Iron question...
I'm a sleever and have been told I don't have to take iron since I'm no longer enjoying those "monthly visits from my uncle" anymore.
So how do you tell if you're low on iron without doing the labwork? I think tired and cold. Can it cause hot flashes?
Can you take iron even if you aren't low in iron and not harm yourself? Or would I end up setting off the metal detectors at the airport! LOL!
Thanks for your input!
Kim
So how do you tell if you're low on iron without doing the labwork? I think tired and cold. Can it cause hot flashes?
Can you take iron even if you aren't low in iron and not harm yourself? Or would I end up setting off the metal detectors at the airport! LOL!
Thanks for your input!
Kim
Kim:
You might be lethargic and have no energy as well - you might go to WebMd and check that out - but I think even if you take an iron supplement if your body doesn't need it - it will slough it off.
I don't have "monthly visits" thanks to the hysterectomy but I have had years of being anemic so that isn't always a key to your iron level. I still have to take iron - and at larger rates than normal - just because I don't apparently absorb it properly.
Check it out though....it will definitely make you tired if you are low even a little bit.
Ruth
You might be lethargic and have no energy as well - you might go to WebMd and check that out - but I think even if you take an iron supplement if your body doesn't need it - it will slough it off.
I don't have "monthly visits" thanks to the hysterectomy but I have had years of being anemic so that isn't always a key to your iron level. I still have to take iron - and at larger rates than normal - just because I don't apparently absorb it properly.
Check it out though....it will definitely make you tired if you are low even a little bit.
Ruth
350/326/173current/159goal
Certified OH Support Group Leader
COURAGE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF FEAR BUT RATHER
THE ABILITY TO CONTINUE IN THE PRESENCE OF FEAR.
I'm almost 2 months out and I think that I'm low on iron too. I have been taking vitamins, Flintstones (I know, too much sugar) but they don't have any iron. I do also take the calcium citrate choc chews.
I've been really sluggish and physically tired a lot the last month, but I'm always borderline anemic. Pre-surgery, I did take a daily iron supplement, but haven't since.
The only side effect I used to have was the constipation occasionally.
Kim,
The symptoms are many and easier for me to copy and paste than to type out. Because you have decreased stomach acid and a reduced food intake you still have a risk for low iron levels, even without your monthly visitor. Personally, I would not risk it and would at least make sure you are taking a multi vitamin with iron. Iron infusions are dangerous and I would not want to risk getting low enough to need one.
The symptoms are many and easier for me to copy and paste than to type out. Because you have decreased stomach acid and a reduced food intake you still have a risk for low iron levels, even without your monthly visitor. Personally, I would not risk it and would at least make sure you are taking a multi vitamin with iron. Iron infusions are dangerous and I would not want to risk getting low enough to need one.
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Listlessness, weakness, decreased work productivity
- Impaired learning and cognitive function
- ADD and ADHD type behavioral disturbances
- Developmental delay in infants and young children
- Poor memory
- Decreased attention span and increased distractibility
- Impaired reactivity and coordination
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Appetite loss
- Cravings for non foods such as ice, dirt or clay
- Constipation
- Difficulty swallowing (because low iron may cause a thin membrane to grow across the esophagus)
- Joint soreness
- Night time leg cramps
- Asthma
- Sores on skin, or itching
- Poor wound healing
- Can cause excessive menstrual bleeding
- Hair loss (LOW IRON IS A FREQUENTLY OVERLOOKED CAUSE OF HAIR LOSS)
- Headaches
- Sore or burning tongue
- Soreness in corners of the mouth
- Brittle, flat, or spoon shaped nails
- Longitudinal ridges on nails
- Heart palpitations on exertion
- Shortness of breath
- Cold extremities, with decreased resistance to cold and poor regulation of body temperature
- Tendency to recurrent infections
- Chronic bladder infections
- Anemia (hypo chromic, microcytic) paleness, weakness, drowsiness, fatigue
- Numbness & tingling
- Night sweats
- Fragile bones
- Growth impairment in children
- Eye soreness
- Vague gastrointestinal symptoms: belching, gas, nausea
- Vitiligo (light blotches on the skin)
- Swelling in the ankles
- Bluish tint to the whites of the eyes
- Visual disturbances
- Papilledema (swelling inside the eye)
- Enhanced heavy metal absorption and risk for toxicity. Those with low iron will have an increased GI absorption of metals which is not specific for iron, so will absorb more lead, cobalt, cadmium, mercury. High blood levels of lead are more common in children with low iron.
