anyone with any autoimmune disorders or severe arthritis - better test than ferritin for iron def

Over the past 4 1/2 years - I have had many surgeries since my gastric bypass for kidney stones (5 times), numerous complications - adhesions, bowel obstruction, perforated colon, illiostomy, illiostomy reversal, hernia repair.  Each time I have surgery, my ferritin skyrockets to over 500 which they call an acute phase reactant making diagnosing iron deficiency almost impossible.  Any inflamation in the body whether from a recent surgery or from an autoimmune disorder or from severe arthritis can cause your ferritin level to go up like this. 

There is a more sophisticated test called Soluable Transferrin Receptor - when this test is done and the level is elevated, it means you have iron deficiency. This past December, I had a ferritin of 700 but my Soluable Transferrin Receptor was elevated so yes, with a ferritin of 700 = I was iron deficient.  I had an iron of 20.

I had just had my hernia surgery and when  I have any surgery, I lose alot of blood causing my iron to plummet and due to the inflammation, my ferritin to skyrocket.  Weird combination but almost impossible for the average doctor to diagnose.  Luckily I had a really good hematologist that was able to figure this out.

Starting this summer, I got weekly iron infusions for 8 weeks and now I get monthly maintainance doses.  it works great.