Question:
I'm Anemic

Any suggestions on iron rich foods. I'm so weak I can't lift my purse. My weight keeps dropping and I have no appetite. Help! Lesleigh    — lesleigh07 (posted on June 12, 2009)

June 12, 2009
Hi, Does your doctor know how you are feeling? You should contact him and ask him if you can take the liquid iron supplement. You can't take it though if you have small children in the house. (I don't know why, it says right on the bottle). My doctor gave me that when I was a anemic right before I had a surgery last year for tumors and it really helped. I was so tired and weak, so he had me take it twice a day with orange juice. You shouldn't drink it without putting it in some kind of juice. I preferred oj. So it drank it once in the morning before work and once in the evening before bed. Within no time I was feeling better and had the surgery for my tumors to be removed. Hope this helps.
   — Kristy

June 12, 2009
Welcome to the club. Year two and three is when 1/3 of us will develope anemia. Most of that will need iron infusions for the rest of our lives. I have been getting them every 6-12 months for the last 2.5 years. You can take massive oral supplements and it won't change a thing. I know, I know it wasn't in the WLS brochure. Neither was the potassium infusions I will soon need. Have you had your blood iron levels checked. First the Ferritin drops then the Hematacrit and Hemoglobin follow. See your doctor for the lab tests if you are really anemic take the oral supplements if they still dont' rise then see a hematologist for the iron infusions. I can live with this issue. I have kept my weight at my goal for the last 4.5 years and run 2-3 miles every other day. Privately email me if you want.
   — smparker2

June 13, 2009
Besides having a good bariatric surgeon, I found that I needed a really good hematologist (blood Dr.) in my corner. The hematologist is much better at knowing what labs to run than the surgeon. I too had Dextran infusions last year because my bone marrow had no more iron to contribute to the red blood cells. It's slow to regain your strength however, the red blood cells die/reproduce every 120 days, so it takes a while to get a "fresh" complete cells in the bloodstream. I agree that you should see a Doc - soon.
   — dadebrito

June 13, 2009
Hello Lesleigh, I just went for my 6 month check up with my surgeon and my B12 & my iron levels were low as a result of my labs. Ny doctor gave me a B12 shot and he told me to increase my iron intake and now I'm now taking liquid iron Feosol to be exact and I take it twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. Actually it tastes pretty good to me, but I'm different like that but as one person said they drink it with OJ, try that and see if it works for you, but also as another person said check with your doctor/surgeon to make sure what is right for you. I hope this helps good luck and keep us updated on how you're doing.
   — StrangePassion

June 13, 2009
When I became anemic last year ALL the other anemic's told me that I could not raise my ferritin or iron levels on supplements alone and would need infusions and even my doc told me I would need a blood transfusion because I had some serious issues with my blood during that time. I'm just the wrong person to ever tell me I can't do something! LOL ..I DID a TON of research on iron for months straight (and vitamins in general) and I came up with a supplement remedy with a NON TOXIC even in SUPER high dose iron for myself and in two months with aggressive doses of carbonyl iron (300 mg) chewed with 1000 mg Vit C, 2 mg of copper and 50 mg of chewable iron as amino acid chelate (I only used that for 2 mos until my iron was on the rise...Then I stayed with carbonyl and stopped the Iron as amino acid chelate completely. I DID get myself out of anemia with NO infusions and the blood transfusion was canceled! In 6 months total I raised my iron from 20 to 98 and ferritin from 4.5 to 44. That was 6 mos ago (Getting my lab retest soon)Been working on the ferritin levels! So IT CAN BE DONE. MY B-12 levels were normal and so that was not the cause of my anemia as it is for many...I had Iron Deficient Anemia. Many of my blood counts were low or high and after 2 mos on carbonyl iron, most of the levels went back into low but normal ranges with the exception of the deformed blood cell count which took 6 mos to heal and become normal again. Carbonyl iron is safe for even children and has little if any side effects on most people as opposed to Iron Salts like Ferrous sulfate which cannot be absorbed in the RNY anatomy and only leaves a person with the horrible side effects and no iron increases! I was on bed rest for two months because my doc was afraid I'd have a heart attack from the lack of oxygen in my blood...SO...want to feel better in about 2 weeks?... you can find carbonyl iron that is sweetened and chewable at Vitalady.com called Tender Iron...It's a GREAT price and tastes good! Or you can get some super cheap Sundown "Perfect Iron" (unsweetened) and just chew with flavored Vit C! Tastes fine! (A little like garden soil, but nothing too gross and with the flavored C it's fine!!)LOL I still take 200 mg daily with the Vit C and copper for absorption...I swear by Carbonyl iron...I am not the only one! SO MANY WLS people were spared infusions on Tender Iron...And then there are some that just cannot raise their iron fast enough(because they haven gotten so low) for good health and an infusion is done. It is soooo slow to raise your iron and even slower to raise ferritin...but do well on Tender Iron to keep the levels up! So consider it and write to me if you's like more info and clinical studies to prove carbonyl is safe in super high doses! The problem with us ladies is that we work all month trying to raise our iron levels and as soon as we have a menstral cycle we dump our storage of iron/ferritin with the monthly blood! So we need to work on our iron until menopause and have our iron checked at least every 6 mos or more!Bariatric Advantage also uses carbonyl iron in their chewable iron as does does Feosol ( they make ferrous sulfate vesrion as well) But both BA and Feosol are so expensive and you pay for the name really...I LOVE Tender Iron and the Sundown brand is fine as well! Good luck Lesleigh!
   — .Anita R.