Low Ferritin

[Angela1287]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently awaiting my blood test results for celiac. I’ve read quite a lot of posts on this forum relating to various deficiencies, however I wonder if it’s at all common to have low ferritin without other deficiencies and still a positive celiac result. 
 

My ferritin level is 13.7. I’ve always had tummy problems, ranging from what I thought was adult colic through to acid reflux which I have now. 

I have many of the classic iron deficiency symptoms; restless legs, muscle twitches, vertigo, and also have some strange symptoms including itchy eyes, throbbing gums, constant post nasal drip. I also have what I think is nerve pain in my right foot. When I get out of bed in the morning I’m cripple for the first few steps and then it starts to ease unless I put a lot of weight on my toes (ie. If I squat). 
 

I feel terrible saying it, however a diagnosis of Celiac would be a relief so I at least know what I’m dealing with 😞 I’m a little deflated and confused by the range of symptoms and wondering if they are linked or if I have a few things going wrong at the same time.

I wondered if any of this strikes a cord?

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, Angela1287!

Your ferritin levels are within normal range according to this: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=167&contentid=ferritin_blood. But maybe the lab used in your case was going by different units. Can you post the reference ranges they were using? What about hemoglobin and hematocrit numbers? They are also measures of iron status. Ferritin is a storage protein and reflects the status of the iron stores in the body versus that which is circulating freely in the blood.

Nutritional deficiencies in general, not just iron levels, are par for the course with celiac disease. The inflammation of the small bowel lining creates damage to the villi and reduces nutrient absorption efficiency. Many of the symptoms you describe could be due to various nutrient deficiencies.

We routinely recommend that adults newly diagnosed with celiac disease start taking a high potency B-complex, at least 5000IU of D3, Magnesium glycinate or Magnesium citrate (two forms with good absorption qualities). Adding to that a sublingual B12, at least for a few months, would also be wise. The B vitamins are water soluble so there is no danger of taking too much. You just pee out the excess.

May we ask your age?

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum. 

Were you eating gluten daily, at least 2 slices of wheat bread worth, for 6-8 weeks before your blood test for celiac disease? I ask because many doctors don't seem to be properly instructing their patients about this beforehand, which can lead to false-negative results.

[cristiana]

Hi Angela

I'm not sure where you are from but I'm British and by the levels used by NHS labs your ferritin is low.  This is from the South Tees NHS website.

https://www.southtees.nhs.uk/services/pathology/tests/ferritin/

FERRITIN guide to interpretation:
Low: Less than 15 ug/L
Borderline: 16 – 40 ug/L
Normal: 41 – 400 ug/L
High: Greater than 400

Are you saying that you have had other levels tested but your ferritin is the only level that wasn't right?

From memory, my ferritin was 6 at diagnosis but my B12 levels and D levels were borderline so those levels weren't flagged by my GP.    Yet my nutritionist told me that I should have had B12 and D shots at diagnosis to give me a boost - I got the distinct impression she thought NHS levels for B12 and D are set too low.  I've since learned that I feel so much better with those levels at a higher range.

The symptoms you list that matched mine included the restless legs, muscle twitches and vertigo.  I understand what you are saying because I was also very relieved when I was diagnosed with coeliac disease, because suddenly all these weird symptoms had a cause that I could address.

Do let us know how you get on.  🤗

Cristiana

Edited June 15, 2022 by cristiana

[Wheatwacked]

10 hours ago, Angela1287 said:

I wonder if it’s at all common to have low ferritin without other deficiencies

Many of the electrolytes and vitamins and minerals that they routinely test for with blood tests are tightly contolled by a process called homeostasis. For example, if you are not ingesting enough calcium, your body will activate backup systems that sucks the calcium out of your bones to ensure that your heart has enough to operate. Not enough choline your body with breakdown existing cells to supplement the lack of phosphatidyl choline in your diet to use for acetylcholine and new cell membranes and clearing homocysteine. And so on with other minerals and vitamins. Our bodies have backups for all the vital functions that keep us alive. Between the deficiencies caused by gluten poisoning and the deficiencies inherent in our modern american diet plan it is more what we don't eat than what we do.

[Angela1287]

Hi everyone! Thank you all so much for replying 😊

I’m from the UK. The doctor I’ve been seeing advised me that my Ferritin Level of 13.7 is Low-Normal. I didn’t even think to ask about the ranges.

Today I received results of my B12 and Folate levels. Folate seems to be completely normal at  11, with a range of 3-20. My B12 is also classed as normal, however it seems to be on the lower end of the scale at 267, with a range of 200-700.

On Monday I should find out the results of my celiac blood test. 
 

I forgot to mention (ironically) that I have awful brain fog at the moment. Sometimes I forget words to use or just plain struggle to think. I also have suffered with constipation (pellet stool) for as long as I can remember. 
 

