Iron Saturation 5....Extremely Low?

Anyone else had this issue? My iron saturation came back as a 5 when the LOWEST it shoudl have been is 15.
Im trying to understand what this means and what hte typical treatment for a WLS patient is in regards to this as I know that "eat more spinach" is not the option Im looking for (I already eat more greens than anyone I know.)

Insight?

An iron saturation of 5 is very low but that is only part of the picture.  I need to know more information.  What is your iron, ferritin, tibc, RBC, hemoglobin, hemacrit, RDW?  These numbers all determine if you are anemic - and there are different types of anemia.  Also, what is your B12 and folate?

How were your other labs?-

How much iron are you taking and what type?  You should be taking carbonyl iron or heme.  Carbonyl iron is the best place to start since heme is very expensive.  These are the only types of iron that we can absorb.  Any iron with ferrous in the name is useless for us.  Your dosage depends on your labs on the things I listed above.  If you send me the rest of the info, I can help you further.  If you want to PM, feel free to.  It may take a couple of days for me to respond since I am not online everyday but I will to answer as soon as possible.  I hope this helps

Im not really sure about other levels as I didnt get to see results. Got a urgent call from my pain management doc to follow up asap with primary due to low iron sat. She did say that my rbw was high and my wvc was low. Not sure if I even got abbreviations right.


I will try to get more answers tomorrow. Thanks

All I can tell you is that a low iron saturation %, a low MCV and a high RDW are all signs of iron deficiency anemia.  But I can't tell how severe or not with out the rest of  your levels. Please call the doctor that ordered the blood tests and ask for copies.  If you have access to a fax machine, ask for it to faxed or if you can go pick it up - do that..

Depending on how low your levels are, you can either treat it high doses of the carbonyl iron I mentioned in my previous post or if bad enough, you might need iron infusions but I recommend taking high doses of iron first to see if you can get your levels up first.  Some people react really well to the high dose iron.

Get copies of your labs and post them with the ranges.  Yes that is low but as the other poster said more info is needed.

If all your numbers are in the tank then iron infusions are probably the only answer.

How are you feeling?  How much iron are you currently taking?  What type of iron?

Always get copies of all your labs and go over them yourself.  Not only that, compare them to previous sets of labs to see trends.

My doctor wasn't too concerned when my iron went from 65 to 29 and my percent saturation went from 20 to 9.  My H&H was fine, as were my other numbers.  And I felt fine - no fatigue, no other symptoms besides being cold (and I'm always cold).  He recommended I OTC ferrous sulfate in large doses 3 times a day to try to increase my numbers.  I told him I wasn't going to do that because I would never go to the bathroom again.  I kept taking what I was taking (2 Feosol a day with 500mg Vit C each dose) and just added one Proferrin (Heme iron, the expensive one) and an additional 500mg Vit C a day.  That's all I changed.  Three months later my iron was back up into the 70's and my percent saturation back up into the 20's.  My doctor called it voodoo when I asked about taking it initially - but something worked for me and that's the only change I made.

Here are all of my levels - I dont know which you need so Ill post them all, if that's okay. I am not on any iron supplements as my Gastric Surgeon never had me do it (not that I trust him too much as he told me tums and flintstones would cover me - idiot).

I do have constipation problems (have even ended up in ER with impactions before) so I am a little terrified of that aspect but anyway =- here you go...I highlighted in red anything that was noted as "High or Low" on the lab work.

Hemoglobin (11.5 - 15.0 g/dL) 12.0
Hematocrit (34.0-44.0 %)   36.6
MCV (80-98fL) 81
MCH (27-34 pg) 26.4 -LOW
MCHC (32-36 g/dL) 32.8
RDW **** 14%) 15.3 HIGH
Platelets (140-415 x10E3/ul) 257
TIBC (250-450) 518 HIGH
UBIC (35-375) 494 HIGH
Iron, Serum (35-155) 24 LOW
Iron Saturation (15-55%) 5% VERY LOW
Vitamin B12 (211-946) 1058 HIGH
TSH (.450-4.500) 3.050
Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy (32-100) 31 LOW