6 Month check up

I went to see the nurse for my 6 month check up and all my levels are good except for my Iron. 3 months ago my Iron was a 79 and it went down to a 14....could be why i am tired all the time. She said it is really low.....she put me on Iron pills. I hope my insurance pays for it. I think they well. My B12 level is over 1400 so she wants me to cut my intake in half. She saids I can even stop them and see what happens at my 1 year appointment. i really don't want to stop them all together so I will take one a day. Did anyone Iron drop so low? And what did you eat to help your iron intake. Thanks for the help.

Mine was fine but are you going to have to wait 6 months to find out if your b-12 or iron are normal? I'm not supposed to go back for 6 months either but I just had my regular doctor do my blood work too. You might want to check with your regular physician if you don't want to wait 6 months.

i am going to have my regular doctor do blood work in about 3 months to make sure my iron levels are better after I start taking iron pills. Thanks,

Take your iron with vitamin C, it helps it absorb - its best on an empty stomach but that bugs a lot of people. Iron also increases constipation so make sure you drink water and get enough fiber and consider taking a gentle stool softener like colace with your iron each day. Remember to never take your calcium and iron within two hours from each other, and don't take iron with milk or within two hours of eating/drinking anything that is calcium-rich. Calcium decreases absorption of iron, and our absorption is already decreased because of the surgery. I did have slightly low iron levels @ 3 months so I take Vitron C daily, with extra chewable vitamin C. I take it before bed because it usually upsets my tummy a little. I also had normal B-12 but I still take 2000mcg daily because if its even moderately low I feel very low-energy. Good luck!

Thanks Jennifer, I've been taking my iron every day with a calcium citrate...and all my other pills. Guess I'll have to take it later in the day. Tammy, Did you take iron for the last 6 months or are you just starting to take iron now. I was told that we would always have to take supplemental iron because we don't absorb it correctly any more. Fran

I didn't start taking it regularly until 3 months out. I just couldn't tolerate much in the way of vitamins at first - grouchy pouchy. So I concentrated on just keeping the multis down and getting in calcium when I could.