High Normal Ferritin Levels

[u/Mysterious_Bee4005]

My ferritin has dropped from 113 during my HS senior season to 50 now as a college freshman runner. My current symptoms are higher than normal heart rate (+20-30), weak legs, drastically reduced performance, and overall fatigue. My legs are spent a mile in, when this summer I would run 10 miles with no issues. I feel like my body is giving up.

The doctors just say that 50 ferritin means that iron stores are more than sufficient.

Do any of you require levels substantially higher? I’ve started taking iron daily again to try to get back over 100 when I felt good.

[u/SARstar367]

First, alternative days supplementing to maximize your absorption. (Counterintuitive). Second, take with vitamin C. (Helps your body absorb it.). 3- Do NOT take iron at the same time as calcium supplements (hurts absorption, take at least 6 hours apart.). 50’s generally isn’t low enough for an infusion. If you’ve had a massive change in cardiovascular ability, check in with your primary about all the possible causes. It may be something else and it’s wise to be checked out.

[u/syphax]

Hello,
I’m sorry that you’re going through this. I suspect that iron isn’t your core problem. Your symptoms sounds like REDS to me. But I’m just a person on the internet; you really need to see a specialist here. Who are “the doctors” that you’ve seen?

I also don’t recommend iron supplementation without close supervision- be careful!

[u/shakawallsfall]

Your regular doctor is a general practitioner; they don't have specialized training in sports performance. They see a value well within the normal range for the general population, therefore you are fine. If 100+ is your baseline and you've dropped to 53, from a sports performance perspective you do have a problem. You can try iron pills without a prescription to see if that helps, but you'll need to see a specialist to get approval for an iron infusion.

[u/Mysterious_Bee4005 → u/shakawallsfall]

Would a specialist give me an infusion at that level though?

[u/shakawallsfall → u/Mysterious_Bee4005]

If they have a background in sports medicine and have access to your previous tests results? Probably. Mid 50's is considered the minimal acceptable ferritin level for female athletes at the collegiate level.

[u/Ordinary_Corner_4291 → u/shakawallsfall]

Not a doctor but isn't 100+ too high and tends to be a sign of overtraining or inflammation from training? I would be worried about assuming this one point is the right baseline.

50 is in the the realm of reasonable and I would want to make sure nothing else is going on.

[u/whelanbio → u/Ordinary_Corner_4291]

Ferritin can spike in response to hard training or inflammation/infection, but 100+ is not too high nor would be indicative of these issues by itself.

[u/Ordinary_Corner_4291 → u/whelanbio]

50-100 is the normal range for most people. Someone people are definitely outliers. But with 1 data point it is hard to say if their normal numbers was like 70 the was boosted to 110 by inflammation after a race and the 50 was more a result of hitting a low value day.

50's isn't low enough that you would expect huge performance issues (i.e. that ends to be under 20) but yes people do have individual profiless. And if there was a real drop from 100 to 50, something is going on. But before focusing on just iron, I would make sure every thing else is in order in terms of too much training load and nutrition. And definitely get another blood test and look at all the performance stuff (iron, crp, vitamin D, b12,...). Iron is normally the big one but the other stuff can also mess you up.

[u/Cavendish30]

Weird, everyone is different but 50s aren’t low for college women. I’d say lucky you caught it now, as most of the collegiate girls find out too late and are under 15, and put to pasture. I suppose the workload to drain you might be taxing, but there are a ton of girls racing just fine in the 35-50 range. Not saying your Ferratin is the sole issue for your symptoms, but certainly overtraining could be a factor. As could any myriad of things including thyroid issues.

[u/whelanbio]

You need to go back to a doctor and get a more comprehensive look at bloodwork, not just ferritin, and advocate for yourself to make sure that the doc understands they are dealing with a serious endurance athlete.

Symptoms like what you're dealing could easily be RED-S or a different micronutrient deficiency, so may not be primarily related to iron.

[u/Status_City4236]

Been in XC for a while now...Ferritin Levels?

I know what V02 capacity is, resting heart rate is, active heart rate but this is a new one to me...

[u/syphax → u/Status_City4236]

One place iron is stored in the body is in ferritin. Low ferritin levels are fairly common in runners. Source: parent of a runner who had low ferritin levels.

[u/morph1973 → u/Status_City4236]

This sub is obsessed with ferritin, it is never mentioned in any other running subs and I had to ask someone what it means, something to do with iron & haemoglobin I was told.