Iron Pills

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Replies

  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    My iron levels seemingly have no impact on my tiredness.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,427 Member
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Oddly enough, I've been deemed anemic based on bloodwork. Had a colonscopy and endoscopy and no signs of bleeding. Also had a pill camera test and still found no bleed. Thing is I display none of the symptoms. I'm never fatigued, always high energy, sleep well and strong in the gym on every exercise. Again odd. I am taking an iron supplement and seem to be doing fine with it.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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    I had similar situation. I was told I couldn't donate blood when they checked iron level at the test site. The tech suggested seeing doctor. Had the same tests other than the pill camera.

    I did seem to notice some more energy after I got on the supplement. I've been able to donate blood with no issues.

    Ironically, my electrolytes were also off. My doc said to add a little iodized salt to my food. I avoid sodium due to high blood pressure concerns and my doc’s advice based on family history (everyone has hbp), but she said I overdid it. 🤪

    I go through at least a liter of Gatorade Zero a day siting at my WFH job so electrolytes seem good.. Go to the gym but not hot enough around hear to be really sweating yet.
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,531 Member
    edited April 2021
    Recent blood work showed I'm anemic, so I've been taking Feosol Complete iron tablets. I've been taking them about a week, and I can honestly say I feel more tired since I started taking them. Has anyone else experienced this?

    Thanks,

    Beth

    Husband similar like you. His body doesn't absorb iron. His blood work showed no absorption. He ended up doing daily injections for a few months, then down to a few a month, now one or two every 6-ish months. they hurt, not gonna lie. My thoughts are to keep track of this and your blood work, and ask about injections if you don't see improvement in a timely manner.

    (eta: he also had infusions in the beginning of this injection treatment)

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    SModa61 wrote: »
    My PCP has been monitoring my low iron for a couple of years and I was trying to make difference without taking iron supplements. Anyhow, at on point I tried a supplement which triggered extreme constipation and as someone who had bad a hemrroidectomy the previous year, that was not an option.

    Anyhow, when I returned to MFP to loose weight in september I decided I would also try and make a better effort at including iron in my diet. I customized two parameters in my MFP diary. I think I gave up sugar and sodium and added iron and fiber, which I cared about. I began making sure I reached my dietary iron daily. In January, at my annual physical, my iron level was normal for the first time in years.

    Yay!

    For others worried about constipation and iron pills, I never have this issue with iron bisglycinate. I also take my iron with buffered powdered vitamin C to bowel tolerance.

    Last year after months of unending menstrual bleeding my iron was so low I ended up in the ER for a *blood transfusion.* I felt better within days, but unfortunately my primary doctor over-prescribed ferrous gluconate, and I ended up in urgent care with the worst pain of my life. She'd prescribed three pills per day and when I got to the hematologist he said one pill, every other day. >.<

    *Iron transfusions* work much more slowly than the *blood transfusion* - I'd notice weeks after infusions that I had more energy.

    A note on getting iron from food - if you see a crazy high iron value, for example 70% RDA iron from one serving of cereal like Wheaties, that food is *fortified* (aka *supplemented*) and IMO you'd be better off taking a high quality (and gentle) supplement rather than whatever cheap form the manufacturer is dumping in.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    Recent blood work showed I'm anemic, so I've been taking Feosol Complete iron tablets. I've been taking them about a week, and I can honestly say I feel more tired since I started taking them. Has anyone else experienced this?

    Thanks,

    Beth

    Are you fine with other foods that contain Yellow 6 and Red 40? A small amount of people do have reactions to them.

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  • SModa61
    SModa61 Posts: 2,829 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    SModa61 wrote: »
    My PCP has been monitoring my low iron for a couple of years and I was trying to make difference without taking iron supplements. Anyhow, at on point I tried a supplement which triggered extreme constipation and as someone who had bad a hemrroidectomy the previous year, that was not an option.

    Anyhow, when I returned to MFP to loose weight in september I decided I would also try and make a better effort at including iron in my diet. I customized two parameters in my MFP diary. I think I gave up sugar and sodium and added iron and fiber, which I cared about. I began making sure I reached my dietary iron daily. In January, at my annual physical, my iron level was normal for the first time in years.

    Yay!

    For others worried about constipation and iron pills, I never have this issue with iron bisglycinate. I also take my iron with buffered powdered vitamin C to bowel tolerance.

    Last year after months of unending menstrual bleeding my iron was so low I ended up in the ER for a *blood transfusion.* I felt better within days, but unfortunately my primary doctor over-prescribed ferrous gluconate, and I ended up in urgent care with the worst pain of my life. She'd prescribed three pills per day and when I got to the hematologist he said one pill, every other day. >.<

    *Iron transfusions* work much more slowly than the *blood transfusion* - I'd notice weeks after infusions that I had more energy.

    A note on getting iron from food - if you see a crazy high iron value, for example 70% RDA iron from one serving of cereal like Wheaties, that food is *fortified* (aka *supplemented*) and IMO you'd be better off taking a high quality (and gentle) supplement rather than whatever cheap form the manufacturer is dumping in.

    @kshama2001 I'm going to keep that advice in mind. :)
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    If your ferritin is low then it might take up to 2 months to get into a normal range again, assuming you take 1-2 high dose pills the right way, with some kind of vitamin C for absorption. It's not a quick fix. Your body also needs to create new red blood cells, which takes time.


    Several posts have mentioned taking with vitamin C.

    You can get iron and vitamin C combination tablets ( FerrogradC) so this happens automatically rather than needing to have orange juice or anything.