Question:
What do I take for Iron supplements?

HELP I AM CONFUSED!!! WHICH SUPPLIMENT DO I TAKE??? I just had my Pre-op testing done and was told to take two Tums and one 325mg Ferrous Sulfate tablet daily for the rest of my life. Now I am reading here that the things I have been told to take aren't good for me. I told the nutricianist (sp) that I had heard that Tums wasn't the best for me and she seemed a little affended and said that a team of doctors and nutricianists (sp) came up with this list and they know what there doing, but most of you have been there already and have learned the hard way. I don't know what to do, my surgery is in 4 days and I need to know what to take.    — Tonna N. (posted on March 2, 2002)

March 2, 2002
My surgeon starts us on elemental iron.. polysaccharide iron.. 150 mg twice a day taken with a vitamin C tablet.. 500 mg.. This needs to be taken alone for better absorption.. Also, we need calium citrate.. there are some otc brands, but the serving size is more than one pill several times a day,, I get all my vitamins and supplements from vitalady.com She had a caclium citrate formulated for gastric bypass patients and we take one 500 mg pill 4 times a day.. three during day with meals and one at bedtime.. I am sorry to disagree with your nutritionist and doc, but it is not their fault that they have no understanding of what a gastric bypass patients needs after surgery to remain healty.. The docs only get about 8 hours of nutritional training in medical school.. Best of luck to you
   — Gina Landers

March 2, 2002
Hi Tonna, I was told to take the iron tablets also. I was taking them in addition to my multivit/mineral tablet but had to stop taking the iron tabs because they burned my stomach something aweful. I stopped them for a while and my bloodwork showed my iron had dropped dispite the multivite/mineral tables. I found an chelated iron supp at GNC that is gentle on the stomach and does not cause burning.
   — Jan M.

March 3, 2002
Hi Tonna, The best place to visit to get any info you need on vitamins and supplements is vitalady.com. Alot of people take Tums, however they do not contain the correct form of calcium for us. Our bodies need calcium citrate- not calcium carbonate. And Michelle Curan (Vitalady.com) is the best person to talk to you about that. She took calcium carbonate faithfully and still developed osteoporosis (sp) She found that we do not process the calcium carbonate. Check out her website or email her- she is a wealth of information regarding vitamins. Good luck.
   — Cindy K.