I will have some answers soon. At night my legs are so restless I actually managed to wear right through the fitted sheet on my bed 😞

 

[trents]

Angela, are you currently taking any vitamin supplements? Serum vitamin and mineral testing may be pretty useless while on supplements. I think the recommendation for accurate results is to discontinue supplementation for like two months. Otherwise, you are measuring what is floating around in the blood rather than what is actually getting to the cells and being used by the body.

[Wheatwacked]

I may be alone in this, but I consider the vitamins and minerals pills I take as just another food source. That is different from other supplement pills like DHEA, St Johns Wort, etc that are basically non pharmaceuticlal drugs. Willow Bark tea instead of aspirin for example.

For testing if it is a fasting test I stop the vitamin and minerals along with other foods because I want to know my total status, not just what I would be without them. I already know they are lacking in my diet. If your tests come back deficient even while boosting your intake something is wrong. If the results are high I can cut that one back.

Unfortunately for testing many of the minerals we need, potassium for example, the blood level is tightly controlled by homeostasis so as @trentssaid, you know how much is in your blood but not if enough is getting into your cells so you need other ways of checking, like urine tests for iodine intake. High homocysteine is either a massive inflammation or not enough B6, B12, Choline or Folate in your system to process it. That could be malabsorption due to villi damage from Celiac, or a problem with Intrinsic Factor causing B12 problems, or simply not enough in your diet. Only 10% of people eating a modern american diet get enough Choline. Many people only eat 2500 mg of potassium while the DV for potassium in the US is 4700 mg. Folic Acid is added to wheat products to compensate for the folate lacking in the SAD diet. We avoid sun to be skin cancer safe so everyone missing a primary source of vitamin D. Fat stores vitamin D so an obese persons needs more to raise blood plasma level than a thin person.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Wheatwacked

[Posterboy]

On 6/15/2022 at 12:41 PM, trents said:

We routinely recommend that adults newly diagnosed with celiac disease start taking a high potency B-complex, at least 5000IU of D3, Magnesium glycinate or Magnesium citrate (two forms with good absorption qualities). Adding to that a sublingual B12, at least for a few months, would also be wise. The B vitamins are water soluble so there is no danger of taking too much. You just pee out the excess.

 

58 minutes ago, Wheatwacked said:

High homocysteine is either a massive inflammation or not enough B6, B12, Choline or Folate in your system to process it.

Angela et Al,

Trents has given you good advice.

The trick with a B-Vitamin is to take it multiple times a day with meals.

Once a day is not enough.......you can see this by how your urine changes color.

Riboflavin will start to change your urine to a yellow color.....when it begins to bypass through your kidneys.

Riboflavin also helps elevated Homocysteine levels......

Once your urine is bright orange fluorescent color then your liver has filled up its small 2 to 3 months reservoir of Riboflavin.

When one is severely deficient in Riboflavin it might take two whole months of 2x to 3x times a day with meals for your urine to become bright yellow/orange.  Once your urine begins to glow in the dark (florescent color).....you have enough B2......

I was deficient in many years ago and had the elevated Homocysteine levels that Wheatwacked mentioned.....not only did my Homocysteine levels drop to normal levels my blood pressure got better too!

Here is an nice summary article explaining these connections....

https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/blog/2019/02/26/mthfr-just-riboflavin-deficiency/

Here is the more technical article for you Wheatwacked and trents who like to do more of the research side

entitled "New Evidence for Homocysteine Lowering for Management of Treatment-Resistant Hypertension"

https://academic.oup.com/ajh/article/35/4/303/6475983

Once you have become low/Deficient in Riboflavin you have developed Pellagra Sine Pellagra.

The side of my mouth would "leak" and I had crusty sores on the sides of my smile......I was sad looking for a while......but taking Riboflavin and a good B-Complex for two or three months got rid of my deficiency.

And I knew I had enough when my urine begin to glow.....don't stop it until your Urine GLOWS!

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advice.

Good luck on your continued journey.

Posterboy,

 

[Blue-Sky]

On 6/15/2022 at 11:21 AM, Angela1287 said:

I have many of the classic iron deficiency symptoms; restless legs, muscle twitches, vertigo, and also have some strange symptoms including itchy eyes, throbbing gums, constant post nasal drip. I also have what I think is nerve pain in my right foot. When I get out of bed in the morning I’m cripple for the first few steps and then it starts to ease unless I put a lot of weight on my toes (ie. If I squat).

If you have pain in your toes has the doctor ruled out gout (it is an immune reaction triggered by uric acid crystals)?

[Angela1287]

14 hours ago, trents said:

Angela, are you currently taking any vitamin supplements? Serum vitamin and mineral testing may be pretty useless while on supplements. I think the recommendation for accurate results is to discontinue supplementation for like two months. Otherwise, you are measuring what is floating around in the blood rather than what is actually getting to the cells and being used by the body.

