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Strange undiagnosed condition causing extremely low ferritin levels

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kbusby
kbusby

I have a loved one who is anaemic and who has some undiagnosed condition that is causing very low ferritin levels for months with weakness and other symptoms.

I've already posted much of what's below in other forums, with no responses, so I'm re-posting it here.

I'm typing this on behalf of a loved one. She has been feeling sick and weak for at least months and has gone to several doctors with no diagnosis. The problem is that the doctors don't communicate or share medical records, or, they are myopic and can't make diagnoses that fall outside their specialty.

To get to the point, my loved one's ferritin level has dropped from 9 to 7 in a month ( It's supposed to be in the 16 to 255 range for healthy individuals ). My loved one's rheumatologist was concerned and sent her to a hematologist who did nothing. He instead recommended that she should have a colonoscopy, but none of her other blood work or tests indicated that she had any type of gastrointestinal bleeding and she doesn't have dark stools or occult blood. Since my loved one saw her rheumatologist, her ferritin level dropped 2 more points.

The sections of the blood work that are pertinent include the following :

"

Other blood results:

IRON AND TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY IRON, TOTAL Reference Range: 45-160 mcg/dL 67 - No Historical Data

IRON BINDING CAPACITY Reference Range: 250-450 mcg/dL (calc) 468 H

% SATURATION Reference Range: 16-45 % (calc) 14 L No Historical Data

MCH 25.3 L Reference Range: 27.0-33.0 pg

MCHC 30.6 L Reference Range: 32.0-36.0 g/dL

RDW 16.4 H Reference Range: 11.0-15.0 %

"

She's seen many doctors and none of them can seem to figure out what the problem is. We don't know quite what to do at this point.

Anyway, I hope this is the correct forum for my question.

If anyone has any recommendations, we'd be very grateful.

Thank you,

kbusby c/o jdb2

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • Diesel_Dummy
    Diesel_Dummy kbusby

    Posted

    has she had endoscopy done? She might have internal bleeding that wont show up in stool. whats her actual iron levels

    • kbusby
      kbusby Diesel_Dummy

      Posted

      @Diesel_Dummy

      Thanks so much for your reply! 😃

      She hasn't hadn't had a recent endoscopy -- the last one was about 5 years ago. As for the internal bleeding, her hematologist was kind of stupid and said that because her hemoglobin was i-range, she couldn't be bleeding, which I know is incorrect.

      Her iron levels are as follows :

      "

      IRON AND TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY

      Analyte

      Value

      IRON, TOTAL

      67

      IRON BINDING CAPACITY

      468 H

      % SATURATION

      14 L

      Reference Range: 45-160 mcg/dL

      Reference Range: 250-450 mcg/dL (calc)

      Reference Range: 16-45 % (calc)

      FERRITIN

      Analyte

      Value

      FERRITIN

      9 L

      Reference Range: 16-288 ng/mL"

      She's also been experiencing extreme fatigue, restless legs, headaches and other symptoms which I can't recall at the moment.

      Thanks and regards,

      kbusby c/o jdb2

  • jenny19687
    jenny19687 kbusby

    Posted

    Hi kbusby

    I would guess that your loved one has iron deficiency anaemia. The cause can be anything from diet to bleeding (like polyps uterine or anywhere else etc) to inability to absorb iron to pregnancy.

    Does you loved one eat meat. If not and on supplements vitamin c is needed to absorb. The only way to rule out everything else is through medical tests. Ask for copies of your results then copy for new doctors. Keep a record yourself.

    Hope this helps.

    • kbusby
      kbusby jenny19687

      Posted

      @jenny19687

      Thanks for your reply 😃

      "I would guess that your loved one has iron deficiency anaemia."

      I'm not exactly sure, but she does have at least some anaemia, although I don't know if it's due to iron deficiency.

      "The cause can be anything from diet to bleeding"

      Yep. That's what makes the diagnosis so hard.

      "(like polyps uterine or anywhere else etc)"

      AFAIK, she doesn't have any kind of bleeding polyps.

      "to inability to absorb iron"

      I think her problem has something to do with this. I know the a ferritin deficiency can cause iron absorption properties.

      "Does you loved one eat meat."

      She mostly eats chicken and fish but not that much red meat.

      "If not and on supplements vitamin c is needed to absorb."

      I don't think she currently takes vitamin C supplements.

      "The only way to rule out everything else is through medical tests. Ask for copies of your results then copy for new doctors. Keep a record yourself."

      Thanks for the tip 😃

      Regards,

      kbusby c/o jdb2

  • jenny19687
    jenny19687 kbusby

    Posted

    Forgot to add i am not a doctor. Everything should be checked with medical professionals.

  • Diesel_Dummy
    Diesel_Dummy kbusby

    Posted

    Is she experiencing heart palpitations along with her other symptoms???

    • kbusby
      kbusby Diesel_Dummy

      Posted

      Is she experiencing heart palpitations along with her other symptoms???

      I think so, yes.

      Regards,

      kbusby c/o jdb2

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