severe Iron Overload which was caused by too many IV Iron infusions

Posted by guyjeff123 @guyjeff123, 1 day ago

I'm a 65 yr old man, with 2 prior cancers, currently cancer free? I have a condition called Iatrogenic Iron Overload, ( iron overload caused by medical treatment). I developed chronic anemia from external beam radiation in late 2021. I was treated with External Beam Radiation for Prostate cancer that caused a radiation burn in my descending colon. I was referred to the Cancer Center of N. Dakota in Grand Forks, ND in mid 2022 for chronic anemia. Over 9 months I received 13 IV iron infusions and the doctor never checked my ferritin levels until after the last infusion. It was 2149 ng/ml. I tested negative for Hemochromatosis. Two months before any treatments my ferritin level was 49ng/ml. Now I have systemic Iron in most of my organs including my bone marrow, lymph nodes in my lungs, my liver is severely overloaded with Iron. My left kidney atrophied and was removed in 10/2023. My Pancreas was discovered atrophied in June of 2025. I don't qualify for Chelation therapy because I only have 1 kidney and it has Stage 3A CKD. My Oncologist/Hematologist ordered 4 phlebotomies, but those were cancelled after the 1st one because my Hemoglobin dropped to dangerous levels. Finally after no treatment at all for the high serum ferritin in my body for almost a year, I was referred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Mn. I have my first appointment on 10/03/2025, to see if they can do something. I pray that they can help me otherwise my prognosis is grim. When the Ferritin reaches my heart, it will deposit in the tissue and muscles and my heart will no longer function. I'd like to hear from anyone who is or has experienced Iron Overload, especially if it was from a doctor who could have prevented this, if he'd only done periodic ferritin level checks in between IV iron infusions. God bless and I hope to hear from someone?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Blood Cancers & Disorders Support Group.

I am so sorry to hear about your treatment. So much of what i have heard is about chelation therapy being the toxic metal remover. For Iron especially. Knowing all that occurred and finally being referred to Mayo I hope is your flag of hope. Please keep us posted. My hope is they can help.

REPLY

Thank you @katbob. I appreciate the sympathy. So many things have gone wrong and I'd say that some of it is my fault for not speaking up a year and a half or two years ago, but I'm not a doctor. I didn't know anything about Iron overloads or chelation therapy or phlebotomy. Sadly my Oncologist/Hematologist locally should have. Once he stopped the phlebotomy after giving me hope. He should have referred me to MAYO back then, or maybe he should have referred me 2 years ago. He's the one that's supposed to know about this stuff, not me. I have an appointment with him today and I have compiled some hard questions for him. Thank you again.
God bless you and yours.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.