Iron Supplement *new question* downpost
 

My iron is low.
My Dr dis not prescribe anything, but I am so exhausted I'd like to supplement.
What is a good way to do this? I am not going to use cast iron to cook.Ehat supplement are good?

I was surprised it was so low because I eat a ton of greens and I eat red meat once a week.

Re: Iron Supplement
 

I am taking Perfect (brand) Beef Liver capsules for my low iron. My friend suggested them after she took them based on her midwife's recommendation. She gave me a bottle that she got for a good price through a co-op but you can buy them at several sites online, including Amazon. They smell a little and one time I had a nasty burp but otherwise taking them is fine. I feel improvement taking them but haven't had any testing to confirm improvement.

Re: Iron Supplement
 

I use liquid chlorophyll with orange juice.

Re: Iron Supplement
 

Our absolute favorite iron supplement is Ferrasorb by Thorne. It actually gets absorbed and has a few other ingredients to help build bone marrow and blood. No GI upset.

My dh has chronic anemia and we've tried them all.

Thorne Research - Ferrasorb - Complete Blood Building Formula with Iron, Folate, and B vitamins - 60 Capsules https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IE1SG8E..._Mr8dzbPGXJC8G

Re: Iron Supplement
 

Thanks!
I love everything from Thorne I've ever used.
I will look into the liquid chlorophyll, too.

---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 PM ----------

Oh, my D is low, too, so I might get their D3 while I'm at it.
Do you know if I would have to space them out?

Re: Iron Supplement
 

Iron and D3 shouldn't interfere with each other.
Vitamin C helps iron absorption.

You definitely should be supplementing with iron- your body tries to preserve iron in your blood so if a deficiency is showing up in your blood, it's severe. Chlorophyll can help because it's a similar molecule to hemoglobin but it doesn't have any actual iron in it so you should take iron, too. If you take vitamin C (or even drink a glass of OJ or eat other high-vitamin-C foods) at the same time as iron it increases iron absorption.

Iron and calcium compete for the same absorption pathways. Calcium is the bully and wins. So don't take iron at the same time as high-calcium foods or calcium supplements or you won't absorb the iron as well. Too much dairy can decrease iron levels in two ways- with the high calcium and by causing GI microbleeding that depletes your body of iron.

Re: Iron Supplement
 

:yes. My dh will never have enough RBCs so he takes chlorophyll, too, but chlorophyll will not help with anemia, it can only lesson the symptoms. It's good for you, of course, too.

Re: Iron Supplement
 

Refresh my memory, what r u doing for thyroid? (Sorry)

Asking because my dd has to avoid certain supplements w others. Iron cannot be taken w two things and I forget which but one is w her thyroid med. I know u r not on a med but if I'm not mistaken iron interferes w glandulars and something else she takes as well :think

:yes I asked Lisa so Dd has been using this. It actually makes her really hyper. If shedodnt do meds 2/day I'm pretty sure we'd stick w it but she takes at dinner and even at dinner she Is a bit too jittery to sleep.

We tried raw iron and hurt her tummy. She's moved on to trying iron bisglycinate (now foods) this but if it doesn't work she will go back to ferrabsorb and just struggle w a bit of restless sleep.

Re: Iron Supplement
 

I am not taking anything for my thyroid. If I remember, I use YL's Endoflex essential oil on my neck, but I am not hugely consistent. I do not officially have hypothyroid, so I am going to assume that my symptoms are vitamin/mineral deficiency related instead.

The thing I don't understand is that everything I am reading about anemia talks about low Red blood count or hemoglobin, or even ferritin levels, and all of that was normal.
I just had very low iron serum (19, with range bring 27-159) and very low iron saturation. (like, 5, and normal range is 15-55.) I don't read anything about just low blood iron. :shrug But, the lab report said "iron deficiency anemia", so I am going with that.

I have had green smoothies every morning for a couple of years. I bet I have gotten not iron from them because I always make them with unsweetened almond milk from a carton, which is high in calcium. :doh

Re: Iron Supplement
 

I wish they wouldn't put all that calcium in the almond milk! Most people don't realize that hyper supplementing with one mineral can mess with another, and I think they just put the calcium in there so people will buy it.

