Vitamins/Iron

Can anyone recommend a good multi vitamin w/ iron or an iron supplement? I am 11 yrs post gastric bypass and my iron levels are way too low, I just got my lab results back today, will be talking with my Dr on Monday. Thank you!

Ferritin- 5

Iron- 35

Iron Sat- 6

Transferrin- 384

wow - that is super low. You may need to get an infusion to get that up - keep us posted!

I've taken carbonyl iron since pretty early out. The first brand I took was discontinued, so I moved over to Vitron C (or the CVS equivalent). It's worked really well for me - brought my ferritin up when it once got down to 40 or 50 (it's now around 200) and has kept me stable ever since. Although again, with as low as yours is, they may have to do an infusion first. But I'm sure your doctor will let you know (or at least I hope so!)

P.S. I should add that some people don't absorb iron from tablets well and have to get occasional infusions even after it's initially brought up to a normal level. Fortunately, I seem to absorb it very well from tablets (and I think most of us do)

Thanks for this! I bought the barimelt version. Of iron but i found vitron on amazon and am going to try that. Much more reasonable than what i bought.

How many do you take?

Hi -

I can't remember what we were first told to take (I had surgery six years ago - and I know I've had to change my dosage a couple of times due to lab results), but I just checked the Association of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery guidelines, and it said a minimum of 45-60 mg of elemental iron from all sources (which would include whatever's in your multivitamin). Vitron C is carbonyl iron, which is 100% elemental, so one tablet a day should do for most people (the tablets are 65 mg). I started alternating one tab one day, two tabs the next because last year my ferritin got down to around 40 or 50, but it's back up to 200 on my last set of labs (from about three weeks ago), so I can probably cut back a bit - maybe down to one tab a day again.

P.S. my surgeon was fine with my ferritin being that high (and it's been that high some years in the past), so he didn't suggest I cut back - in fact, he never mentioned it.

With those numbers you need a referral to a doctor who can get you iron infusions. Then try a heme iron. I use Proferrin, but I need infusions when my ferritin gets down to about 30.

We can?t absorb the cheapest of iron ? elemental iron ? AT ALL post WLS .

So most iron supplements or the elemental iron included in most vitamin pills that?s unabsorbable for us will lead to chronic iron deficiency which means slow healing and reduced immune system resistance from chronic anemia ... and very low energy levels because the body?s trying to protect itself .

The cure is ridiculously simple and not costly provided the problem hasn?t gone too far .

Vitamin shops sell ferritin based or several type of non- elemental iron ( far more absorbable - usually a variety of ferritins ) capsules . I find them to absorb and work immediately... and extremely well .

I had chronic anemia as a child and adult and going INTO this surgery .

Now - lab tests show no iron deficiency whatsoever :) and my energy levels are through the roof Thank God :) Hugs

Thank you for your suggestion...is there a particular one at vitamin shop you recommend?

This is incorrect. Elemental iron is the only part of iron that actually IS absorbed by us... (or by anyone, for that matter).

Not true . Please do some actual research before you( well meaningly ) mislead others .

I'm not the one misleading others here. Here's one article. I'll find and post some peer-reviewed ones as well. Although this is pretty much common knowledge.

https://bariatrictimes.com/can-iron-alone-sharpen-iron-manag ing-iron-deficiency-in-the-bariatric-surgery-patient/

https://www.laparoscopic.md/bariatric/supplements/iron

(some of the scholarly ones I'm seeing so far don't define elemental iron - they talk about the need to take vitamin C with iron supplementation, or how IV iron is needed in some cases when oral supplements aren't doing the trick. But I'm still looking)

well, this article from JAMA (peer-reviewed) does at least specifically mention the phrase "elemental iron".

"The recommended dose of elemental iron required to replete iron stores is in the range of 180 to 220 mg per day. The results of the present study suggest that taking two 320-mg ferrous sulfate capsules daily, containing a total of 100 mg of elemental iron, will prevent development of iron deficiency after RYGB".

here's the whole article: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/211 666

Are we even talking about the same thing, I'm wondering? If you're saying people don't absorb iron as well as before surgery, then yes - that is true. But then you're insinuating that elemental iron is useless because we can't absorb it. That's not true. Elemental iron is the only part of iron that people (any person) CAN actually absorb.