- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
My mum has high ferritin levels im just wondering what the causes could be.
What do you guys make of this? Is this due to her infection/inflammation she was diagnosed as having clostridium last year and is now finally on metronidazole/vancomycin due to the family forgetting about this diagnosis, or could it be something more.
Liver enzymes are a bit elevated. and her eGFR has been going up and down its really weird was like 90 then 75 then 90 then now 70….
She suffers from chronic fatigue also.
Iron Studies. 11 Feb 2009 11 June 2009
Iron (10 – 30) umol/L 14 , 16
Transferrin (27 – 53) umol/L 32 , 27
T’Sat (12 – 45) % 22 , 30
Ferritin (15 – 400) ug/L 389 , 667*TSH (0.5 – 4.5) – 1.1
Free T4 (10 – 20) – 17eGFR – 70* (90>)
AST – 53* (<40)
ALT – 45* (<40)I just hope she is not getting hemochromatosis…
I would look at a ferritin level over 300 ng/ml as indicative of hemochromatosis.
Some have a genetic illness that causes this (hereditary hemochromatosis). Others have iron overload from diet or secondary to some other health condition.
This is a good site for more information: http://www.hemochromatosis.org/
Also to high ferritin levels can also appear in grave’s disease as I had one patient that was complaning of fatigue and malaise. Thyroid panel where ran and TSH was suppressed and his ferritin levels where at 450. We referred him to thyroid specialist at university hospital. His adrenals where low and testosterone was normal but low free levels. He was concerned with his adrenals being addison low, but I suggested focusing on the thyroid as primary. One the graves was addressed his ferritin levels started to come down to more manageable level. Blood letting was not necessary as controling thyroid help resolve the suspected hemochromatosis. Now we waiting on the blood test to see if his testosterone came back to normal as well as his adrenals.
@hardasnails1973 430 wrote:
Also to high ferritin levels can also appear in grave’s disease as I had one patient that was complaning of fatigue and malaise. Thyroid panel where ran and TSH was suppressed and his ferritin levels where at 450. We referred him to thyroid specialist at university hospital. His adrenals where low and testosterone was normal but low free levels. He was concerned with his adrenals being addison low, but I suggested focusing on the thyroid as primary. One the graves was addressed his ferritin levels started to come down to more manageable level. Blood letting was not necessary as controling thyroid help resolve the suspected hemochromatosis. Now we waiting on the blood test to see if his testosterone came back to normal as well as his adrenals.
Yes but her Free T4 isn’t high. T.S.H appears relatively normal. Doesn’t look like graves.
And if it is graves how would you address this??
We are waiting on her Free T3 and thyroid antibodies to see what is going on.
What else on a blood count is linked to hemochromatosis?
She had ceruloplasmin/copper done both in normal range. Insulin in normal range.
Cholesterol high was the other abnormality but that has improved somewhat due to her being on estrogen/progesterone cream therapy.
And elevated Fibrinogen.
@MetalMX 475 wrote:
Yes but her Free T4 isn’t high. T.S.H appears relatively normal. Doesn’t look like graves.
And if it is graves how would you address this??
We are waiting on her Free T3 and thyroid antibodies to see what is going on.
What else on a blood count is linked to hemochromatosis?
She had ceruloplasmin/copper done both in normal range. Insulin in normal range.
Cholesterol high was the other abnormality but that has improved somewhat due to her being on estrogen/progesterone cream therapy.
And elevated Fibrinogen.
When Ferritin is over 500, it is extremely abnormal. I would refer the patient to a hematologist. There are genetic tests that can be done.
But then again, the primary problem I would have is the potential damage being done to the body with excessive iron. Treatment would be primarily through phlebotomies and diet.
@DrMariano 479 wrote:
When Ferritin is over 500, it is extremely abnormal. I would refer the patient to a hematologist. There are genetic tests that can be done.
But then again, the primary problem I would have is the potential damage being done to the body with excessive iron. Treatment would be primarily through phlebotomies and diet.
Well with her recent stool testing we have just realised she is infested with multiple parasites which have been causing her on and off symptoms for the past yer of : diarrhoea, loss of appetite, vomiting, weight loss, psychological disturbances etc…. i wouldnt be suprised if she had brain parasites possibly
She is now on metronidazole/vancomycin and improving quickly.
Would this explain the high ferritin?
@MetalMX 511 wrote:
Well with her recent stool testing we have just realised she is infested with multiple parasites which have been causing her on and off symptoms for the past yer of : diarrhoea, loss of appetite, vomiting, weight loss, psychological disturbances etc…. i wouldnt be suprised if she had brain parasites possibly
She is now on metronidazole/vancomycin and improving quickly.
Would this explain the high ferritin?
While Dr. M is the one who’s best to answer this, you can have a look at this :
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ferritin/test.html
This is a good place to start for blood test interpretation.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.