Two different ways to get around that would be a. blend up some real nuts and water into nut milk and then make your smoothie out of that or b. an OJ-based smoothie would really help you get the iron out of your spinach. OJ's sugar content can cause other problems, especially if you drink a lot of it, though.

Were your MCH and MCHC normal as well? Usually low serum iron is seen with other low numbers like hemoglobin. One thing I can currently think of that wouldn't do that is if your low iron status is recent. Iron reflects very current iron levels and if you had had a recent change, it wouldn't have had enough time to reflect in your hemoglobin and other levels like that yet. The other thing would be if it's just not a very severe deficiency- like I said the body preserves those red blood cells at all costs.

I did find this https://patient.info/doctor/non-anaemic-iron-deficiency

In either case my guess is you'd be on your way to anemia if you don't fix it, so I'm glad you're fixing it. :hug

Re: Iron Supplement
 

The B vitamins do give an energy boost. I bet the iron bisglycinate would be much better for her.

---------- Post added at 10:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 AM ----------

Two thoughts come to mind. First, your anemia could be in the early stages. If this is the case and you don't get any iron, eventually your hematocrit will drop.

Second thought is chronic illness. One method of fighting infection is to drop iron levels in the blood via IL-1. I think this is not very likely because you'd probably have other symptoms like joint pain or something else indicating inflammation. Did they check your WBC?

Re: Iron Supplement
 

I actually went to the Dr because of swollen lymph nodes in my neck, underarm, collar area, and groin, so infection could have been an issue. It actually has been 6 weeks since I had this bloodwork, but life has been so crazy, I am just now getting around to doing anything about it.
My WBC was normal. 4.1, and the normal range is 3.4-10.8
Everything else was normal, except for vitamin D. He did not check my b vitamins.

I am just so tired and weak. For instance, I can do dishes for like 10 minutes or so, and then they just all seem sooo heavy. If I walk up the stairs, I have to rest afterward instead of doing whatever it was I came upstairs to do. I get winded washing my hair. That sort of thing. I used to stand almost all day and move around constantly. You know how it is as a busy mom. Not that I wasn't tired and mentally exhausted, but I could just keep going. This even feels different from 1st trimester tiredness. The last two pregnancies, I remember being so tired I was crying because I was so tired, but had to keep going. Now, there is no way I can make my body keep going, even if I want to.

Re: Iron Supplement
 

That doesn't sound like iron deficiency without anemia. I mean I would expect that if your hemoglobin were way low. My mom's hematocrit was 4.3 last summer (normal is 12+) and she would get fairly out of breath but not even like you're describing. I would be looking for other issues and asking for more extensive blood work at this point. CFS, thyroid, infections, some other less likely things that might be scary that you probably don't have but would be worth checking for. If your doctor isn't super helpful, I would try an internal medicine doctor.

Re: Iron Supplement
 

:twocents

I think you need a second opinion. :hugheart

Re: Iron Supplement
 

I never did take anything, but I went to another doctor and I had my levels retested, and it was fine. So, I don't know why they were so abysmally low before.
We also tested B12, and that was fine. So, there was nothing off.

I just don't know why I feel so bad. It is not all the time. I just have these "episodes". The doctor I saw the other day said she wanted to refer me to a cardiologist since I reported that I feel short of breath and have heaviness in my chest. Seriously, right now, one of my kids is sick and is quarantined in bed upstairs, and I have to go up and down, and I feel like I am just not going to make it. I am so, so lightheaded by the time I get done, and my arms feel tingly and heavy, my chest is heavy, and I feel like if I don't sit down right then I am going to die.
It could be anxiety, because it feels a lot like panic attack for me, but I don't know why exertion brings it on.

I have noticed that this seems to happen when my period is trying to start. Do you think that could be related?
When I say "trying", I mean that my cycles now are such that I spot for 4 or so days before it actually starts.