Iron supplements

ferafish

I have had my blood iron tested and I was found to be anemic, so I was told to start taking iron supplements. I just recently started here, and wanted to see if I could log the supplement. So I found the daily recommended dose of iron to be about 10 mg. But the supplement contains 100 mg elemental iron per pill. Is it because most people using iron supplements have a hard time absorbing iron?

AJ_G

Nutrients from supplements are always harder to absorb than whole foods. This is most likely why multivitamins often times have 400% - 500% of the daily recommended dosage. I'd definitely discuss the supplement you plan on taking with your doctor though.

kmart919

I believe your question is why to the pills contain 100mg when the RDA is 10mg? Is that correct? The RDA is for people without deficiencies. Supplements are intended for people with deficiencies so of course the dose will need to be much higher. It's meant it try to bring the iron levels up, not simply maintain. Low iron may or may not be due to a malabsorption issue, but your doctor would have to diagnose you. If there is a real and serious malabsorprtion issue your doctor probably would not have gone with oral supplements. Some other more common POSSIBLE causes of low iron are simply not eating enough iron (eating little/no meat makes it harder to consume enough iron if you are not conscious of it) & blood loss (ex: heavy or prolonged menstrual cycles can cause low iron levels in sone women), among others. In a deficiency, increasing dietary iron often isn't enough and doctors will need to recommend a supplement.

Iron should only be taken on the advice of your physician. Iron should be taken with vitamin c (250mg) to increase absorption. Iron should be taken on an empty stomach and should NOT be taken with coffee, tea (the caffeine) or dairy (the calcium) to increase absorption. If stomach upset becomes an issue your doctor my recommend taking it with food. Starting low and increasing your dose as tolerated to you doctor recommended dose can help minimize side effects. Iron can cause constipation so make sure you eat enough fiber and drink enough water. A stool softener (like docusate) may often be recommend with iron. Some iron supplements contain a stool softener. Some iron supplements contain vitamin c (vitron-c). Iron will turn stool dark, almost black. This is normal. Ferrous sulfate 65mg elemental iron (feosol) is the most common and cheapest form of iron. It is effective in iron deficiency anemia. There is also ferrous gluconate, which contains less ELEMENTAL iron per tablet which might be helpful is side effects are an issue. Ferrous fumarate contains more elemental iron per tablet. Iron interacts with a lot of meds (some antacids, calcium, thyroid hormones, some antibiotics and many more) so be sure to check with a healthcare professional, like a pharmacist, if you take anything else.

JassiBear

Ummm I take Iron because I am slightly anemic but I only take it around that "time of the month".... I believe my supplement is only 68 milligrams and that is 361% worth of the daily value recommended. 100 mg seems very high, please be careful because you can easily get iron poisoning in your blood even if you have anemia. Consult your doctor for specific guidelines definitely!

kmart919

She probably has a ferrous fumarate supplement if hers has 100mg elemental iron. The dose her doctor recommends can be anywhere from 60-200mg elemental iron daily (in divided doses like 1 tablet of ferrous sulfate 1-3 times daily). It will be based on the severity of the anemia. That is not a high dose in iron deficiency anemia. Over 200mg/day would be over the maximum recommended dose. Speaking of iron poisoning, it is very easy for children (ESP under 6) to get iron poisoning so make sure all supplements are kept away from children.