Posted , 5 users are following.
Ok, so I was diagnosed with a level of 3078...after 2 phlebs i was down to 2600. I had 4 more and redid labs today...i am at 3125!!! WTF!!!!!! How am i higher???? I don't get it, I am watching my iron intake, I dont eat anything with a higher than 10 % value. Red meats once in a while. I cut out a lot of stuff from my diet and 6 phlebs, what the hell!!??? Anyone else have this problem???
0 likes, 4 replies
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garrett82 deb94549
Posted
Hi Deb, I was discouraged as well at first. Same deal, slight decrease, then a spike, then it was up and down for about 2 months. At about the 3 month mark my levels took a nose dive. Have been normal since (been a little over a year) with 1 phleb since. Only explanation my doc could come up with was my liver was releasing iron post phlebs, which is why my ferritin would spike. Just stay the course and give it a little more time. With me it was a lot of discouragement then like over night I was out of the storm. (Not literally, but that's how it felt)
peekay deb94549
Posted
I had the same thing happen a few times deb and from reading here I gather 'spiking' is fairly common. Doc said pretty much as above. The excess iron is stored primarily in your liver and your body makes a 'withdrawal' to replace the red blood cells lost through phlebs. Sometimes the liver just overcompensates and releases too much. It's probably a good thing( even though it doesn't seem so) as it means more iron is out your liver and your next few phlebs will be more productive. My best advice is not to worry, carry on with the phlebs, and as long as the general trend is downwards after 6mnths it's all good
One thing I would say is that going from 3078 to 2600 is a huge drop after only 2 phlebs. Going forwards I wouldn't expect to see that happen again. The, or at least my, normal rule-of-thumb is I lose 30-50 each phleb with the occasional spike. As a rough guide I started at 2700+(June 2017) and with a 2-3 phlebs a month my last count(June 2018) was 334
selina58849 deb94549
Posted
Hi deb, don't be discouraged. I was told from my doc to wait 2 weeks after donating blood before I had a ferritin test to get my iron levels. Your iron levels will go down. Hang in there. Do a couple more phlebs and then wait another 2 weeks before ferritin test. Let us know how it works out for you. These forum sites really help people in the same situation as you. I know its helped me! XXX hugs to you
deb94549
Posted