Iron Infusion?

I had my first month post op dr. visit today.  For the most part all is well.  I am down 41lbs.    I feel fine but had been getting real tired all of a sudden so I had my blood work done in advance of the visit.  It turns out my Iron is way down and I need to go to a hematologist for Iron Deficiency.  The Dr. wants me to have an Iron Infusion.  I hear it's a 2 - 3 hour ordeal with an IV.  Has anyone had to have this done?  Does the body actually store the iron received this way? The Dr. said taking IRon Supplements will not build up my supply as fast as I need it.  I'm curious to hear what anyone else has gone through or any insite to this problem.  I appreciate all comments.  Thank you!

Congrats on your loss, sweetie!  Never heard of that...Iron infusion...

My Iron and ferritin are low as well. I take oral iron pills at this point. I have read alot about  iron infusions. They need to give it to you slowly because of the risk of allergic reactions.

Im hoping to avoid this but it looks like im headed that way. My iron count is in the 40's and ferritin is a 8 at this time.

Hope you feel better soon!

Many women are low in iron throughout their menstrual years.  I too recently found out that I'm low on iron, always have been even before RNY surgery.  My pcp told me to try SLOW FE (name brand OTC supplement) first.  The infusion thing sounds a bit drastic  but you have to follow your surgeon's advice.  I prefer to take less drastic measures at first and then and only then if they do not work, I will resort to the more extreme measures (just like having RNY in the first place).  I am 1 year post-op and can handle normal vitamins now.  Maybe it's because you are so newly post-op that you have to go for the infusions since you are probably doing chewables still.  I imagine that eventually when you can handle normal eating and can get your daily intake of vitamins naturally and through the use of supplements, the infusions won't be forever.  Good luck and keep us posted on this.

Just stopping by to give you some support.  Sorry that I can't help as I've not had this problem as of yet.

WOW i just found out from my PCP today that i am anemic...and in need of iron.  I also was lo in b12 which is why i have had no energy. I hope the supplements work as thats what is suggested for me to try first.  thanks for the information on the infusion.  Hey trish...i am a patient of dr. ahmad too, and i am 2.5 years post op.  I was fine all this time till now with the iron and i can eat more being  further out. SO i m not sure this helps the situation any. 

I'm pre-op, but I've been iron-deficient for at least a year.  For some reason, my body won't absorb the supplements.  I just had my first iron infusion a couple of weeks ago.  It was a piece of cake.  The hematologist told me that there are a couple of different kinds of iron and a couple of different methods.  One, is an hour-long infusion once a week for 6 to 8 weeks.  Another is one long infusion that takes 4-6 hours.  He really wanted to get my iron levels up quickly, so he scheduled me for the single infusion. I go in next week for new blood work, so I can't tell you for sure that it boosted my levels to where they should be.  However, I feel SO much better and more energetic.

My brother who had rny surgery four years ago has had problems in the past year with being anemic and a B12 deficiency.  He has gone to the ER for blood transfusions and also was on a several week therapy for the B12.   Most recently he was in the hospital with severe abdominal pain, only to find out he was low in platelets now.  He had a bone marrow biopsy, but never did find out about the results of that.  Still complaining of pain but now it is in his back, which could be from his herniated disks.   Well before his RNY he was probably a candidate for Diabetes type 2, and had cardiac problems big time, I guess he is alive and in a little bit better health.   Follow your surgeon's direction, they are familiar with what we go thru afterwards. 

Hey Jessica, I recently went through my second round of IV iron. And it really isn't scary. Its just a simple drip IV, mine was disbursed over 1 hour ( normally it's 2hours but I had work scedule problems) I was tired the first 3/4 treatments so you might want to see if you can have someone pick you up afterwards. but my energy started picking up after a few weeks, taking a few months to come back fully Now I just have to wait and see if I'll be able to hold my levels with oral iron.... THATS the part I'm worried about. I'm a bit freaked out about the prospect of needing an IV infusion forever. Apparently there has been some concern by my physician about the amount of intestines my surgeon bypassed. If he bypassed too much then the section where iron gets absorbed is gone. Right now I'm trying to track down the medical records, in the absence of that I'll have to have an upper GI series. Fun huh? lol  I do have one piece of advice for everyone though. Have all your doctors give you a copy of everything in your chart as you go long, every test, everything. and have them explain every blood value and what it means.

Hello, i take iron and i was losing a lot of iron and they told me to take two iron pills that are 325mg and i am still losing iron and don't know why if it keeps up i will have to have a colinosphy done to findout why i am losing the iron.