Daily Iron requirement? How many mg?

The booklet from my bariatric center lists the daily requirement as 36-45mg of iron per day. Do you think this is enough? How much iron do you take a day?

I also just noticed that my Celebrate chewable Iron + C, which was recommended by my center, has 60mg vitamin C and 30mg Iron. So their recommended iron supplement actually has less iron than their daily recommended intake.

I was already a big believer in vitamin and mineral supplements before surgery, and now after surgery I want to make sure I'm getting enough of everything for optimal health. Before surgery, my iron was in the low normal range, so the internist told me to take iron supplements which I did. Not sure what my levels are now, I don't get blood work done until my 3 month post-op, which isn't until October.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

What you'll need will depend on your labs. It can take some months to land on a good number. I take 65 mg of carbonyl iron and 770 mg of Vitamin C daily, but that doesn't work for others. You need 200 mg of Vitamin C for every 30 mg of elemental iron. The supplement I take doesn't provide enough C, so I add in another 500 mg because that's what I have on hand.

If it were me, I'd take what my doc recommends and adjust later if need be.

The type of iron you take is also important. Heme or carbonyl are generally better absorbed, but again...YMMV.

Thank you, that's very helpful. I'm obviously not getting enough Vitamin C! I'd better do something about that now, while I finish this bottle of Celebrate Iron+C. Then I'll look for something better quality.

The ASMBS recommends 40 - 60mg elemental iron per day. You may need more, if your numbers are trending downward and/or you're already deficient.

Here is a worksheet I made listing all of the current guidelines from the ASMBS:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OO_3Nse1GJYJ0izLO9kF v2v32hkDX0N6yZVfH8jBnpw/edit#gid=0

Thank you, the spreadsheet is useful and very interesting. Some of it lines up with what my center recommends, and some is different, like the iron. I guess I'll have to wait and see how my numbers are, my current 30mg iron/day doesn't seem sufficient.

Iron deficiency is often very difficult to recover from. You could probably bump your dose up to 60mg without any trouble. Higher doses of iron tend to result in stomach trouble and constipation, so you may want to take fiber pills or a stool softener, or try a form of iron (such as carbonyl) that tends to be easier on your stomach.

When my iron levels were very low, my hematologist had me on 250mg of iron per day, with no ill effects. If in doubt, of course, check with your doc!

Yep, I think I'm going to double my iron to 60mg and increase my vitamin C. But I am going to call my center on Monday to talk someone about it first.

I can't wait to be finished with these awful chewables and get back to my regular good quality vitamin brands.

Thanks again!

I'll second what The Salty Hag wrote above. I will add that you should keep track of your own labs in a spreadshee****ch the trends. If your numbers are falling each time you have labs drawn, you may still be in a good range, but it's just a matter of time before they are too low. Its best to increase your dose before that happens.

Ferritin is the most important iron figure long term. Make sure they are checking that. Inexplicably, many do not.

The spreadsheet is a great idea, thank you. I have a post-surgerical class coming up in a couple of weeks so I'm going to ask them if they check ferritin when they do our bloodwork.

Most of the figures that you are seeing here are based upon RNY needs, which malabsorbs iron, so your VSG needs should be somewhat lower. However, a bit of overkill is better than not enough and you can cut back later depending upon what your labs indicate. If your iron levels were low before, then erring on the high side wouldn't be a bad idea until you get feedback indicating otherwise.

I do fine on 25mg of iron bisglycinate and can double that if I need to build up the numbers. For iron and calcium, I generally ignore what is included in the multivitamins as they usually use the cheapest, least absorbable forms available.