Previous: 
: 
10 Things Your Primary Care Doctor Does That Should Make You Run for the Hills
Sign In >>
Dr. Orrange received her BA in Biology at the University of California, San Diego, and a Masters Degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She received her MD from the USC Keck School of…
FAST FACTS
Advertisement
Iron Supplements Improve Fatigue in Menstruating Women, Even Non Anemic
Posted in Anemia by Dr. Sharon Orrange on Sep 06, 2012
A recent study showed some interesting results. Iron supplementation reduced fatigue in menstruating women who are not anemic but have low ferritin levels. So we ask ourselves, is ferritin level the blood test we should be checking for fatigue?
In the study, women aged 18 to 53 years who reported fatigue had ferritin levels checked. If a woman had a ferritin level of less than 50 μg/L (even with a normal hemoglobin level) they received either oral iron sulfate (80 mg of elemental iron daily) or placebo for 12 weeks.
Women in the iron supplement group had a 48% decrease in fatigue, and they did much better than those taking placebo pills.
Iron deficiency may be an under-recognized cause of fatigue in women of childbearing age. If fatigue is not due to other causes (hypothyroidism for example) the identification of iron deficiency as a potential cause may lead to an easy solution.
The take home message is that iron supplementation should be considered for women with unexplained fatigue who have ferritin levels below 50 μg/L. Other than some constipation there aren’t many downsides.
Thoughts?
- Dr. O
In the study, women aged 18 to 53 years who reported fatigue had ferritin levels checked. If a woman had a ferritin level of less than 50 μg/L (even with a normal hemoglobin level) they received either oral iron sulfate (80 mg of elemental iron daily) or placebo for 12 weeks.
Women in the iron supplement group had a 48% decrease in fatigue, and they did much better than those taking placebo pills.
Iron deficiency may be an under-recognized cause of fatigue in women of childbearing age. If fatigue is not due to other causes (hypothyroidism for example) the identification of iron deficiency as a potential cause may lead to an easy solution.
The take home message is that iron supplementation should be considered for women with unexplained fatigue who have ferritin levels below 50 μg/L. Other than some constipation there aren’t many downsides.
Thoughts?
- Dr. O
RELATED FROM AROUND THE WEB
RELATED POSTS
Hi All, This is my very first post! I am really glad to have found this group/board. I am 6 weeks out today and things have been mostly good but last night was a nightmare.. I had my first Iron supplement and about 5 minutes after taking it I felt li
Posted on 08/24/10 12:39:23 pm
MORE ARTICLES
CATEGORIES:
Overview
CONDITIONS AND COMMUNITIES:
Anemia
•
Gastric Bypass Surgery
•
Hemochromatosis
•
Hepatitis C
•
Parenting 'Tweens (9-12)
•
Parenting Big Kids (5-8)
•
Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1)
•
Parenting Preschoolers (3-5)
•
Parenting Teenagers (12-18)
•
Parenting Toddlers (1-3)
•
Parents of Children with ADHD
MEMBER COMMENTS
TOTAL COMMENTS: 11
-
View All Comments »
Add a Comment
Displaying comments 11-1 of 11
Got a Question?
POPULAR POSTS
Anemia
(419 Discussion Topics)
(419 Discussion Topics)
Gastric Bypass Surgery
(33,416 Discussion Topics)
(33,416 Discussion Topics)
Hemochromatosis
(1,537 Discussion Topics)
(1,537 Discussion Topics)
Hepatitis C
(16,756 Discussion Topics)
(16,756 Discussion Topics)
Parenting 'Tweens (9-12)
(650 Discussion Topics)
(650 Discussion Topics)
Parenting Big Kids (5-8)
(894 Discussion Topics)
(894 Discussion Topics)
Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1)
(4,192 Discussion Topics)
(4,192 Discussion Topics)
Parenting Preschoolers (3-5)
(1,146 Discussion Topics)
(1,146 Discussion Topics)
Parenting Teenagers (12-18)
(1,435 Discussion Topics)
(1,435 Discussion Topics)
Parenting Toddlers (1-3)
(2,775 Discussion Topics)
(2,775 Discussion Topics)
Parents of Children with ADHD
(1,509 Discussion Topics)
(1,509 Discussion Topics)
Unfortunately many of the doctors are not looking for this unless the patient is an elderly man with alcohol related diabetes or cirrhosis. This is a common misconception, as cirrhosis develops without the prescence of alcohol or light alcohol consumption, and no one knows why! Until they find the iron overload.
