Hey, I can relate to that stomach hurting thing too! I have found that I enjoy tasting the food so much, that if Im not careful I keep eating after Im full,,then when I get the hiccups, its too late, a few minutes later and Im in agony from too much food! So, thats one reason I started the pouch test,,,so shrink it back. Our pouch never stretches very much according to the doc,,but we can pu**** to its limit and suffer the consequences, which is what I was doing!
Heres the link to the test
www.5daypouchtest.com

Good luck with it,,,any questions feel free to ask,,and keep me posted on your progress. Once ya get past the first two days you are home free! LOL

Blessings
Betsy

Both my HGB and my Ferritin were low.   My ferritin was originally so low that it was not registering on the test (which can register down to 0.5).    They'd like it to be at least 21.      I tried bringing it up for 3-4 months with oral supplements and it took me ferritin to 4.    An improvement to be sure, but nowhere near high enough.     After the four infusions, my ferritin was MUCH higher.   I don't have my bloodwork in front of me, but it had moved towards the high end of the range.

I received Venofer.    Because I have anaphylactic reaction to something else (sulpha drugs), they were concerned I might be one of those who has an allergic reaction to iron infusions.  (A small percentage of people do).       Venofer is given over an hour, once a week for a month, so much less likely to cause a reaction.   (I was fine - I sat there with my blankets that had come out of the heated cabinet and slept for an hour).

--BT