omg-what do you mean I'm not normal?

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sz8soon
sz8soon Posts: 816 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Doctor told me I am iron deficient and fall between moderate and severe anemia. Told me I should start taking a multi-vitamin and increase my consumption of iron rich foods.

While im dissapointed that my blood work proved I'm not as "normal" as I believed. It did offer an explanation as to why I've been feeling less than perfect.

So, my question to all you mfp friends: what vitamins do you recommend? Are there ones to avoid?

I heard once that if your multi-vitamin will not dissolve overnight in a glass of vinegar, then it's not going to dissolve in your stomach, thus leaving it worthless. But I don't have the funds to disprove/confirm this.
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Replies

  • xxcandywrathxx
    xxcandywrathxx Posts: 200 Member
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    Dont take a strong multivitamin to begin with. It can react badly with your stomach and cause you to vomit it back up, along with all your other food.
    if you have a healthy diet, I just recommend getting an iron supplement instead of a multivitamin.

    kids multivitamins are delicious btw, lol.
  • sz8soon
    sz8soon Posts: 816 Member
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    Good tip! Thanks, vomiting is never fun.
  • MonkeyFlower
    MonkeyFlower Posts: 92 Member
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    for some reason most multi vits make me feel queesy apart from the pregnancy ones so i take those! at least if i ever fall preganat again my folate will be up lol!
  • hungergames324
    hungergames324 Posts: 240 Member
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    Nature made makes adult multi vitamin gummies. Target also has the same version in their brand.

    If you do end up taking a pill, as long as you take it with some food (not on an empty stomach) you should be fine!
  • momtokgo
    momtokgo Posts: 446 Member
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    Doctor told me I am iron deficient and fall between moderate and severe anemia. Told me I should start taking a multi-vitamin and increase my consumption of iron rich foods.

    While im dissapointed that my blood work proved I'm not as "normal" as I believed. It did offer an explanation as to why I've been feeling less than perfect.

    So, my question to all you mfp friends: what vitamins do you recommend? Are there ones to avoid?

    I heard once that if your multi-vitamin will not dissolve overnight in a glass of vinegar, then it's not going to dissolve in your stomach, thus leaving it worthless. But I don't have the funds to disprove/confirm this.


    Your doctor didn't suggest you start taking an iron supplement?

    As for a multi vitamin, you could ask your local pharmacist, they should be able to point you to a good one.
  • sz8soon
    sz8soon Posts: 816 Member
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    Doctor told me I am iron deficient and fall between moderate and severe anemia. Told me I should start taking a multi-vitamin and increase my consumption of iron rich foods.

    While im dissapointed that my blood work proved I'm not as "normal" as I believed. It did offer an explanation as to why I've been feeling less than perfect.

    So, my question to all you mfp friends: what vitamins do you recommend? Are there ones to avoid?

    I heard once that if your multi-vitamin will not dissolve overnight in a glass of vinegar, then it's not going to dissolve in your stomach, thus leaving it worthless. But I don't have the funds to disprove/confirm this.


    Your doctor didn't suggest you start taking an iron supplement?

    As for a multi vitamin, you could ask your local pharmacist, they should be able to point you to a good one.

    not yet, I need to try the multi vitamin with iron first to see how that affects it. I retest in two months.
  • ChcolateLady11
    ChcolateLady11 Posts: 359
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    I take Nature made Multi Prenatal.

    High in Folic Acid, Iron, and Zinc.

    no, I am not prego...lol
  • arielian
    arielian Posts: 200
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    i was severely anemic as a child and by changing my diet (which was horrible) I grew out of it. If they do prescribe supplements they will prob be large pills that WILL make you constipated. Drink orange juice with them and try eating prunes to ease the constipation!
  • sabinecbauer
    sabinecbauer Posts: 250 Member
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    Uhm, with all due respect to your doctor... if your iron deficiency is bad enough to have caused anemia, iron rich foods won't cut it. :noway:

    You have to take an iron supplement to get on top of it. The little OTC pills are fairly cheap and do the job, but in most folks they cause serious constipation. What does work well and won't give you any digestive problems is a liquid supplement, such as Floradix. Word of warning, though, it's expensive--though you'll only need to take a very small amount (app. 10 ml, that's less than one tbsp) every day.

    Interesting fact about iron deficiency: on top of the serious health problems it causes (like anemia), it will also impede weight loss. In fact, the symptoms of severe iron deficiency are quite similar to those of hypothyroidism.
  • BosLady1
    BosLady1 Posts: 83
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    I will probably get laughed out of here.. but I take Flinstones vitamins. Yes, I am full grown.. and whatnot.. but I love them and they do just fine in my opinion. I did compare quite a few and got stomach aches from women's vitamins... So I was a Flinstone kid in the 80's (10 million strong..and growing LOL) and I am now a Flinstone adult :flowerforyou:
  • sz8soon
    sz8soon Posts: 816 Member
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    Uhm, with all due respect to your doctor... if your iron deficiency is bad enough to have caused anemia, iron rich foods won't cut it. :noway:

    You have to take an iron supplement to get on top of it. The little OTC pills are fairly cheap and do the job, but in most folks they cause serious constipation. What does work well and won't give you any digestive problems is a liquid supplement, such as Floradix. Word of warning, though, it's expensive--though you'll only need to take a very small amount (app. 10 ml, that's less than one tbsp) every day.

