Question:
Need Iron Suggestions

I just got back my one year labs and everything looks good except my iron seems "a little low" (just under the normal range). I take iron about once a week because it tends to constipates me if I take it more often but to be honest, sometimes I forget it for a week or so at a time. I think it's because I'm never quite sure what to take and when (as far as iron goes). I was hoping I was getting enough iron in my multivitamins, but I'm not. Any suggestion for a better multi or an iron suggestion?    — susanje (posted on January 17, 2004)

January 17, 2004
Hi Susan, Of course - it goes without saying - ask your surgeon! They always have a product that they like and have seen good results with with other patients. However, that being said - and the heads' up that I'm a DS post-op, not RNY and our physiology is completely different! - I'll tell you what I use. I started out using the Ferrous Sulfate Elixir - 1 tsp with fruit juice 1 hour before food each morning. But honestly, it tastes something like battery acid. So I switched to the Nature Made Iron supplement, it's 65 mg of elemental iron from 325 mg of Ferrous Sulfate. It's a very small pill (which dissolves in water in about 3 minutes), and the box I got at Costco has 200 tabs for $4.59. Hope that helps some! dina
   — Dina McBride

January 17, 2004
I also had low iron on my labs and started taking bariatric advantage iron. They are strawberry chewables, but you can just swallow them if you do not want to chew them. I get them at wlssupplies.com I used to get them at bariatricadvantage.com
   — Melissa P.

January 17, 2004
Hi. I just saw my surgeon two days ago and he told me to take iron every day. I was also taking it once a week.
   — AmyWollet

January 17, 2004
I have taken iron pills three times a day since I was found to be Anemic last July... they are a small green pill, real easy to swallow..
   — bikerchic

January 17, 2004
Thanks everyone. I like the idea of strawberry chewables! I'll have to check it out! I also forgot that I used to put Benefiber in my protein shakes and stopped doing that (hence the constipation). I'll have to start doing that again. Thanks much!
   — susanje

January 17, 2004
Just about any iron is easier on us than ferrous sulfate. It's non-organic, so harder to absorb, most likely to cause gastric distress (both ends). My personal favorites are carbonyl iron (only 25mg per pill) or polysacharride (150mg per pill--for when you are SERIOUS about iron!). Both are gentle and well absorbed by everyone. I don't even let my normie dad take fe sulfate. LOL! Iron is always taken with vit C, never with dairy or caffeine, other vites, minerals or meds, alone together for at least an hour.
   — vitalady