Hi Trents,

I’m not taking any supplements except Ferrous Fumarate. My Ferritin levels were low so they put we on these. With regards to my B12 and Folate, these results came from separate testing last week. 
 

Angela

[Wheatwacked]

On 6/15/2022 at 1:21 PM, Angela1287 said:

When I get out of bed in the morning I’m cripple for the first few steps and then it starts to ease

I had that, and it is not gout. The only thing that worked for the gout was the prednisone  which is how I discovered the prednisone was the only thing that worked for the fibromyalgia. Back then, pre GFD, I would wake from because I stopped breathing and once awake had to pee urgently but I couldn't walk to the bathroom because of the aforementioned foot pain. Often had to crawl to the bathroom.

Gout comes on like you stubbed your toe but don't remember doing it. Over a short time it turns to absolute pain with no relief. The prednisone began to work in half an hour and by the next day was almost painfree. The cost of the 10 day treatment was about $20. I had two other options all three said to be effective, but the other two (don't remember the names) cost $200 for the 10 day treatment. Plus they have "sudden death" as a potential side effect. Prednisone does not.

Eventually the pain on standing went away after a while on Gluten Free Diet, but evolved to cold and numb when I lie down more than an hour, like being barefoot in the snow.  More recently the high dose Thiamine has been easing that. Celiac Desease causes multiple mineral and vitamin deficiencies that testing will not identify. 

9 hours ago, Posterboy said:

"New Evidence for Homocysteine Lowering for Management of Treatment-Resistant Hypertension"

Good article. Glad you are back. I missed the B2 connection and liked that they pointed out that Folic Acid is not Folate and does have negative side effects. Also want to mention that  Choline and Folate share the job of methyating homocysteine and that Choline is also needed, along with Folate to reduce neural tube defects. Low choline requires more folate and vice versa. Low choline levels in pregnant women raise babies' risk for brain and spinal-cord defects, study shows

Edited June 18, 2022 by Wheatwacked

[Wheatwacked]

The movie "Joan of Arc" had a really good scene where the Pope was suffering from gout.

[trents]

"When I get out of bed in the morning I’m cripple for the first few steps and then it starts to ease unless I put a lot of weight on my toes (ie. If I squat). "

 

This sounds like plantar fasciitis to me.

[Angela1287]

3 minutes ago, trents said:

"When I get out of bed in the morning I’m cripple for the first few steps and then it starts to ease unless I put a lot of weight on my toes (ie. If I squat). "

 

This sounds like plantar fasciitis to me.

Could be! I believe the pain tends to be in the heel with Plantar Fasciitis, my pain in on the outside of my right foot, at the side rather than the heel. But who knows. 

[Wheatwacked]

I had plantar fasciitis before the neurapathy. Rolling a tennis ball helps. Shallow knee bends under a hot shower running down the back. The goal is to relaxe and stretch the foot, calves and lower back. My sister in law went to a foot doctor and she vibrated it loose with some kind of impact hammer. Reminds me of the old days when the treatment for Carpal Tunnel was to wack it with a bible.

Tart Cherry Juice is abnormally high in vitamin A and polyphenols and may have changed my neurapathy.

[Posterboy]

Angela Et Al,

If it is gout taking Magnesium Citrate should help it.

I did this research a few months back for a friend.....and I am still amazed to this day how many things Magnesium can  help with.

See this research about it.

Entitled "Plasma magnesium and the risk of new-onset hyperuricaemia in hypertensive patients"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32213225/

Where they noted quoting

"Higher plasma Mg levels were associated with a decreased risk of new-onset hyperuricaemia in hypertensive adults."

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advice.

Posterboy,

[knitty kitty]

Plantar fascia are the tendons that connect the toes to the heel.  Plantar fasciitis is the inflammation of any of these tendons.  The pain can be at the attachment point of these tendons at the heel, across the sole of the foot to the toes, on the outside of the foot, the middle or the inside of the foot.  

A ganglion cyst is smashed with a thick book.

The amino acid L-tryptophan is fantastic for restless leg syndrome.  Tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin.  Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that helps you feel good.  Low serotonin levels are linked to restless leg syndrome.  Melatonin is made from tryptophan.  Melatonin helps you sleep.

Tart Cherry Juice has been shown to inhibit enzymes that break down tryptophan, allowing for more tryptophan to be available.  

Tryptophan improves Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  

Read more here....

L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908021/

And...

Pilot Study of Tart Cherry Juice for the Treatment of Insomnia and Investigation of Mechanisms

Synopsis...

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28901958/

Full study....

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5617749/

@Wheatwacked,

Hope this helps!

Take some Pyridoxine Vitamin B6 to help convert tryptophan to serotonin, and magnesium, too.