Aus has made an important point here and anyone starting Exjade needs to be aware that this does often happen. Ferritin can rise when first using Exjade. When my friend Annie started on Exjade her ferritin continued to rise for over one year and her doctor insisted she be patient and not panic. He told her that Exjade was removing iron from her tissue and organs and don't worry about ferritin levels. And I must point out that iron that is contained in serum ferritin cannot harm you. It is the iron in the tissue that damages the body. Ferritin levels may rise as the iron is redistributed from the tissue and eventually excreted. In Annie's case it took over a year before she saw positive results in her ferritin. Her ferritin had reached a level of over 7000 after one year of Exjade. After a second year of Exjade use, her ferritin levels have dropped to less than half of what they were and continue to drop.
Do NOT panic when you don't see immediate results from Exjade use. It takes time to see results but be assured that it is working. We know many patients here who use Exjade and no other chelators and they are doing well with ferritins below 1000. The main thing is faithful compliance will lead to reduced iron stores in the body but it does take time to see the results in many patients. I would say that this is an indication of tissue iron levels and until the iron stores drop, you will not see a corresponding drop in ferritin levels. Even young patients have these iron stores in their bodies and it will take some time to correct the situation but it will, as long as compliance with chelation is maintained.