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Ferrlecit Infusions for Ferritin Iron Deficiency
Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: Jan 1, 2019 | Replies (10)Comment receiving replies
Hi, welcome, glad to hear that you found something that works.
What do you see as differentiating a "Ferritin Iron Deficiency" from the usual iron deficiency? I know that some people do not respond to oral iron supplementation and do respond to injections but the "why" escapes me for now. Just trying to keep my terminology straight.
In looking up Ferrlecit it says:
"Ferrlecit is an intravenous (IV) iron replacement product for the treatement of iron deficiency anemia in patients 6 years and older with chronic kidney disease receiving chronic hemodialysis (HD) and supplemental epoetin therapy."
Is that your situation?
Iron deficiency, like a lot of things, hits the elderly harder, and also special populations like those with heart failure and restless legs. It is associated with the general condition called "frailty".
"Current aspects of frailty
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803240/
Results from recent studies increasingly suggest an association between immunosenescence, inflammation, and the development of frailty: The age-associated overall change of the immune system is called immunosenescence. According to Franceschi et al,35 inflammaging is part of the immunosenescence process, consisting of an age-associated upregulation of the inflammatory response, resulting in a low-grade proinflammatory state.4 This proinflammatory state is characterized by increased levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-1, TNFα, and IFNγ. These cytokines have been shown to rise with age36 and to be associated with the development of ACI32 and other age-associated diseases.37 The process of immunosenescence has been shown to result in increased vulnerability to infectious diseases as well as to susceptibility of inflammation-associated pathologies in connection with, eg, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or diabetes mellitus.2,4,38 A study by Chang et al2 on the association between inflammatory disease burden and frailty revealed that a higher inflammatory disease count favors the occurrence of frailty in older patients. The consequence of the constant proinflammatory state does not only increase susceptibility to age-related diseases but also makes older patients prone to faster progression of all age-associated diseases.
Before realization of these biochemical insights into the pathogenesis of frailty, the syndrome of frailty experienced a more clinical approach. In the context of geriatrics, frailty describes a decline in physical strength, lean body mass, and power, associated with decreased balance, decreased walking performance, and low activity."
From the same article
"Anemia is a frequent finding in older patients and has been shown to be associated with increased physical impairment,9,10 frailty,11 cognitive decline,12 depression,13 and mortality."
So iron deficiency is a broad topic with broad implications. Anything you can add to help other folks, like myself for instance, who have had a treatment resistant anemia my whole adult life, would be very useful
Replies to "Hi, welcome, glad to hear that you found something that works. What do you see as..."
Glad to share what I have but I can't give you any insight into your overall situation since there are gaps. Ferritin, along with some other tests, is a standard measure of iron deficiency as reflected in the status of your iron stores. Low ferritin is not a separate type of deficiency but rather a reflection of the degree of that deficiency. Conversely it can be a useful metric when looking for iron overload or anemia of chronic disease, the most common mimic of iron deficiency.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/ferritin-test/basics/definition/prc-20014449
So did your doctor call this out as a "ferritin iron deficiency" in contrast to an iron deficiency and that's why you needed infusions rather than standard oral iron therapy?
Since ferritin is a measure of iron storage I looked at Iron storage diseases to see if there was one where the body would not store it and couldn't find one. The covers is usually true, it stores too much.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2030637/
So, the only situation that I can link to some need to go right to iron infusions is in hemodialysis as I mentioned earlier and apparently that's not you.
Apologies in advance if I already asked but did you try adequate levels of oral iron therapy, possibly multiple forms?
At the end of the day its what works, so it this has rescued you from chronic symptoms its something worth taking seriously.
This meta analysis seems to agree, but for patients with absorption issues.
http://www.jwatch.org/na32026/2013/10/31/intravenous-vs-oral-iron-patients-with-anemia
"In 22 trials (3300 participants), IV iron significantly lowered the need for red-cell transfusion compared with oral iron or no iron (relative risk, ≈0.8). Effects were larger in patients with low baseline ferritin concentrations and were enhanced by concurrent use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. In 24 trials (4400 participants), IV iron did not lead to excess mortality but did increase incidence of all-cause infection compared with oral iron (RR, 1.6) or no iron (RR, 1.3)."
Hope this helps
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Hi, John! I posted more details about my history and conditions in another response so hopefully you can see it. This is interesting info you have shared. I'm almost 46 years old and I honestly don't know the difference in "Ferritin Iron Deficiency" from the usual iron deficiency, and that's part of the reason I started this topic. All I know is that I've had my "regular" iron levels checked and they've never raised a concern. It was my severely low Ferritin level of 7 that caused the concern. Since I was already established with an Oncologist for my Carcinoid, he's now being my Hematologist and he just immediately started the infusions. I haven't actually gotten to meet with him to fully understand it all. I meet with him for a follow up on Oct 6th and will post more then! I have to go these next 3 weeks without any infusions, so he can test my blood again and see if it's holding. That makes me sad as I worry I will start to feel weak and have leg swelling come back. Time will tell! I really appreciate your sharing that great info!