Trt and multivitamin with iron

[Clayboy_123]

If on trt, is it best to not take a multi with iron?

 

[ERO]

For most men on TRT - We have to donate blood regularly to keep red blood cell count from going too high and iron helps to build a higher red blood cell count. There are exceptions, but this is a generalization that holds for most.

I'd say only take iron if blood work shows you to be anemic and in need of supplemental iron.

 

[Vince]

Because I donated blood, only twice. My iron is low, I just started supplementing iron about two week ago. I would only recommend taking iron if you are low.

 

[bencozzy]

Have any of you guys with high hemocrit ever tried supplementing with alpha lipoic acid? There are a few studies on it lowering blood iron levels. Also helps with endothelium dysfunction aka ED.

 

[DxHypo]

I'm running into the "take iron or not" question myself at this point in my trt history. Been donating blood every two months for 3 or 4 years now without too much problem. Hematocrit regularly runs in the low 50's and hemoglobin from 17 to 19. However, recently developed some vague symptoms which could mimic iron defiecency anemia like more fatigue than usual and some unrefreshing sleep. Recently pulled iron status labs and ferritin was 49ng/ml on Labcorp range 30 -400 so thats not too bad. Serum iron was 157ug/dl on range 40 -155 and unbound iron binding capacity of 152 ug/dl on range 150 -375 for Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) of 309 range 250 -450. So while everything is within range or slightly out I'm not sure what's going on with the symptoms. I had avoided too much red meat the last couple years as well as iron fortified cereals and the multi-vitamin I take has no iron. Sorry to hijack the thread but if someone can interpret those lab values and give me some insight on iron status I would appreciate it. I did these labs out of pocket not under a physician.

 

[DxHypo]

I forgot to mention above that my test levels are spot on in the middle of the reference range and E2 has been at 40 on sensitive range last lab I pulled.

 

[SoCalSurfer]

I have never had low iron before but my last labs had me as very low so I will be starting taking iron. Also my blood cells are smaller which is most likely linked to low Iron. My primary doc said I was almost anemic.

 

[Vince]

I forgot to mention above that my test levels are spot on in the middle of the reference range and E2 has been at 40 on sensitive range last lab I pulled.

Looks like your iron levels are good, there must be some other reason for your fatigue.

 

[DxHypo]

Looks like your iron levels are good, there must be some other reason for your fatigue.

Thanks for the response Vince. Yes it would appear that nothing is too out of whack with my iron status going by the labs. I was just mainly wondering if my high normal serum iron and lower normal ferritin might be a clue somehow that things weren't optimal. I suppose it could also be that my E2 being a little over range could be responsible for the symptoms. I'm taking DIM to try and get that down.

 

[gallan]

Some folks like to see ferritin over 100 so 49 might be considered on the low side.

 

[DxHypo]

Some folks like to see ferritin over 100 so 49 might be considered on the low side.

Good to know. Thanks. I suspect I might need to be higher based on these vague symptoms. The other thing is that I do have sleep apnea but use a cpap. So I'm not eager to take iron supplements for several reasons.

 

[DxHypo]

Found this on Medline which suggests maybe my ferritin level is low even within range:

Normal value range is:
Male: 12-300 ng/mL (nanograms per millilter)

Female: 12-150 ng/mL

The lower the ferritin level, even within the "normal" range, the more likely it is that the patient does not have enough iron.


Think I'm gonna start supplementing a little iron with some dessicated liver tablets.

 

[DxHypo]

Well crap now I found something exactly like my situation on STTM:

What causes low ferritin when other labs look great or are even too high? That usually points to an MTHFR mutation and having high heavy metals. You can also see high levels of homocysteine with this defect, as well as higher levels of copper and other metals.

Great, a mutation. Or high heavy metal levels. Dammit.

Edit: Shit I've been eating a tablespoon of Hershey's Cocoa powder in my oatmeal every morning for a good while! I've read now that it contains toxic levels of cadmium! Holy crap I might be poisoning myself!!!!!! Maybe thats the reason for the extra fatigue and not the iron status???!!!