Raised Ferritin Levels

Hi everybody. It’s Jac here from downunder.

I recently had a blood test taken and found the following;

Iron 13 umol/L (10-30 normal)
T’Ferrin 33 umol/L (27-46 normal)
T.Sat 20% (13-45 normal)
Ferritin 457ug/L (20-300 normal)

My lipid studies read as follows;

Chol 195mg/dl
Trig 115.7mg/dl
HDL 54.6mg/dl
Chol/HDL 3.6
LDL 117mg/dl

My fasting blood sugar has been steadily climbing ower the past couple of years and was 99mg/dl in that blood test.

I like many of the 180 degree followers am interested in achieving good health without following any of the unsustainable (for me) dieting practices such as calorie restriction, low carb dieting, low fat dieting, paleo etc.

I do exercise at least 60 mins per day in the form of mostly low heart rate type running as well full body resistance training up to 3 times per week. I do this because my job is sedentary and I find that I have better control of my stress levels by doing so.

I have been reading recently the benefits of phlebotomy on other health forums of which I’m sure many of you would be aware.

I am particularly interested in the lowering of ferritin levels by phlebotomy to improve insulin sensitivity. When I questioned my Doctor about this, he looked puzzled and dismissed the idea.

He advised that ferritin can be raised for many reasons however could not identify the cause in my case. I have previously been tested for haemochromatosis which was found to be negative.

I decided to take the matter into my own hands and made a blood donation in which 500mL of whole blood was taken. I suspect that this will lower my ferritin by about 60ug/L, so quite a few donations, which in Oz can only be undertaken once every 120days without Doctor approval, would be required to get ferritin down to the low normal levels.

Does anyone have any experience with lowering ferritin levels and any improvements in their health?