IRON QUESTION

I am five years out this month and I knew I was tired lately , more so than norm...I went for my 5 year check up and my iron is low.  I have not changed anything so why could that be,
My interist says that the 5 year mark is when things like this start to show up ...Has anyone else found this to be so .
I take the same vits i always have and have been right on the money as far as labs go each time ,,
HELP PLEASE and thanks so much
Shirley

I will be five years out in January and went early for my five year bloodwork due to fatigue.  My labs have always been good until this round and my iron was low.  My doctor says that several patients have low iron show up around the five year mark.  So, I ordered some tender iron from Vitalady and hope to get it back up in the normal range. 

Melissa

My anemia showed up at 2 years post -op.

I am taking carbonyl iron 2-3 times a day.

Belinda

I'm 8 years out and am anemic now, as well.

The fatigue was horrible, I couldn't think straight, I was getting wierd cramping in my legs, felt depressed, all kinds of symtoms. My blood showed I as dangerously anemic, and ordered me on supplements and B12 injections.

I get my B12 shots regularly, and it has helped tremendously over the last few months. I really feel the difference and my thinking is much clearer. As far as the iron supplements... They make me sick and constipate me terribly. I was on them for a while, cut back to half the amount, still not good for me. I've upped iron rich foods, and we shall see in the next few weeks how I'm doing. I do feel much, much better.

That anemia is no joke, it can effect so many areas of your health and your life. I hope you get a handle on it as quickly as possible, so you don't end up as low as I was. It takes a long time to bring it back up. My Doce said that if I can't do it on my own, the next step is outpatient infusions at the hospital.

Good Luck!!

Hey,
I was anemic before surgery but got it up before surgery. 3 months after surgery, it dropped horribly. I started taking iron 2 times a day instead of once and still it was low.  My pcp recommended liquid iron because she thought I'd absorb it better and I did.  My iron levels are the highest they have ever been since the liquid iron. It taste horrible but it works. I take it twice a day.

PS: I also eat lots of beans! LOL

Kay

Shirley,  please tell us what you have been taking.  Also, have you gone through "The Change" yet?

Michele

Michelle
I have been taking a MULTI prenatal vitamin 2 a day , Citral D,  4 a day spread out , sublingual B-12 2500 mcg under the tongue everyday until now..
All has been good.
I also have been according to my Dr through the change.,,,Why do you ask >
Now though my iron is low so he gave me ferrous 325 mg 3 times a day...
Shirley

OK, just 8in response, not some sorta EDICT or anything, but I would not put a prenatal in my mouth. Not a good formula for us kinds, iron and calcium are in there together, and the things we need to be high are low in prenates.

I don't prefer ferrous ANYTHING. The iron salts are brutal and not as well as absorbed as other forms of iron. Ferrous sulfate is appoximately the same as nothing at all. But just so you know what's actually in each pill, 325mg ferrous sulfate is iron SALTS, of which only about 65mg is elemental iron. So, you're only getting 65 x 3, which technically, you could take all together with your vit C. The result would be the same (not much), but you'd be following doctor's orders.

Where is your extra D?

Which vites do you take? Got copies of your labs all these last 5 yrs?

Our iron levels drop as soon as we have surgery, basically. Age and gender have nothing to do with it.

Not all irons constipate! It isn't worth the symptoms to stay ill. Really. And it takes time, trial and error to find the iron that likes you, and then adjust the dosage to bring your numbers up to ideal. If you only test quarterly, it can still take 2 yrs to work through all the possible formulas to customize to fit YOU.

We did that back in the 90's and did get our formula, but we took a lot of unpleasant iron and had to dink around with the dosage for awhile to get it right. Finally, the levels are where I want them, where we PUT them, and they pretty much stay there.

I take magnesium oxide, now. But I was hideously constipated for 11 yrs, whether taking iron or not. Adding the iron back in didn't change anything there (except color). But I'm 14 yrs. Hopefully, all you guys can find your formulas a lot sooner than we did!