Question:
Should I take iron with water.....

or food? Banana's make me dump so what can I eat to get my potassium? I can tell my muscles feel sore and I know that's from lack of potassium. I also drink tons of water. What should I be eating at five weeks out? I would love to try tomato's but am afraid. Thanks a lot.    — TP (posted on September 13, 2002)

September 13, 2002
Iron absorbs better with a little vitamin c and since you are worried about potassium your answer may be to take your iron with a small glass of orange juice. Make sure it is not the kind with calcium, tho as calcium and iron don't absorb well when taken together. Another cause for leg cramps may be low calcium or dehydration. Make sure you are getting in as much water as you can and taking your calcium (citrate if you are RNY) in 500 mg doses and not at the same time as the iron. Confused? Welcome to postop life! =) Here's how I take mine as an example: With breakfast I take 500 mg calcium citrate, liquid b12 (placed under the tongue), and my BCP. With lunch I take my multivit (with iron). In the afternoon or at bedtime I take another 500 mg of calcium citrate. I drink orange juice just about every day for potassium as I have never been much of a banana fan. If I start to feel real headachey and tired I sometimes take an extra iron pill. That's it!
   — ctyst

September 13, 2002
I agree with Cheri on the vitamin C. Just wanted to add you might want to dilute the orange juice in water if the amount of sugar concerns you. My nutritionist suggested that, I don't do it, but then I don't drink a lot of orange juice.
   — Lisa N M.

September 13, 2002
To help with potassium, I use lite salt. They have potassium in place of some of the sodium. At 5 weeks, I mostly ate chicken salad, tuna fish, chicken/turkey cutlets, lentils, peas, egg salad, and some yogurt. I tried some fruits like bananas, watermelon, and cantelope. I didn't have any problems with them but I also hit a plateau with my weight loss so I dropped the fruits and started losing again.
   — LisaTaz