Iron test at home: ferritin, full iron panels and what they cost

Quick answer

An iron test at home should start with ferritin, the protein that stores iron. It falls first when iron runs low, well before anemia shows up. The WHO says a ferritin under 15 ng/mL (15 ug/L, the same thing) indicates iron deficiency in otherwise healthy adults, and under 70 ng/mL can indicate it when there is inflammation. A full iron panel adds serum iron, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), UIBC and transferrin saturation, which help sort out iron overload and less obvious cases.

SiPhox Health measures ferritin on Longevity Essentials and Thyroid Focus ($124 per test), and the full iron panel on Ultimate 360 ($249) and GLP Optimization ($199), all from a needle-free draw on the upper arm. A single ferritin at a walk-in lab costs about $59.

Check your iron stores at homeLongevity Essentials includes ferritin, hemoglobin and hs-CRP; Ultimate 360 adds the full iron panel, B12 and folate.

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Ferritin vs a full iron panel

If you mainly want to know "am I low", ferritin plus hemoglobin covers it. Choose the full panel if you have a family history of hemochromatosis, a high ferritin you want to explain, or symptoms that do not fit a simple deficiency. MedlinePlus notes that ferritin can also be raised by inflammation, which is why a ferritin result reads better next to an hs-CRP from the same sample.

Normal ranges

Labcorp's own notes add that because a low ferritin misses some cases, a higher cut-off may make more sense when screening for deficiency, so a result in the teens or twenties with symptoms such as fatigue or heavy periods is worth raising with your doctor. Serum iron, TIBC and UIBC are reported in ug/dL and saturation as a percent; ranges differ between labs, so use the range printed on your report.

Iron and ferritin test cost

For a one-off ferritin check, the walk-in lab is cheapest. If you are also tracking thyroid, heart or metabolic markers, or you are retesting every few months while taking iron, a home panel removes a lab visit each time. Our cost guide compares the wider market.

SiPhox panels with iron markers

A complete blood count can be added to any SiPhox EasyDraw panel for $45 if you want red cell indices as well. GLP Optimization is built for people on GLP-1 medication, where eating less can lower iron and B12 intake; see our GLP-1 blood test guide. Heavy periods are one of the commonest causes of low ferritin, which our guide for women covers.

Most people start here

Longevity Essentials

$124 + $25 shipping per test

31 biomarkers per test

The default panel: heart, metabolic, hormone and inflammation markers in one draw.

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GLP Optimization

$199 + $25 shipping per test

46 biomarkers per test

Built for people on GLP-1 medication: metabolic, liver, kidney, nutrient and iron markers.

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Ultimate 360

$249 + $25 shipping per test

62 biomarkers per test

Everything on the four core panels plus iron studies, B12 and folate, GGT and PSA.

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Reading ferritin with hemoglobin and hs-CRP

Ferritin on its own can mislead in both directions, because inflammation pushes it up. The WHO guideline deals with this by using a higher cut-off (70 ng/mL) when infection or inflammation is present. On a panel that also reports hemoglobin and hs-CRP, the common patterns read like this:

"High" here means above the WHO overload thresholds in the ranges table (over 200 ng/mL for men and non-menstruating women, over 150 ng/mL for menstruating women). These are patterns, not diagnoses: iron overload is confirmed with repeat testing and sometimes genetic testing, and a low result needs a cause, which is a job for your doctor. Our low ferritin symptoms guide lists what people commonly notice.

Who is most likely to run low

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements lists the groups most at risk of iron deficiency: people who menstruate, especially with heavy periods; pregnant people; frequent blood donors; people with gastrointestinal conditions that affect absorption or cause bleeding; and people with cancer or heart failure. How much iron you need also differs a lot by sex and age:

A woman aged 19 to 50 needs more than twice the iron of a man the same age, which is why a ferritin in the teens is so common in that group and why the Labcorp range for women starts at 15 ng/mL rather than 30. Eating less, as many people do on GLP-1 medication, cuts iron intake too. If you are in one of these groups, a ferritin check once or twice a year is reasonable; if you are not and feel well, the case for regular testing is weaker.

Which iron test to choose

For fatigue in particular, iron is only one of several causes worth checking at once; our blood test for fatigue guide covers thyroid, B12 and vitamin D alongside it.

How to get an accurate result

• Test in the morning, fasted, if you are getting the full panel. MedlinePlus and Quest both ask for an 8 to 12 hour fast and a morning draw for iron tests because serum iron changes through the day. SiPhox's EasyDraw instructions do not set a time or a fast, so we would copy the lab conditions yourself.
• Ask your doctor whether to pause iron supplements before the test, since a recent dose can push up serum iron.
• Avoid testing while ill. Infection raises ferritin and can hide low stores.
• Give any change a few months before retesting, since iron stores build slowly.

Capillary samples from the upper arm are handled by CLIA-certified labs; our EasyDraw guide covers how to avoid a short sample. SiPhox lists hemolyzed samples (burst red cells) and too little blood among the reasons a sample is rejected, and hemolysis matters more for iron than for most markers because red cells are full of it. Drink the 16 oz of water beforehand, use the heat pack for the full 4 minutes, and do not squeeze or rub the device site to speed the flow. A low or very high result is one to review with your doctor before you start or stop iron, since too much iron is harmful too.

Track ferritin and iron without a lab tripPick Longevity Essentials for ferritin or Ultimate 360 for the full iron panel. Switch panels each cycle.

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