Question: Hello, I'm a 42 year old male and recently had a routine blood test that showed: ferritin high at 736 ng/mL ALT at 53 IU/L total bilirubin at 26 umol/L MCH 32.3 pg MCHC 354 g/L serum Iron 17.9 umol/L Unsaturated Iron Bg. Capacity 40.3 umol/L Iron Binding Saturation % 30.0% ESR was 2 mm/Hour thyroid test TSH was normal at 2.07 mU/L The blood test was on 40 items, all else was normal (glucose, cholesterol). A year ago in a previous blood test, my ALT was normal at 34 (no ferritin test was taken then). I recently took just the ferritin test again and it was again in the 700’s. As part of investigating IBS, 4 months ago I had a CT scan with contrast of my abdomen and pelvis that was all normal (liver normal), colonoscopy normal too. A year ago, an ultrasound of the same region was also all normal. I have been taking a multivitamin with 14mg of iron each day with breakfast. I also was taking 500mg of vitamin C with each of my 3 meals per day. I had been taking this combination for years. My doctor recommended stopping the vitamins and retesting in a month. I was taking the vitamins on my own advice, there was no medical reason for taking them. Could that vitamin intake really lead to such a high ferritin level? There's no history of hemochromatosis in my family and I do not drink much alcohol and do not smoke. I am a bit overweight...215 lbs on 5'6", although I have a muscular build, so it's not as heavy as being pure fat. The only other ailments I have is plantar fasciitis the last few months in my left foot. And my urologist said my prostate is slightly enlarged (PSA is normal) and an ultrasound showed my bladder wall slightly thickened. My mother had a thyroid issue (not sure hypo or hyper) and also a rare cancer called leiomyosarcoma on her bowel and kidney. She was a smoker and as part of her thyroid treatment took radioactive medicine. Any thoughts on what could be pushing the ferritin so high? The vitamins? Also, does in mean anything that the CT scan with contrast showed nothing 3.5 months before the high ferritin reading? And the ESR being normal rule anything out? Thanks, XXXX

Doc, Thanks for your answer. Given that males don't easily get rid of excess iron, won't it take a long time for my ferritin to fall even once I stop taking the iron supplements and vitamin C? After six weeks, what would you expect the reduction in ferritin to be approximately? Thanks, XXXX