Iron

Does anyone know how much iron we are supposed to be taking. I was taking iron pills before surgery because I was anemic due to irregular periods. My surgeon told me to stay off them after surgery and low and behold went to my pcp this week because I was experiencing tingling and numbness in limbs and I am low in iron. Are we supposed to take just one pill a day or more. I know we are supposed to space it out so it does not interfere with calcium. If anyone knows the answer to my questions please respond. Thanks, Toya

Call the doctor to see what the dose should be. It is very dangerous to take too much iron. Joanne

100% daily intake should be 18mg. You can get that through most vitamins with iron. Just check the bottle. But I agree whole heartedly with Joanne, call the doc and check with him. Pam

Hi Toya I would ask Dr Aranow and discuss about this instead taking other people on this Message Ct Board for questions because it is Dr Aranow 's decision to tell you what to do , not us. I do not want you to take risks for yourself and ask Dr Aranows for other kind of vitamin to increase for iron. Hugs Kathy K

Kathy, I do not mean to be rude. But getting in touch with Dr. Aranow is like trying to reach the president. I call and call and to no avail. Dr. Aranow told Lois to tell me that my symptoms have nothing to do with gastric bypass surgery when I initally called. I went to my pcp who has limited experience with gastric bypass, had to take tests to tell me I had low iron. I then called Lois and told her the results and she was like go back on your iron and that was it.

I think that everyone is different but I was taking two multivitamins a day post-op and went for my annual exam with my PCP and had blood work done which showed a low iron level. My doctors specialty is also gastroenterology so even though he doesn't know everything about gastric-bypass he has a good deal of knowledge about the GI system. He put me on a prescription Iron pill that he said is good to use post-op and easy on the stomach. It did correct the iron levels but you probably need to be monitored by someone to make sure you get enough iron and not too much. If Dr. A is hard to get a hold of, then you should probably persue it with your PCP. Heather

I don't think you need to consult with your surgeon about low iron levels. This is a matter for your PCP. My blood tests came back, showing that my iron levels were low, my surgeon's office told me to purchase iron OTC...but I went to my PCP and asked for a prescription iron...because I get very constipated when I take OTC iron. Talk to your PCP. Don't waste time trying to reach a surgeon who is difficult to contact.

Thanks Ann, I did just that and he told me to take two a day. I took over the counter stuff until 11/16/04 so I have no problem with constipation, it is just the opposite but thanks for posting.

Thanks Heather, I called my pcp and he was able to help me. Thanks for posting to my post.