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How ferritin testing works
The test is performed on a small sample of blood taken before your donation or at the beginning of your donation. We’ll tell you if you have been tested.
Your ferritin result will be available in the Blood Health Statistics section of the app and portal within about 2 weeks of the sample being collected.
If your result is below or above our reference intervals, we’ll also send you your results in a letter within two weeks.
Please contact us on 13 14 95 if:
- you’ve tried to access your result in the app or online and you can’t see your results, or
- your result online is lower or higher than our reference interval and you haven’t yet received a letter from us.
Occasionally we collect a sample for ferritin testing, but we aren’t able to test it. If this happens, we won’t notify you about it, but we will collect another sample at your next donation.
What we’ll recommend based on your Lifeblood ferritin result
Important: The information below applies only for ferritin tests performed by Lifeblood. Your eligibility to donate based on results from a ferritin test performed by your doctor may be different. See the FAQ "If I have a test performed by my own doctor, can I still donate if the result is out of range?" to learn more.
If your result is above or below our reference interval we’ll recommend you see your doctor, but you may not need to take a break from donating.
It’s extremely important that you see your doctor, even if we’ve told you that you can continue to donate. Your letter will let you know if you’re able to keep donating while you’re arranging to see your doctor.
If you donated whole blood on the day we tested your ferritin, the test was done on blood taken just before your donation. If your doctor retests your levels, they may be different to our results because your iron stores drop after you donate, and depending whether you’ve had any iron supplements.
Read on to understand more about how we manage ferritin results.
Lifeblood reference interval
| Ferritin reference interval (ug/L) | |
| Female donors | 15–400 |
| Male donors | 30–500 |
- If your ferritin result is within the reference interval
You can keep donating! But it’s important to know that ferritin levels change over time.
Your ferritin level will go down following a blood donation and then recover over the following months as your body absorbs iron from your diet. How quickly it recovers depends on several factors including general health, diet, use of iron-containing supplements, other causes of blood loss (e.g. menstruation) and any health issues impacting your ability to absorb iron. Donors can become low in iron (ferritin) after a single donation or after several frequent donations.
If you’re female and have a result that’s in the lower end of the normal range (15-30 ug/L), we recommend that you wait 6 months before donating whole blood, but you can keep donating plasma. You should consider donating whole blood no more than twice a year or swapping to plasma.
Important: Even if your ferritin is in the normal range, we still recommend female donors aged 18-45 take a short course of iron after your blood donation to replace the iron you have donated.
See here for our recommendations on suitable iron preparations (link).
- If your ferritin result is low (below the reference interval)
This means you’re iron deficient. Iron deficiency needs to be investigated and treated by your doctor. Your letter will advise you to see your doctor.
There are many different causes such as diet and blood loss, but often it may be a combination of issues.
We’ll ask you to take a six-month break from donating blood because of the amount of iron you give when you give blood. You’ll still be able to donate plasma (and maybe platelets, if you’re assigned male at birth) during this time, as these donations have a much smaller iron loss. To donate plasma or platelets, your haemoglobin will still need to be in the acceptable range when we check on the day of your donation.
Important:
- After donating blood, your haemoglobin level falls. The body needs iron to make more haemoglobin. It takes longer to rebuild the haemoglobin levels if your ferritin levels are low. So, if you return to donate plasma or platelets soon after receiving your letter, there’s a chance your haemoglobin won’t meet the acceptable range for donation. We recommend you wait 3 months before making a plasma or platelet donation.
- Remember that the haemoglobin test doesn’t measure iron levels. Even if you return to donate within the 6 months to donate plasma or platelets and your haemoglobin is normal on our screening test, don’t assume your iron stores have returned to normal. You should still see your doctor (if you haven’t already) and do any investigations and treatments prescribed.
- You can donate plasma every 2 weeks if your haemoglobin is in the acceptable range on the day.
- For platelet donors, we recommend that you limit it to no more than 2 donations in the first 6-months after receiving your letter.
- Keep us informed of investigation outcomes and treatment so we can determine your eligibility to keep donating.
If your result online is low and you haven’t received a letter from us please call 13 14 95.
- If your ferritin result is high (above the reference interval)
We’ll recommend that you see your doctor to discuss this and have it investigated. When you can donate blood again will depend on how high your ferritin level is. The letter we send will include information on whether you’re still eligible to donate while you have this investigated.
Ferritin levels may be high for many reasons. Some are related to lifestyle, other times it may be due to a specific condition, and occasionally there may be a more serious underlying cause. If you’re diagnosed with iron overload or haemochromatosis, you may be suitable for our therapeutic venesection (blood donation) program.
If your result online is high and you haven’t received a letter from us please call 13 14 95.
If I have a test performed by my own doctor, can I still donate if the result is out of range?
If your ferritin result is low (based on the reference range of the testing laboratory), we require you to take a break from all donations for six months from the date of your test. You can return after 6 months if your investigations and treatment are completed.
If your ferritin result is high (based on the reference range of the testing laboratory), you can’t donate until you have clearance from your doctor – this can be submitted by your doctor via the Lifeblood High Ferritin App.
We manage eligibility for donors who have had a ferritin test performed by their doctor differently from how we manage a result from Lifeblood testing. This is because we perform ferritin as a screening test, which is a test performed in well individuals. Your doctor will usually perform a ferritin test as a diagnostic test because of symptoms or some other reason that suggests you need your iron stores checked.
