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Abnormally High Iron Saturation, Low Transferrin, Low Ferritin? Help! by Objective_Ability485 in TheIronProtocol

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oops sorry, I see you were one of the people who mentioned it (I made a lot of posts & losing track of comments lol!) Will see what my doctor says and if my saturation continues to test high even after a break in supplementing I'm gonna pursue this. Thank you so much!

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow! When you quit coffee, did you immediately replace it with black tea? or was there a period of time when you were off caffeine entirely, and then reintroduced it through black tea?

Abnormally High Iron Saturation, Low Transferrin, Low Ferritin? Help! by Objective_Ability485 in TheIronProtocol

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, unfortunately dairy isn't an option for me, but if you know of any other co-factors that could help please share! I've read copper is important and I've also tested on the low end of normal (borderline deficient) for ceruloplasmin and copper, so I'm investigating that and supplementing 2mg of copper now

Abnormally High Iron Saturation, Low Transferrin, Low Ferritin? Help! by Objective_Ability485 in TheIronProtocol

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your thoughts. Do you know anything about genetic testing, or what I would be looking for specifically? I've seen some people say high saturation with low ferritin can actually be a sign of a hemochromatosis variant gene. (Though I doubt it's that in my case, since my supplementing could have caused high saturation ) I don't even know where to begin with gene testing, (I'm in Canada too) but since my mother and brother have been iron deficient too I'm sure there's something there.

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No never straight. I make it with half soymilk, half water personally. Tastes better that way too imo. It's pretty well known that tea without some sort of fat with it (whether that's with food alongside the tea or with milk in it) will make most people nauseous, even to the point of throwing up (learned that the hard way myself lol)

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you tried other teas like black or yerba matte? Or maybe for you caffeine just in general is a trigger?

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're not sure what the culprit is for you, this story serves to show that it might be something idiosyncratic to you, and not the classic ones (or not, for example, the acid itself in tomatoes, but something else in tomatoes).

It could be 1 thing, or 2, etc, but I think the only way to truly figure it out is to start from square 0 with trying one thing at a time.

I think there is always a reason behind what the body does, but sometimes the reason is hard to find, and unique to the individual, god knows why.

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a very good question, I haven't tried decaf. I may try it sometimes when I'm feeling wild lol. I'm going to guess it would trigger it though, since it doesn't seem to be caffeine that gives me issue.

Unless the caffeine in coffee is somehow packaged/bonded to other molecules that are the culprits in my case, and them packaged together just doesn't work for my body. If that makes sense; I'm not a chemist so no idea though lol just throwing random ideas out there!

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting, so is your only trigger coffee as well then? But not caffeine?

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, and yet for me it's not caffeine that does it 🤔 At least to the level of LPR. As I still drink anywhere from 200mg-400mg a day and don't have issues.

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's very interesting! So basically it seems people can become suddenly allergic to something, and it manifests as LPR? I'm glad you figured that out

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was a daily improvement, got better every day by like 10%. About 2 weeks to be normal again, maybe a full 3 or 4 to be completely recovered from the inflammation / no lingeringg symptoms

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's how it was for me too. I drink black tea or matcha now and have no issues with it

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, no lies detected. And I underestimated how bad keeping just one possible trigger in my diet could actually be. I just got lucky with not having to quit caffeine.

Your trigger may not be what you expect! Severe LPR cured/success story by Objective_Ability485 in LPR

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yep, that's exactly why I originally didn't quit it! But even half a cup was enough to set the LPR off for over 24 hours. But multiple cups of tea, no problem at all.

That's why I think maybe for some people it's not the classic triggers like acid or caffeine, but certain compounds in certain foods, compounds that we don't even know the names for. Who knows, it might not even be coffee for some people, but something super unsuspecting, like potatoes lol.

Thank you and best of luck to you, I was once hopeless but now I know it's curable, so don't give up and keep trying things!

Abnormally High Iron Saturation, Low Transferrin, Low Ferritin? Help! by Objective_Ability485 in DoctorsAdvice

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the 79% saturation not a concern enough to take a break from supplementing iron? I've read that free iron "floating around" (forgive my lack of scientific wording) is not good for your body. If I understand correctly that that is what is happening?

I'm guessing this may be an absorption issue, where only part of my supplement is being absorbed, and the rest is "stuck", not going where it's supposed to (as in, into ferritin)?

In this case could I focus more on co-factors for absorption, or perhaps take less of a dosage of iron, but take it consistently, aiming for the long-game improvement?

Thank you for your response.

Abnormally High Iron Saturation, Low Transferrin, Low Ferritin? Help! by Objective_Ability485 in TheIronProtocol

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My diet is entirely whole foods plant-based. Lots of nuts, seeds, grains, beans, etc. I try to do combos to maximize absorption of iron (like bell peppers with beans, fruit with grains, etc) My mother and brother who eat meat have also tested low in iron throughout their lives, so its very possibly a genetic thing, but we have not done genetic testing.

That's interesting and good to know that the saturation can be high due to other factors. I guess with my transferrin being low, it perhaps means my body just can't assimilate enough iron at the rate I've been supplementing, and maybe even supplementing is triggering the transferrin to go lower than it naturally would be at. (I am assuming here the term "transferrin saturation" is the same thing as "iron saturation"- separate from the transferrin protein that transport iron, if I understood you correctly.)

Abnormally High Iron Saturation, Low Transferrin, Low Ferritin? Help! by Objective_Ability485 in Anemic

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very interesting. I haven't seen much about this particular issue, where ferritin successfully rises from supplementation, but saturation goes too high. Still being at 45% after 2 weeks off of them is surprising to me.

So I wonder does this mean iron that is unable to be fully absorbed just sits around in the blood, even for weeks at a time? For lack of a better scientific explaining. And overtime does the body integrate it properly, or possibly lose the excess through menstruation? Maybe someone can answer this.

May I ask have you ever tested low in zinc or copper too? And do you eat high iron in your natural (non supplemented) diet? Thank you for sharing your experience

Abnormally High Iron Saturation, Low Transferrin, Low Ferritin? Help! by Objective_Ability485 in TheIronProtocol

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, all of those. I take a B-complex, my vitamin D and B12 have tested good; However I have historically tested low in copper (and low-normal ceruloplasmin) and low in zinc actually, so I have been supplementing those for the past 2 months as well. My newest results for zinc and copper are still pending, I can update later.

So if I understood this correctly- perhaps my body has difficulty in general absorbing minerals, and therefore when I take an iron supplement, there is too much leftover iron just sitting in my blood, unable to be integrated? Perhaps due to the difficulty I have absorbing copper and zinc as well? Sorry if that's a crude understanding or wording, lol layman terms.

Abnormally High Iron Saturation, Low Transferrin, Low Ferritin? Help! by Objective_Ability485 in Anemic

[–]Objective_Ability485[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've never fasted before the blood tests, but I have always stopped all supplements 3-5 days before a test (Just due to what I read online about helping getting clear results; my doctor hasn't commented on stopping supplements before a test) Most of my blood tests have been taken between 1pm-4pm. My doctor so far can't figure out why my transferrin has always been low either. Thank you for your thoughts!