Question:
After child bearing age our bodies don't require extra iron and it can harm

us. Because of this danger, do we take iron fortified vitamins after surgery because less is taken in from food. Or do you have blood tests to see if one if deficient in iron?    — Jean B. (posted on April 30, 2002)

April 29, 2002
Being a premenapausal woman I take a multivite with iron plus extra iron. After menapause I can stop the extra iron but still take a multivite with iron. With rny the part of the intestine that is partially bypassed is the part that absorbs calcium, iron, and b12. That is why you will see rny patients taking extra of those. If you are postmenapausal you should be getting at least 1500 mg of calcium citrate, split into 500 mg at a time. As for blood tests, after the rny you should be getting them at least once a year anyway. A dexascan(sp?) which is the bone scan to see if there is any osteoporosis is also a good idea. Excess iron is hard to get, but relatively rare in the levels will do that damage. Still, the only way to be sure is go in for the blood tests and see where your body is. They should test you for potassium, b12, iron, at the very least. Good luck
   — Becky K.

April 30, 2002
Once the food no longer passes through the old stomach (digestion), we can no longer extract iron from food. So the age thing is out the window. We're all on equal footing now. WE start on a "set" dose of iron, then adjusted (as needed) quarterly when we get fresh labs.
   — vitalady