I have started taking it this weekend because the multi-vitamin I take does not have iron - this way, though I am taking a little extra since the multi I used to take had 18 mg of iron and the one vitamin I started taking is 65 mg. Since I was borderline low on iron, I think this might work better...
(50 lbs lost pre-op)
My Walgreen brand of chewable has 18g of iron so I don't take an iron pill, but they now have one that has no iron. The one's I was taking were marked down to 3.?? so I bought 3 of them. That will last about 3 months. I happened to like liver so that would help with iron too.
I am so glad you asked this question because my mom has had horrible problems with cold hands and feet. She stays under a blanket all day to stay warm. This could be something for them to look at. They thought thyroid but it came out ok.
Kim, if my heart stents don't set off the alarms at the airport,I doubt iron rich blood would! HAHA!
Sher
I am so glad you asked this question because my mom has had horrible problems with cold hands and feet. She stays under a blanket all day to stay warm. This could be something for them to look at. They thought thyroid but it came out ok.
Kim, if my heart stents don't set off the alarms at the airport,I doubt iron rich blood would! HAHA!
Sher
I needed to add to what I wrote earlier -- Iron is NOT excreted and excess iron can be dangerous. As has been said numerous times -- follow the advice of your doctor and labs are important when it comes to iron as well.
Some more detailed info: Iron is not excreted. The iron you absorb stays and accumulates in storage except that you can lose one milligram a day through hair, finger nails, skin cells and other detritus. That is the amount needed every day to replace the loss. One milligram, that’s all and for women in reproductive years, one and a half milligram. The other way to lose iron, of course, is by blood loss.
The other thing to note is that hemoglobin is not iron! Yes, you are anemic if your hemoglobin is low but that does not necessarily mean your iron is low. Indeed, what might be happening is that the iron is collecting in storage instead of going into hemoglobin. You are actually iron-loaded and need iron removed despite the anemia. The anemia should be treated with B vitamins, especially B12, B6 and folic acid. Many patients with anemia are dying of iron overload, and some are hastened to their death by their physicians who give them more iron.
Even a small amount of excess iron can damage heart and brain and other storage sites in the body and lead to heart attack or stroke.
Iron is in just about everything. If you are not absorbing the one daily milligram, you are truly on a starvation diet, and low iron is the least of your worries. So, go for iron supplementation only when you need it and be aware of iron's toxic ability to harm you.
Excess stored iron can lead to atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease.
Men and postmenopausal women don't need the 18 milligrams of iron in most multivitamin/mineral supplements. Unless your doctor says you're low in iron, look for a brand with zero milligrams.
Some more detailed info: Iron is not excreted. The iron you absorb stays and accumulates in storage except that you can lose one milligram a day through hair, finger nails, skin cells and other detritus. That is the amount needed every day to replace the loss. One milligram, that’s all and for women in reproductive years, one and a half milligram. The other way to lose iron, of course, is by blood loss.
The other thing to note is that hemoglobin is not iron! Yes, you are anemic if your hemoglobin is low but that does not necessarily mean your iron is low. Indeed, what might be happening is that the iron is collecting in storage instead of going into hemoglobin. You are actually iron-loaded and need iron removed despite the anemia. The anemia should be treated with B vitamins, especially B12, B6 and folic acid. Many patients with anemia are dying of iron overload, and some are hastened to their death by their physicians who give them more iron.
Even a small amount of excess iron can damage heart and brain and other storage sites in the body and lead to heart attack or stroke.
Iron is in just about everything. If you are not absorbing the one daily milligram, you are truly on a starvation diet, and low iron is the least of your worries. So, go for iron supplementation only when you need it and be aware of iron's toxic ability to harm you.
Excess stored iron can lead to atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease.
Men and postmenopausal women don't need the 18 milligrams of iron in most multivitamin/mineral supplements. Unless your doctor says you're low in iron, look for a brand with zero milligrams.
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