• Health

  • How are everyone's Iron levels? Possible root cause. Possible cure.

Donux yea I didn't mean it is the only cause but definitely could be a factor… it's gotta be something right?

I agree with your point though.

    Donux Here's another voice to chime in, for what it's worth: I also have almost entirely avoided red meat for the past 30+ years, with the very occasional exception.

    I would be interested to hear if there are more of us who both have this problem and who do not eat red meat.

        16 days later
        9 days later

        Has this thread died down because no one knows what their iron levels are, and can't be bothered to check? Or they do, but can't be bothered to share this info?

        I've been able to raise my ferritin level from 5 to 13 over the last 3 months. At this pace, unless I find a way to jack up my ferritin levels much faster, expect a report as to whether low iron was the eye-strain culprit in my case…….in a year or two.

        Cheers

          My ferritin when checked last year was 486, and iron 71. I still have screen issues severely.

            Donux

            Not sure if any of that works. For example, what happens when you are sweating and you skin is in contact with the conductive materials of the clothing?

                balthazar I have an appointment on the 19th, I'll post back if I'm deficient.

                  11 days later

                  Ok, got my bloodwork results back and they're confusing (Of course they are!!)

                  My Ferritin is in range but in the lower part of the range but my serum iron is at the HIGH end of the range... odd. My Ferritin is around 50, but like @balthazar said in the original post it may need to be >100.

                  So that said I asked my GP if there's a way to safely increase my ferritin levels without pushing my serum iron too high... we'll see what he says. I'm not a fan of this doctor so I won't hold my breath on a solution.

                  I did think about something interesting though... I have a lot of autoimmune issues and I've was taking turmeric supplements for 4-5 years. I stopped a month ago because I read something about it being bad for the liver. The interesting thing is that apparently turmeric decreases iron absorption. Combine that with the fact that I don't eat red meat and I probably did a number on my Ferritin stores. Perhaps it was even lower before I quit and it's working it's way back up? Just a guess.

                  Also interestingly @Seagull commented here that turmeric/curcumin makes screens worse for them as well. Maybe that's connected? Maybe I'm just crazy? Maybe both! 🙂

                    5 days later

                    wlmsn Not only does turmeric block iron absorption, it actually CHELATES iron - google it, if you don't believe me.

                    My brain fog/eye strain started when I was doing a whole bunch of things to manage an inflammatory condition - among them: a vegetarian diet (i.e. low iron intake), and COPIOUS (half a glass/day of raw powder) amounts of turmeric. I was also doing a whole bunch of other things at the time, so it took me a loooooong time to get to my current theory that low iron is the culprit.

                        balthazar what does Chelates mean?

                        A while back I had a bad reaction to Cipro and almost blew out my achilles. I started taking Vitamin Shoppe's "Triple Strength Turmeric" (900mg) and basically kept taking it for about 5 years. I get pretty achy without it but if it's messing up my iron/causing this eye thing I'll survive without it.

                            wlmsn Removes iron from your body. Binds it in some way, where you end up pissing it out...I think. I'm not exactly a biology major.

                            Boswellia could be something to look into as far as achilles inflammation goes. Disclaimer: NOT OFFICIAL MEDICAL ADVICE, consult your doctor, do your own research, doublecheck whether it messes with Iron, bla bla bla

                              balthazar not sure how much day to day absorbtion affects the processes utilizing iron, but I believe undiagnosed celiac disease is a big issue as well. It often causes issues with iron absorption. I've had severe bow iron as a child, and I've battles stomach issues for close to 20 years. Almost fine after dropping all milk protein and gluten the last year. There is a 100% correlation for me between all neurological stuff acting up and stomach pain.

                                  Ferritin: 255 ng/mL

                                  Iron, serum: 25.5 mcmol/L

                                  Transferrin: 2.1 g/L

                                  So only transferrin on the lower cutout. Everything else is on optimal

                                  async for what it's worth I have celiac and am also dairy free due to an intolerance

                                    dev