Thank you for considering this other side of the iron story, not to take away from the real problem of anemia. It is important to find out all the why's of what we have and the causes.
I am not disagreeing that the symptoms of fatigue are found in anemia, but they are also found and shared with iron overload.
This is a common genetic disorder (1 in 9 people are carriers and 1 in 200-300 will develop iron overload) found among people of European descent and is the most common genetic disorder rarely diagnosed in the early stages. Women are not usually diagnosed until after menopause, into their late 60's and 70's, after they have organ failure or damage, and men are diagnosed earlier in their 40's and 50's due to not having periods every month like women do which protects them in the early stages. But they can both still have all the symptoms of iron overload as the iron slowly damages the body over time.
Continued...
In cases where someone has low levels of ferritin, by the way, for those with iron overload the treatment goal is for the ferritin to be under 30, even under 20 keeping the patient slightly anemic as this is when they feel their best. My understanding from the research I have done extensively on this due my husband's recent diagnosis of Hereditary Hemochromatosis, is that ferritin under 17 is considerd anemic, not under 50.
So it is good to research the causes of anemia the dr is telling you that you might be, and remember there are underlying conditions and disease and disorders and lifestyle that affect our iron levels, some are genetic, and it important to rule everything out before taking iron therapy.
Continued...
Iron is essential for life, yet having too much is killing people silently. Our body begins to manifest early symptoms like fatigue and abdominal and joint pain, headaches, brain fog, even vision problems. These are all early signs of what can be iron overload, and the drs are and can be missing this. Even being misdiagnosed with things like fibromyalgia or osteo-arthritis, when in fact it is iron overload that is the culprit.
For true iron status in the body, we need to look beyond the CBC's, beyond the ferritin and also include the transferrin saturation % (TSAT%), TIBC (Total iron binding capacity), and the serum iron.
Continued...
The damage over time from this excess iron our body is not able to get rid of leads to heart failure, liver cirrhosis, diabetes, chronic fatigue, brain fog and memory loss, pancreatic damage, abdominal pain, digestive disorders like IBS and ulcerative colitis, thyroid malfunction leading to hypothyroidism, pituitary gland damage leads to hormonal issues like irregular periods in women or early menopause, in men loss of libido and hypogonadism...elevated iron is found in 88% of women with breast cancer and has been known to be the cause of other cancers like colon cancer. Iron in brain has been linked to Alzheimers, MS, and Parkinson's.
Continued...
We get so much iron in our diet, and so many things are enriched and fortified that there is no reason we should not be getting enough from diet. If there is an underlying reason we are not absorbing iron, this needs to be looked into. A person can be anemic AND iron loading at the same time...true.
The vast majority of people have never heard of iron overload...known as hemochromatosis. It is very common genetic disorder responsible for causing the body to store excess iron in organs, tissues and joints.
(Continued in next post)
There has to be a complete iron screen done in association with hemoglobin, red blood cells, hematocrit and ferritin. If ferritin is the only screen used then a misdiagnosis can take place and people placed on iron supplementation that can do more harm than good. Our bodies need so little to promote good health, production of hemoglobin and rbc's, in fact 2.5g total body store for women and 3.5g for men is all we need. Anything over that and we can start to feel the effects or iron overload. Excess iron is toxic.
(Continued in next post)