Low temperature

[alicec]

The ferritin thing, my reading suggests ferritin should be inside cells, and only tends to leave when the cell is damaged or dies,

Ferritin is an acute phase protein so also increases in the inflammatory response.

So elevated ferritin can indicate iron overload, liver damage/disease and various other illnesses. Here is a useful summary.

Mild elevations of ferritin (300- 1000 ng/l) are very common and may not mean anything much, but should be investigated to rule out known associated problems.

An iron panel will help to rule out iron overload (only about 10% elevated ferritin is associated with iron overload) with the single most sensitive measure being transferrin saturation. > 45% is very suggestive of iron overload, >55% frank overload.

Liver function tests will help rule out liver disease etc.

Your value is sufficiently high to warrant further investigation.

 

[Wonko]

I've ordered an iron panel, which should be done and I should have the results within 2 weeks, as I want to know what I am dealing with before seeing my GP. It's always better to know before seeing her, as otherwise a certain amount of flannel and fobbing tends to occur.

ETA - some places it should be fasted, others say it doesn't matter, so looks like I will have to/should

ETA again - and at least one place says "This test may be done fasting or 2-6 hours after eating. Both ways provide valuable information, though 2-6 hours after a meal provides a more realistic assessment of the state of your blood in everyday life.", which is what I want. So....erm......

My next GP blood draw includes a liver panel, fairly sure they all have done, so hopefully any significant issue would have been picked up previously, but that blood draw will now need to happen in the next couple of weeks so they are available, and current, for when I see her.

 

[Arnie Pye]

Does anyone know if there is a time of day or fasting preference for an iron panel?

Yes. If you take iron supplements, stop taking them a week before testing. As far as fasting goes, you should always test anything iron-related first thing in the morning having fasted overnight. Drinking as much water as you want is fine though.

 

[Ebb Tide]

Both the CCC and the ICC reference observations by Dr J A Goldstein describing a fall in body temperature after exercise in people with ME/CFS.

It also gets a mention in a footnote on p. 146 of Osler's Web.

The reference given in the CCC is FM Network Oct 1993, pp. 10-11, which I assume was some group newsletter?

In the ICC it references Goldstein's 1993 book Chronic Fatigue Syndome: The Limbic Hypothesis pp. 42-43.

Does anyone know what these findings were?

Financially I can't justify buying the book just to look this up, so just wondered if anyone could help? Thanks in advance.

 

[MeSci]

I'm surprised to see this in a Michael Palin article in the Radio Times: "Actually at one point my thermometer went wrong and came up as 34.2...I realised that if it was accurate I'd be dead of hypothermia."

Hardly, Michael!

Human body temperature - Wikipedia

34 °C (93.2 °F) – Severe shivering, loss of movement of fingers, blueness, and confusion. Some behavioral changes may take place.