Hemochromatosis Support Group
Hemochromatosis is a hereditary disease characterized by improper processing by the body of dietary iron which causes iron to accumulate in a number of body tissues, eventually causing organ dysfunction. It is the main iron overload disorder. Hemochromatosis is notorious for having symptoms that are often initially misattributed to other diseases.
Got labs done on Friday for Phleb this week. Last time my levels dropped a lot. Iron went down to 126 and ferritin to 125 and % sat to 40%. Got test results back and my iron went up to 229 and % sat to 82% but ferritin continued to go down to 90. What does that mean when iron goes up but ferritin still goes down?
Based on your numbers your TIBC number is 279 (i.e iron sat% =iron/TIBC), which is about what mine is. People without HH are normally over 300 and therefore have less % sat. If you are not doing it already, you may want to fast before your bloodwork as I understand that can effect your iron level.
I would fast before your next iron test and see if that helps the number. I also read that iron is typically higher in the morning.
I beleive that I have helped lower my iron saturation levels by consuming black currant juice and raw oatmeal every morning. I know that this is anecdotal, but I decreased my iron saturation from 50-60% to 30% even when my ferritin was in the 500-700 range. My latest result was a ferritin of 402, so maybe I am finally seeing the light of maintenance down the road.
Stay with the program and I think your iron levels will level out with time.