Question:
Anyone not seen improvements in levels after IV iron treatments?

I posted a ? on 1/4/04 about iron IV treatments and how long do they take to 'kick in'. I had a series of 3 treatments at the end of Sept and saw the specialist today to get the results which I had hoped would be better. Nothing improved except that my red blood cells are bigger, they were too small and have improved. But that's it. No higher numbers on the labs. Has anyone with very low iron readings requiring IV iron therapy not had improvement? The doc said it is possible that my levels did go up for a bit but dropped down to the original low starting point. He also said it is possible that I could have a condition that my body won't absorb iron at all and/or not transport the iron I get to the places it needs to go. This is a metabolism problem and we don't need to look into that yet. So i am being scheduled for more IV iron therapy. Any suggestions or comments? Thanks. open RNY august/03 -105 lbs, 40 more to go.    — mary ann T. (posted on January 11, 2005)

January 11, 2005
Mary Ann- what kind of IV iron are you taking? I just had my third infusion of Ferrlicit(sp?) and the usual course of treatment is a once a week infusion for 8 weeks. I will have blood work done after the 4th infusion, so I don't know how I am responding but I feel a little perkier. There ia another type of IV iron the replaces all of the iron stores in one infusion-- however there are significant reactions and toxicities. I wish you luck and feel free to email me privately.
   — lizinPA