Question:
How long does it take to get iron levels up to normal?

Hi everyone, 13 months ago I gave birth to a baby and lost a lot of blood. I was given 2 units of blood and released, with a hematocrit, hope I spelled that right, of 24 , really low, but they released me . Well since then I've eaten pretty good, and take iron supplements and multi vitamins, ,my concern is that when I go in for my surgery on Monday, that I will have low iron , and it will be cancelled. Does anyone know how long it takes to get back to a normal level? Thanks for any responses.    — Carey N. (posted on July 26, 2001)

July 26, 2001
Hi, My Iron level is low to and I was scheduled for surgery on june 5th and it was cancelled do to my Iron being low also. The doctor said my humicrit (spelling wrong I'm Sorry) was 8.8 on May the 28th and when taken On July 3rd is was 10.5. But I was taking 1000 mg a day in Iron. But the day I had my surgery on July 17th , by the 18th after surgery my hymicrit was 8.3. So I'm still on 1000 mg a day.
   — Bonnie L.

July 26, 2001
I was ill in April, 2001 and my hematocrit was down to 25 then. As of last week, it was up to 36. That is without any iron supplements of any vitamin B shots. At the blood bank, they will not accept donations from women whose count is lower than 38. Their rule of thumb is it takes one week to raise your level one point. Hope this information helps. Good luck to you.
   — Julia O.