Anemia And Iron, Which Type Is Best?

[yikespanic]

Got my latest blood work back and I am very anemic again. I hate taking iron pills, they upset my stomach and I have IBS so that's not good if you know what I mean. Asked and Doc said to give the liquid iron a try. Husband came home from drug store with a huge bottle. I tried one tsp of it and almost chocked!!!!It tasted like I licked a dirty rusty train track or a puddle of rusty stuff. It took awhile to get the taste out of my mouth. I had to work up nerve today and even put it in soda and it still was nasty and upset my stomach. Any brand anyone has tried out there that is easier on you? I have been eating cream of wheat in the morning it's supposed to have 90% of daily allow in it. I hate to get the upset stomach cuz then I get dehydrated and it's downhill from there. Then if I don't take the iron I get anemic and feel weak. Its like you can't win. Any ideas???

Kim

[dawn]

Niferex is a prescription iron that I took that had no side effects at all. It was a capsule I think.

I took it for 2 years when my ferritin level was 0. I think it may be expensive but it was sure worth it.

Shaklee also has a good iron supplement that my neice took during her pregnancy she couldn't

tolerate the OTC iron because of stomach upset. She said the doctor said the shaklee product was

the best supplement that wasn't prescription.

Dawn

[AJVDK]

The only iron I have found that I can take with out the side effect is the over the counter sofee Iorn pills (SP?) It works for me, when ever I have an rx I have gotten really sick. I am not sure if that help or not, but thought I would drop a line and say I have had the same problem.

I hope you find somthing that works better for you! I hope things get better for you soon!

[Guest dionna]

no ideas. just wanted to let you know that i am in the same boat with you and that you aren't alone. ive been back and forth to the throne all day and i feel really weak and i'm probably dehydrated. i hate the pills as well. from your story i'm not about to try the liquid! i hope you do find something that does you good. take care of yourself.

dionna

[jhjd]

this is going to sound silly, but have you tried the kid's chewable vitamins with extra minerals? Just the old fashioned flintstones. I started taking them when I was dx'd with IBS 8 yrs. ago. A lot of adult vitamins actually give you over the RDA, which is fine for some people, but was causing my stomach to hurt. The kids vitamins give you enough without the side effects.

[Sophia3]

Repliva is a pill but easy to tolerate. I was on it for awhile. Take 21 days, off seven.

I tried liquid iron supplement from health store.

YUCk...thick and coated my throat.

[Sunfish]

if a doc is directing someone to take supplements b/c of a measurable deficiency, a kids' vitamin probably isn't enough...at least for the specific thing that is deficient, i.e. iron. additionally kids vitamins usually have little to no iron b/c of the risk of too much in kids. for a general supplement it could be a good idea though. i know i've done better in the past with the viactiv chewable multivitamins. they're a bit more pricey but didn't bother me at all GI-wise.

as far as iron goes, personally i can't tolerate the niferex at all. as an FYI it also has vitamin C in it (which helps in the absorption of iron). as with many things, though, i really don't think there is a "best" iron to take for everyone; i think it depends on the person. i've talked with several of my docs as well as two pharmacists about which would be best for me to try as i had a dangerous reaction to an iron infusion but really need the iron (ferritin of 5). different people had differing opinions.

many have luck with the "slow Fe" brand. it costs more but is a slow release and many find they have a lot less GI trouble with it. another option is "fergon" which is a different type of iron...it's supposed to be easier on the GI tract but isn't slow-release. slow-release isn't a grand idea for me b/c of my severe gastroparesis/dysmotility and i've been able to tolerate the fergon relatively well, though we're not sure i'm absorbing any of it . it has brought my bowels to a halt so i'm having to use stool softeners & suppositories to be able to get things moving ( ) but it hasn't made anything else particularly worse. i have some nausea 24/7 though and am thankful if i can keep my meds down daily as is.

hope this helps,

melissa

[Dawg Tired]

Back in the days when I was working.... (In the last century it seems like!) I worked for a blood center for a while. We recommended people take Geritol when they couldn't tolerate the prescription iron supplements. It does not taste too good but I have tasetd a lot worse! It will also raise your hemoglobin level quicker than a lot of things.

I know, Geritol has been around forever... but there is a reason for that!

I worked for an ob-gyn who would recommend to the pregnant ladies that if the prenatal vitamins made them sick to take 2 Flintstones with Iron every day. I can tolerate them MUCH better than a regular multivitamin.

[mrach]

If it is not too late :

1) Solgar( Helated natural iron) take away from Ca( including, milk, yogirt, cheese) 4 times a day (does not constipate)

2) Floravit ( no yaest) /Floradix with yeast liquid Fe produced in Canada it helps great with fatige as well

Got my latest blood work back and I am very anemic again. I hate taking iron pills, they upset my stomach and I have IBS so that's not good if you know what I mean. Asked and Doc said to give the liquid iron a try. Husband came home from drug store with a huge bottle. I tried one tsp of it and almost chocked!!!!It tasted like I licked a dirty rusty train track or a puddle of rusty stuff. It took awhile to get the taste out of my mouth. I had to work up nerve today and even put it in soda and it still was nasty and upset my stomach. Any brand anyone has tried out there that is easier on you? I have been eating cream of wheat in the morning it's supposed to have 90% of daily allow in it. I hate to get the upset stomach cuz then I get dehydrated and it's downhill from there. Then if I don't take the iron I get anemic and feel weak. Its like you can't win. Any ideas???

Kim

[SunsetParadise49]

Hi, they also do have iron that you can be given by iv's. My mom is anemic and the last time she was in the hospital because of that they gave her a bag or two of iron. We then found out that iron given by iv's is very hard on your blood vessels and she was back in the ER after only being home one day. It turned out she had a huge blood clot from her hand up to where your arm bends. My mom takes iron pills too and the only side effects she's ever complained about were leg pain. We think that she does have POTS because she has symptoms like me.

I hope that you've found something that is working for you!!!

[yikespanic]

Thanks everybody for all the ideas. I go back Tuesday to the Dr. and more bloodwork. I friend of mine owns a health food store and recommended Shaklee brand vitamins with iron. And I have also been taking Iron Bisglycinate 25mg every few days. I hope it has made a difference. My daughter just had her phsical and she came back anemic too. She's also vit b 12 and folate defficient too.

Thanks\Kim