High Levels of Vitamin B12 and Ferritin: Any pointers?

Hi Pat,
Mayo Clinic's website walks you through the process here: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

On this webpage, you'll find information about:
1. Submitting an online form to request an appointment. It's quite easy.
2. If you prefer, you can call Mayo Clinic and talk with someone to guide you through.
3. Alternatively, you can ask your doctor to submit a physician referral.

Also on the page is a link to Frequently Asked Questions. Let me know if there's anything that's unclear.

I will be checking out the site.
Thank you so much.
Have a great holiday weekend!
Pat

After a Medical Vacation which took me from Los Angeles to Rochester, MN, I can highly recommend going there. It was educational in many ways; and an inspiring daily art experience seeing the best art collection seen anywhere that was not in a museum. Loved my week and a half there. So glad to have followed the guidance of Mayo’s ($25) travel advisor. Suggest applying with them. It took three months to get my appointment and schedule to see a variety of specialists. Well worth the travel expense. Wishing you well.

You can look up any subject by naming the condition then Mayo Clinic in google subject line. Then go to that subject and scroll down to find Mayo contact info. It’s easy. Phone them. Though closer to Arizona I was advised to go to MN. It was ALL GOOD!

Hi there,
I'm curious if anyone might have some pointers for me.
I received my ferritin results 10 weeks ago - the result was 23. My B12 at that time was around 700 (I was supplementing B12 for a time before that but not a high dose and not consistently).
My doctor suggested 150 mg of elemental iron once a day which I have been taking since.
9 weeks later I had another blood test. This time my ferritin is reported as 138. My Vitamin B12 is now at 1400. (I had stopped individual B12 supplementation after discovering it was at 700, but there is a small dose included in my 150 mg iron pill).
I don't have obesity, thryoid issues, diabetes or fatty liver.
I'm not sure what to make of this as I assume my readings are way too elevated. I must have an underlying condition? Any pointers about what to explore next?
Thanks so much.

Hi @canada1223, Your ferritin level at 138 is well within the normal range. It’s a safe bet that it raised since your last blood test because of the iron supplements. Ferritin is a blood protein that contains iron. A ferritin test helps your doctor understand how much iron your body stores.

If a ferritin test reveals that your blood ferritin level is lower than normal, it indicates your body's iron stores are low and you have iron deficiency. As a result, you could be anemic. Normal readings for women are 11 to 307 micrograms per liter and for men, it’s 24 to 336 micrograms per liter.

When your reading was at 23 it was in the low normal range for a female and below the norm if you’re a male, so your doctor has you on supplements to get you within a comfortable range. I’ve posted a link below that helps explain the importance of ferritin/iron in our bodies.

Vitamin B12 is a water soluable vitamin so it is readily removed from the body. If a reading is high and you’re not taking suppliments, that can be cause for concern for a liver condition. However, even by taking a minor suppliment and then having let’s say, a steak which is high in Vitamin B-12, that can increase the level in your blood for a short time. Most of the B12 gets flushed out in the urine; the rest is absorbed in the liver, kidneys and muscle tissues.

The standard reference range for B12 is 200 to 700 ppl. While an optimum range is 500 to 1300 ppl. There’s no evidence that Vit B12 does harm to the body. Now, if you are not taking suppliments and that level is high, then that can be an issue. But you are taking suppliments and there is Vit B-12 in a healthy diet.

In my opinion, I’d stop looking for answers with Dr Google and adding to your anxiety. ☺️ It’s easy to have another blood test run in a couple of months to ease your mind. Your doctor can run a liver panel to make sure there is no underlying source of concern. Have you asked your doctor about your results? What do they say?

Thanks so much Lori for your response! I really appreciate the time you took to reply. How did you know I was hanging out with Dr. Google? 😆
What concerned me was the speed at which my ferritin raised as the accounts I’ve read say an average increase of 10 ug/L per month is more to be expected. I was gaining more than that per week. So the quick upshot to both readings made me wonder if something else is at play.
Again thank you for answering me!

😂 Oh believe me, we’ve all hung out with Dr Google at some point. Unfortunately it often takes us down a rabbit hole with a lot of dark twists & turns and the stress level increases!

Keeping in mind that I’m not a medical professional but I’ve had experience with ferritin levels and Vitamin levels. Your doctor is still the best source of a definitive answer. But from my understanding of the situation, it looks like your ferritin and B-12 levels are elevated because of the Iron supplements that contain vit B12, even though you previously stopped the B-12 supplements a while ago.
With all the other bloodwork showing no issues and your doctor not raising eyebrows, it’s unlikely that it’s anything remarkable.
If you’re still concerned in the future, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor for another blood test. Do you have another followup appointment?

Have u been checked for hemochromatosis?
If your ethnicity is irish or from great britain , it is not uncommon to show up in post menopausal women and earlier in men.

Thanks for your response. Because I had my ferritin checked two years ago and it was at 37 and then this year at 23, those results show iron deficiency rather than hemochromatosis. I’m more curious to know if I have underlying inflammation that caused the ferritin to jump so high just weeks after I began supplementing. That’s the part that seems strange and I can’t find data to back up such a huge jump in so few weeks.
Thanks for answering!