I went to my doctor's complaining the my hair was 'shedding' - he ran tests for iron deficiency amungst other things.

I have been taking iron supplements for 6 weeks, just got tested again - my iron levels were EXACTLY the same, so I have been instructed to keep taking them.

My iron level (store) came back at a 6 and my ferritan was a 22. He said that my hemoglobin is fine at 136.

Can someone please tell me what this all means?!?

Thanks in advance for your input,
Meg

I went to my doctor's complaining the my hair was 'shedding' - he ran tests for iron deficiency amungst other things.

I have been taking iron supplements for 6 weeks, just got tested again - my iron levels were EXACTLY the same, so I have been instructed to keep taking them.

My iron level (store) came back at a 6 and my ferritan was a 22. He said that my hemoglobin is fine at 136.

Can someone please tell me what this all means?!?

Thanks in advance for your input,
Meg

It sounds like you are stable. This means that you are not losing any demonstrable amounts of blood. Women who are still having periods or have given birth in the recent past will get anemic. They will draw on their stored iron which allows the hemeglobin to stay at a normal level. But, over the long haul if the iron starts to drop and the storage levels get low, then the doctors will probably start looking for minor leaks. These leaks could be stomach or intestines related, or could be a bone marrow complication. Some times the B-12 and folic acid are low and that prevents new blood cells from forming and adequately processing available iron.