    Interesting fact about iron deficiency: on top of the serious health problems it causes (like anemia), it will also impede weight:huh: loss. In fact, the symptoms of severe iron deficiency are quite similar to those of hypothyroidism.


    :ohwell: :noway: :huh: kinda concerning-the doctor I saw wasn't my normal doc, I was actually there because of something else and he ordered the tests because it had been so long since I'd had them done. He definitely led me to believe that it wasn't that serious and very common. Nothing nutrition and vitamins couldn't help correct. Freak, now I feel like I should get another appointment before my follow up.

    in the mean time....google here I come.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
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    I will probably get laughed out of here.. but I take Flinstones vitamins. Yes, I am full grown.. and whatnot.. but I love them and they do just fine in my opinion. I did compare quite a few and got stomach aches from women's vitamins... So I was a Flinstone kid in the 80's (10 million strong..and growing LOL) and I am now a Flinstone adult :flowerforyou:

    You and me both! Proud of it - they're delicious!
  • maycando
    maycando Posts: 3 Member
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    Try taking a tablespoon of Blackstrap Molasses, if a little sugar is ok for you. The brand i use (grandma's) has 21% RDA for iron.
    It's also a great source for all these other nutrients: (via happyhealthylife)
    manganese: .54 mg (about 15% RDA)
    copper: .42 mg (about 21% RDA)
    calcium: 176.3 mg (about 18% RDA)
    potassium: 511 mg (about 14.5% RDA)
    magnesium: 45 mg (about 11% RDA)
    iron: 3.5 mg (RDA depends on individual)

    When i first started taking it i would mix it with my coffee and a little almond milk, but now i just take a spoonful because i love the taste. :)
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    Uhm, with all due respect to your doctor... if your iron deficiency is bad enough to have caused anemia, iron rich foods won't cut it. :noway:

    You have to take an iron supplement to get on top of it. The little OTC pills are fairly cheap and do the job, but in most folks they cause serious constipation. What does work well and won't give you any digestive problems is a liquid supplement, such as Floradix. Word of warning, though, it's expensive--though you'll only need to take a very small amount (app. 10 ml, that's less than one tbsp) every day.

    Interesting fact about iron deficiency: on top of the serious health problems it causes (like anemia), it will also impede weight loss. In fact, the symptoms of severe iron deficiency are quite similar to those of hypothyroidism.

    I also recommend Floradix from the health food store (my midwife recommended this to me during my pregnancies) or Slow Fe pills from the pharmacy (my doctor recommended this to me after my pregnancies when I was very anemic).
  • Omsy828
    Omsy828 Posts: 24 Member
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    I have thalassemia and alpha anemia, iron pills increase your weight so i don't take them. i say just eat some greens!
  • callmejessica
    callmejessica Posts: 1,868 Member
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    I have thalcemia and alpha anemia, iron pills increase your weight so i don't take them. i say just eat some greens!

    I also have thalassemia and have never been ordered to take extra vitamins. I have always been good about eating my veggies though!
  • Moniqua1
    Moniqua1 Posts: 195 Member
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    I take a sunmark complete multivitamin it has 100% of your daily iron in it and I split it in half
    . I'm also anemic, 5'3 and 117 lbs. I go to the gym 5-6xs a week, and I feel fine. I'm not sure where someone got the "iron makes you fat" thing, but I think I'm doing just fine. Lol!
  • mnb85
    mnb85 Posts: 3
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    You can add a lot of things to your diet to help with that also, that are healthy. Our foster child had this same issue and I see it all the time working at the hospital. If you do your research there are a lot of veggies that would help with this, and possibly fix the problem even. I'd check into that first, because although multi vitamins are good, they are not the best way to go if at all possible. Your body doesn't absorb all the nutrients the same as it would from foods. Good luck!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    spinach and steak for your dinner tonight!
  • tansygreen
    tansygreen Posts: 85 Member
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    I take an iron supplement. It's not an expensive brand, just a once a day iron supplement, nothing else in it. I do eat it with a meal though or it might have some side effects, like nausea, and I eat a lot of fibre in my diet so it doesn't cause constipation. I have to say I never have.

    Also, your body can absorb the iron from meat etc. easily, but the vegetable sources of iron such as spinach, cabbage etc. you need to help it along by eating lots of vit C at the same time, squeezes of lemon juice, or raw peppers in a spinach salad or something, otherwise you won't absorb nearly so much from them.

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