rbc and hemo still low

My iron and blood count have been low for a year or so.  They kept adding an additional iron pill and then test me 3 mos later.  I was tested again after adding a 3rd iron per day.   I take my iron separate from my other pills and spread out thru the day.

Iron is finally in normal range

Iron 85 (65 in Feb)
Ferritin 201 (270 in Feb)

but these remain low

RBC 3.95 (3.79 in Feb)
Hemogolobin 12.7 (12.3 in Feb)
Hematocrit 36.8 (36.1 in Feb)

I currently take three Ferrex 150 Forte per day - per the FDA site they contain

Elemental Iron (as Polysaccharide Iron)	150 mg
Folic Acid	1 mg
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)	25 mcg

With dose I also take a 500mg Vit C and a 400 mcg Folic Acid (per my PCP).

With the 3rd pill I also added a Tender  Vitalady Tender Iron (25mg Carbonyl Iron)

They appear to be creeping up.   I just question if Ferrix is the right kind of iron for me.

Patrick

Your body has problem making the RDC. maybe you are missing other elements needed for blood building: like copper, and other microminerals. Iron is not an issue with ferritin in 200...

BTW: one way to forve the body to make more blood cells is a trip to higher eleveation. Like 8000-10,000 feet. (Colorado is calling).  But - yu will to make sure you have what your body need to make them.

I take two multivits a day - Centrum Silver has 0.5 mg and my 2nd is a one a day men's with 2.0 mg.  This is 125% of the RDA.  I'll see about adding more copper.

well. I would try to add that in food. And find other minerals - vitamins that are essential.

http://acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=27606

It may be copper, or Vit K, or K1 or K2, or probiotics.
i.e: green leafy veggies - contain a lot of what out body need - and since I can't get enough of that and actually digest that  - I use chlorofresh - liquid chlorophyll - to get most of that into my blood.
Also - that is a great natural deodorizer - helps with the smells. 
It actually taste good. I try to get 1 oz - every morning.  
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS326&q =chlorofresh&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=132820026151669972&s a=X&ei=hFdBTvfgKYqctwejnYWtCQ&ved=0CFEQ8wIwAQ#

but eating a lots of greens - may be also good thing.

I went home and had a tuna steak and some spinach last night.

Just found a list of top foods that contain copper and Chocoalte is #4 - I guess that means the brownies the guy brought in for his birthday are now health food.  Good think I don't dump on sugar.

:)

First of all, these levels are all from February - do you have anything from now?  This doesn't give you any picture of what is going on now.

anemia isn't only from iron and your obviously isn't due to iron.

You can be anemic due to folic acid or B12. What are your folate and B12 levels?  I see you are taking folic acid, so it probably isnt' that but how much B12 are you taking and is it sublingual or injection? If you are just getting the little bit in your iron, then it isn't nearly enough.  The minimum amount of b12 for us is 1000mcg daily but most of us need alot more. We want our B12 levels to be atleast 1500-1800, and anything less than 500 is severely deficient and can even be at risk for nerve damage.

As far as your iron, your ferritin is great but your is just okay.  It is hard to say since your labs are from February - do you have anything more recent?

Most people that don't have WLS do well on the type of iron you are taking - poly iron but of the top irons, it is #3 on the list.  Heme (or Proferrin is the best but very expensive) and then the most popular is Carbonyl Iron - which you are taking a little bit of - is a great choice.  I would stop the poly iron and just take all carbonyl iron.  You can get tender irons that are 60mg each with the necessary vitamin C in them, since you aren't getting enough vitamin C with yours - you need 200mg of vitamin C for every 30mg of iron.  So, to get the same amount of iron that you are currently taking you would need to take 3 of the 60mg tender irons -that is what I take and what my NUT starts all patients on.

By doing this, you would need to get more over the counter folic acid - you can get 1.2mg of folic acid over the counter.

But, I would definitely get some updated labs if you don't have them as soon as you can before you make any changes to make sure things haven't changed and you need to adjust differently

 the 1st number is current with febrary numbers in parentheses after.

When I had my labs done in Feb. the added the 3rd Iron (ferex as noted) plus I added a tender iron  on my on.  My PCP suggeted Folic acid so I take 400 mcg with each dose of Iron (3xday).  Sounds like I need to double my vit c when I take my ferrex.

my b12 had been low but I've added two b12 sublingals  a 5000 dose in the am and a 2nd 2000 in the afternoon.  Not sure why they didnt test for this - this time.

I've also looked up info on food sources for anemia - I've added more spinach and broccoli and adding blackstrap molasses to my morning coffee

thanks for the tips

Patrick

sorry I misread your first post and now I see the 2 readings.  As far as the iron, I reread your post and you are taking an enormous amount of iron - 150mg = 3 times per plus tender iron and I am not sure what the 3rd type is.  I doubt doubling your vitamin C would come close to hitting the mark with that amount of iron - the correct formula is 200mg of vitamin per 30mg of iron - so for each 150mg tablet of iron, you need 1000mg of vitamin C plus more for each of your other types. I really think that this is just not the best type of iron since that is an enourmous dose and probably costing you alot of money.  I would honestly, go to vitalady.com and get either tender irons - 60mg capsules - and take 3-4 per day, this is 180-240mg of carbonyl iron with the necessary vitamin C in them.  Some take up to 5 per day and you can take it all in one dose.  I tend to think you would absorb this smaller dose much better than the enourmous dose you are taking.  Most gastric bypass patients have a very hard time absorbing the type of iron you are taking.  It is great for non-surgical patients.  I personally took it preop.  I wouldn't bother trying to add all the foods high in vitamins, etc since we don't absorb them hense the reason for taking so many vitamins and minerals.

You said you have had low B12 levels, that is probably why you are anemic and it is imperitive that you get a B12 level.  If you are still low,then you need to adjust your dosage.  You are taking a very large amount of sublingual B12 and wouldn't think you are still low but your labs are still showing you are low in something.  You might be one that needs injections but without a B12 level and folate level, you won't know.

You also said your ferritin was 200 and your iron was 85, what was your iron Sat %?  sometime ferritin is elevated when you have alot of inflamation in your body making iron deficiency difficult to diagnose.

I'll call the Dr and get Folate and B12 tested again.  I've not been retested since I started taking the 5000K b12 - although I do feel better.

In feb they were - 
Iron Binding Capacity 255
saturation 33%

I take 3 iron doses a day 

dose 1
ferrex forte - 85 mg iron
400mcg folate
500mg vit c- increasing to 2 now, looks like I may need 3 to cover 85 mg iron

dose 2
same as 1

dose 3
ferrex forte - 85 mg iron
vitalady tender iron - 60 mg
400 mcg folate
500 mg vt c - increasing to 2 now

thanks again