didn't think I fit the definition.

 

[mike21p]

I am extremely fatigued, but my hemoglobin levels are exactly mid range and rbc on the high end of normal. Does this mean that even though I have low iron and ferritin I just dont have anemia? Rbc is close to top of the range, hemoglobin and hemocrit are smack dab in the middle. Mch and mchc are borderline low.Is anemia determined by hemoglobin and hemocrit levels or iron and ferritin?

 

[mike21p]

What are the determining factors of anemia, rbc and hemocrit, or iron and ferritin?

 

[mike21p]

Is anemia determined by hemoglobin and hemocrit levels or levels of iron and ferritin?

 

[Vince]

Here's what an iron panel looks like.
Iron serum (5.83 - 34.5) umol/L
UIBC (22.3 - 61.7) umol/L
TIBC (33.3 - 89.7) umol/L
% Saturation (0.16 - 0.56) F of T
Transferrin (1.80 - 2.88) g/L
Ferritin (25 - 336) ug/L