Low ferritin

[Cammy2012]

Has anyone experienced hearing loss related to low ferritin level ?  Does it come back after levels are corrected ?
I suspect that Ive been dealing with low levels for a long time but only in feb found out.  Its at 8 as of feb, but since that was the only thing low drs have brushed it off so far & sent me to every kind of specialist possible to figure out what is wrong.  After numerous appointments with specialist all telling me I am find for whatever their specialty is I started looking up what ferritin was and realized everything I have been dealing with made sense. My hair has been falling out, Im exhausted and having muscle aches, joint pain, dizzy and have what feels like heart pain as well as getting short of breath often.  I did research and I know those can all be symptoms can be traced to low ferritin levels. Now I need to convince my dr to look into it.  Ive had tinnitus for going on probably 4-5 years.  Ive complained numerous times but ent cant find a reason for the tinnitus or the nose dive of my hearing loss.  I now have over 70% hearing loss, I would prefer not to loose it completely if possible. It has been really frustrating and feeling sick all the time is really impacting my life.   With level of 8 what are the chances I would need iv iron ?  

[maryjaneshoes]

have you been checked out by a doctor for anemia?

[Ger57]

Btw, I did not suffer from hearing loss.
I do suffer from hair loss (male, 57 years) and hoped that is was due to the low ferritin level.
I am still waiting for the moment that my hair grows back again....,
I am afraid I will have to wait for a long time. :-)

[Ger57]

I have had low levels of ferritin all my life (between 8-20), but with normal HB levels.
A few months ago I suffered from fatigue so visited my doctor. Besides the low ferritin level of 8 , I also had anemia (HB<8.5).
When ferritin levels become too low, eventually HB levels will go down too and fatigue sets in.
My deficiency was solved with iron suppletion pills for 3 months. So no IV was needed.

[TheLightSeeker]

You need adequate levels of ferritin for proper thyroid function.
It's one of the  hallmark factors in low thyroid function.
Your T4 does not convert to T3 without proper iron levels.

Tinnitus is a very common effect of thyroid dysfunction.

This abstract is for your ENT:
"Red cell basic ferritin concentration in sensorineural hearing loss."
Abstract
Red cell basic ferritin (RCBF) was measured in 62 healthy subjects with normal hearing and 224 patients with different kinds of sensorineural hearing loss, compared with serum ferritin, haemoglobin, serum iron and circadian variation in the serum iron levels. The results showed that the RCBF concentrations in most kinds of sensorineural hearing loss were significantly lower than those in normal hearing status. It is conceivable that the RCBF assay can be used to evaluate the adequacy of iron stores that are useful in times of urgent iron needs and to diagnose relative iron deficiency in those patients with some other normal laboratory assays related to iron metabolism.
PMID: 1795910

Also:
Audiological and vestibular function tests in hypothyroidism.
Bhatia PL, Gupta OP, Agrawal MK, Mishr SK.
Abstract
A battery of audiological and vestibular function tests have been performed in 72 cases of confirmed hypothyroidism. The severity of hypothyroidism was graded as mild, moderate or severe depending upon serum protein-bound iodine estimation. The incidence of hearing impairment, tinnitus and vertigo was correlated with the severity of the disease process. The site of lesion causing sensorineural hearing impairment in 25 cases was pinpointed audiologically.
PMID: 926972

Ferritin Levels  at 8 sounds low  (Labcorp range is 10-290, from memory-
could be slightly off for the higher range) but if your other labs regarding iron status are normal, you probably won't get iv iron if you ask.
I'd say try something like Poly Iron 150, it's OTC but you need to ask for it.
Make sure you also take some extra vit. C to ensure good absorption.
Some people try different types, as there are many problems with intolerance, but Poly is usually well tolerated.
It will take a few months before you see a notable improvement.

You can do Dr. Barnes basal temperature test (in the absence of any fever) to self-test for thyroid function. Please look it up, if you want to do it-
and follow the simple instructions precisely!

I hope this helps, however, please note that my comments are not intended to replace medical advice.

Best wishes,
Niko