u/Clockworkorange2013

Hi everyone, hoping someone with medical knowledge can help me understand my recent iron labs because the numbers seem confusing.

I’m a 36F, generally healthy, normal BMI, healthy lifestyle.

Timeline

~2 weeks ago – Function Health panel

Ferritin: 4

Hemoglobin: 11.2

My GP was concerned about the ferritin being that low and referred me to a hematologist.

~7 days later – ER visit

I was in Costa Rica and developed traveler’s diarrhea, ended up going to the ER because doc was closed for the weekend and I wanted antibiotics. They ran a CBC and my hemoglobin was 11.4.

~10 days after the original function blood test – hematologist repeat labs

Ferritin: 22

Hemoglobin: 12.9

That seems like a very large jump in a short period of time?? I was approved for IV with my function test and then he cancelled it.

Other relevant factors

I’m currently about 7 days into this stomach infection (diarrhea, some dehydration ofcourse but I can still eat and drink water etc).

I’ve been drinking water and electrolytes but my body has definitely been going through it.

I started oral iron supplements about 12 days ago.

I’m currently taking azithromycin from the ER for the infection.

Because the ferritin was 4 initially, my GP also referred me to a GI doctor, who wants to do a colonoscopy in about 4 weeks once the infection settles to rule out any GI causes of iron deficiency.

My questions

Could infection or inflammation from a stomach illness affect ferritin or hemoglobin levels?

Could the Function Health ferritin of 4 be inaccurate, or do labs sometimes vary this much?

Is it realistic for ferritin to increase from 4 → 22 in ~10 days, especially while sick?

Could dehydration from diarrhea affect these numbers?

I’m really struggling. My hematologist said to come back in 4 weeks to test again if I qualify for IV.

Hi everyone, hoping someone with medical knowledge can help me understand my recent iron labs because the numbers seem confusing.

I’m a 36F, healthy, normal BMI, healthy lifestyle.

Timeline

~2 weeks ago – Function Health panel

Ferritin: 4

Hemoglobin: 11.2

My GP was concerned about the ferritin being that low and referred me to a hematologist.

~7 days later – ER visit

I was in Costa Rica and developed traveler’s diarrhea, ended up going to the ER to get quick antibiotics because it was a weekend. They ran a CBC and my hemoglobin was 11.4.

~10 days after the original test – hematologist repeat labs, this hematologist is at a top NYC hospital and swears his results are correct not Functions…

Ferritin: 22

Hemoglobin: 12.9

That seems like a very large jump in a short period of time.

Other relevant factors

I’m currently about 7 days into this stomach infection (diarrhea, sure there would be some dehydration etc).

I’ve been drinking water and electrolytes but my body has definitely been going through it.

I started oral iron supplements about 12 days ago.

I’m currently taking azithromycin from the ER for the infection.

Because the ferritin was 4 initially, my GP also referred me to a GI doctor who wants to do a colonoscopy in about 4 weeks once the infection settles to rule out any GI causes of iron deficiency.

My questions

Could infection or inflammation from a stomach virus affect ferritin or hemoglobin levels?

Could the Function Health ferritin of 4 be inaccurate, or do labs sometimes vary this much?

Is it realistic for ferritin to increase from 4 → 22 in ~10 days, especially while sick?

Could dehydration from diarrhea affect these numbers?

Next step

I’m seeing my GP tomorrow to repeat a full iron panel through a different lab, so we’ll have another comparison.

Would really appreciate any insight from anyone familiar with iron panels or lab variability.

My AI wrote this out for because I’m freaking out and can’t string my thoughts together, am I doing an unnecessary colonoscopy on wrong results???? PLEASE if anyone can explain a crazy jump like this, surely I’m not that dehydrated that it would do this?