Iron supplement making me nauseous (at least that is what I think is causing it) any advice?

Good Afternoon all! I am hoping to get some advice on how some of you may have found relief for ongoing nauseousness that may be due to iron supplements. When I had my three-year blood work done my iron levels had tanked and my surgeon immediately had me start taking two oral iron supplements a day (due to spacing them out with my calcium I take one in the morning with breakfast and one after I am in bed-hubby wakes me up to take it). I have been taking them for about a month and over the last week and a half I have been getting really nauseous and have almost thrown up a few times (my mouth waters and all that)-it does seem worse in the morning but I will also get the feeling a few times throughout the day. I do have an appt with my surgeon mid-September and am doing blood work again before that to see if there is any improvement and go from there. I spoke to the nurse today and she said that hopefully if the numbers have improved I can reduce the supplement to once a day but until then I need to do something for this yucky feeling. Thank you!

What are you taking?

It's 65 mg Iron (as Ferrous sulfate) with 18 mg calcium ( as Dibasic Calcium Phosphate)

That is a nasty nasty iron IMO...ugh.. are you taking any Vic C with it? why calcium?

not RX - OTC carbonate or heme has the fewest side effects even for me.
I took Ferrous sulfate for 2 days... I got sick from it for a week..

I am not sure why calcium-it's an OTC pill. My morning dose I take with my multi (centrum chewable that has vit C) but nothing extra.

If you take that with coffee or tea- it is just sitting in your gut.

Does Centrum have calcium? That would block any iron absorption.

The carbonyl iron is suppose to be much milder and better for absorption. Iron must be takes with Vic C or other acidic stuff. Otherwise - it does not get broken down to elemental (absorbable) from the salts you are taking.

Even I could take carbonyl - just not enough to make any difference for the side effects I was having. Heme iron is expensive but some people get good results.

Where I was - it did not made any difference. My ferritin was 11 then dropped to 9. As my other blood markers were dropping. RBC, HCT, Hg, etc.

during the year after my iron infusions I took 1-2 hema iron per day. i had some mild side effects.

in one year- my ferritin dropped from 90 to 27. I got infused again., Hema doc told me to skip oral iron. My second infusion lasted me 2 years.

My third series - I think I am due this year- so 3 years.

Using patches keep my iron high, but ferritin is dropping. Sadly.

Administration advice:
-Coffee, tea, milk, cereal, dietary fiber, and phosphate containing carbonated drinks decrease iron absorption.
-Supplements containing calcium, zinc, manganese, or copper decrease iron absorption.
-Antacids, H2 blockers, and proton pump inhibitors decrease iron absorption; do not use within 1 to 2 hours of iron administration.
-Vitamin C and acidic foods increase iron absorption.
-Delayed release and enteric coated formulations are better tolerated, but are not as well absorbed.

I don't think the centrum has calcium...when I was first getting my vitamins it was hard to find a chewable that had iron and so I have just kept taking the same one.

I appreciate all the info/advice. I am going to see if I can track down a different kind of iron and add vit C.

There is calcium in most tablets, of anything, because it's the binder that holds the tablet together. Cheap and readily available.

I checked the label and it has 108 mg of calcium...is that enough to mess with the iron absorption? I started the new iron last night and added Vit C too.

Anything that ends in 'ate' with irons are hard in the stomach. I quickly abandoned my surgeons script for ferrous fummerate due to stomach upset. I didn't even want to figure out a new means of taking them, that's how bad I felt.

Switched to carbonyl iron, and just started in the iron patch too