My Sad Story Madison A.

Detecting latent iron deficiency anaemia: normal haemoglobin and low ferritin? When to take the test, what to look for, how to replenish ferritin, how to interpret the results.

As it often happens, until someone bites somewhere, we don’t take exams or go to doctors to understand the reason for our ailment. I try to go, but you don’t want to notice some things.

The last CBC check I had revealed that my iron level was about two years ago, and my doctor expressed delight at the healthy clinical picture. I thought it would always be this way.

Why did I go to donate now?

There were 2 visible reasons:

  • suddenly, my nails became brittle
  • my hair started falling out in clumps

My hair loss happens very rarely, usually due to very stressful situations. I know that hair starts falling out after a month or a month and a half from when a large dose of stress enters my life. It doesn’t happen that yesterday I was nervous—tomorrow my hair falls out. Comparing my divorce and the stroke of a loved one, I thought that, in principle, more could have fallen out; thank goodness not all.

But why do nails flake, then?

Serious irritability has been accompanying me for about 4 months now. Again, I did not connect these factors with my health; I blamed only stress. I did masks, Darsonval, head massages, and whatever I did, it helped, but not much. Yes, less hair loss has begun, but this Anaemia disgrace has not completely stopped.

♦ After contacting my GP, I found out that there can be 3 reasons for hair loss (except stress), and all of them need to be checked in a CBC exam since they are all quite serious:

  • Low iron levels (haemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin).
  • Thyroid problems
  • Problems with sex hormones

Of course, I wouldn’t like to know about any of them, but what can you do? Health is the most important thing.

Low Ferritin – as the most important indicator?

I am not indifferent to the topic of medicine, so I knew before taking the exams that I, with side effects, could only take Ferritin to understand that I actually have latent iron deficiency. Why only it? You can take Hemoglobin, you say. But no, when it comes to haemoglobin depletion, your body will already have entered the stage of deep anaemia with even worse consequences and a worse clinical picture.

What happens during latent low levels?

Ferritin is depleted FIRST.

A sign of this process is decreased ferritin levels in the blood serum. And while there are enough reserves, the body redistributes them to build haemoglobin. You can even feel relatively normal. And there is enough strength for ordinary everyday life.

Do you know if preparation is required?

No special preparation for the analysis is required; the main thing is not to spoil the picture that is already there. What should not be done, and what did I not do before the analysis?

  • Slept at least 8 hours
  • I didn’t eat at night or before taking CBC blood tests.
  • I haven’t had a long fast.
  • I did not take any iron supplements the day before the checks.

The morning before the CBC tests, do not eat; drink a glass of water to thin the blood a little, and remain calm until the blood is taken (it is better to sit for 15 minutes if you walked to the lab before).

Venous blood for Anaemia is taken for the tests. In my case, the results were ready in just one day. The next morning, I already knew what was happening in my body.

Could you read the results?

In short, this is what hidden iron deficiency looks like.

Reference values ​​are what should be normal.

For a woman of childbearing age, the norm is from 70 to 120 units

Anything above or below is different.

As you can see, this value is very low for me, only 28 units. When she looked at my results, the doctor grabbed her head. And then the reason for my dizziness, weakness, desire to sleep constantly, brittle nails and hair loss immediately became clear. Ta-dam! Also, iron deficiency leads to the following consequences:

  • Heavy load on the hormonal system
  • Oxygen deficiency, since iron carries oxygen
  • Tremor, weakness in the legs, shortness of breath, depression
  • Scanty menstruation

Many people think that they can calm down when they take a Complete CBC Panel test and see that Hemoglobin and Transferrin are high. But no. Remember that Ferritin is the FIRST to be depleted. And it is this that needs to be taken first!

And high transferrin doesn’t mean anything at all! Why? Because:

Transferrin is just a carrier of iron in the body, and when there is little iron, there are more of it, like taxi cars in a parking lot, and high transferrin is a pathology for Anaemia.

What are my doctor’s recommendations for restoring ferritin levels?

♦ When the level is very low, like mine (it can be lower, I have no doubt), and it needs to be replenished as soon as possible to avoid losing all your hair, CBC doctors (and mine in particular) recommend doing IVs.

♦ I admit that I have never had IVs in my life, and this idea does not seem attractive to me, but I do not want to lose the rest of my hair and nails, so I am mentally preparing myself for Venofer. I do not want to do this in a regular clinic, but Invitro costs 2400 + your drug and your IV. + a referral from your doctor.

♦ In the meantime, I ran to the drugstore and bought the best form of absorbable iron – Iron Chelate from Solgar in a dosage of 25 mg. This is certainly not emergency help, but there will be at least some support for the first week. By the way, the Anaemia home tests will return to normal only in about six months with tablet iron. With a dropper – in a month.

♦ So now I’m focusing on liver, buckwheat, tomatoes and nuts) I’m monitoring my condition, taking iron and preparing for a course of IVs.

Take care of your health, always pay attention to the slightest symptoms and eat right!