Tiredness in Thal minor, aerobic activity supplements and Overtraining

thanks Andy, I really appreciate your help.

Hi Andy - slightly off topic, I thought a lot of thal minors have low ferrittin. But the original poster above said his was 190.

My ferrittin (tested throughout the year) is always at an 11, no matter what I do (iron pills, high-iron food, etc.)

Confused as to what's normal for a thal minor (I have been diagnosed).

chickadee777,

Usually for a thal minor to have a high ferritin, it would be the result of either having taken iron supplements in the past, having an infection or inflammation or living in an area with high iron content water.
As far as your own iron status, you would have to look at the other numbers for serum iron and total iron binding capacity to get a better picture of your actual status. Thal minor women do have a high rate of iron deficiency, according to a recent study. I think it was something like 17% versus 1% in thal minor males. If your other numbers are in line with the ferritin and iron supplements haven't helped (which is common), make sure you are having foods high in vitamin C with your high iron veg foods to aid in absorption and try iron water supplements, naturally occurring water that is high in iron and sold under the Spatone brand.

Thanks Andy! I tried to get referred to a hematologist as my primary care only did a ferritin test - I asked her for a full iron panel, she said no. So I will try to get an iron pal and figure out what's going on.

Thank you so much!