Trying to find alternative Iron medication.

[Cybrook]

Does anyone know of an Anemia Society in the UK... Health Unlocked does not hold much on just Anemia without it being tied up with something else like Pernicious/Parkingsons/Thyroid. Feeling so toxic on what GP has prescribed...I feel after 5 weeks its been too long and I need an alternative medication.. Have a phone appoint with GP any minute now and just wanted to get some knowledge... Ive been researching for and hour and not found anything...

[M_rosew]

Hello Cybrook. Try searching for 'parkinsons iron'. Quite a few entries there.

[Cybrook in reply to M_rosew]

Thank you very much M_rosew..

[silvestrov]

What has the GP prescribed?

Also, folic acid in the form of methyltetrahydrofolic acid and methylcobalamin (B12) are good for red blood cell production and I take both.

New insights into erythropoiesis: the roles of folate, vitamin B12, and iron.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/151...

I have the Beta thalassemia trait, meaning I have irregularily shaped blood cells but do not require blood transfusions, and have to take iron. After reading "Iron and your Health, Facts and Fallacies", by Thomas Emery I take carbonyl iron. It is safe, non-toxic and children can use it.

Here is the book (and regretfully it is expensive to purchase):

books.google.com/books?id=j...

[Cybrook in reply to silvestrov]

Silvestrov need to know far more about anemia. Apparently I am not PA..though I have all the symptoms..ha ha... I now have a store of really tasty, fizzy, fast melting,well absorbed, under the tongue B12 tabs. Which I intend to start now.

I spoke to another Doc by phone yesterday and she took me off the Iron right then and there. She said there is no reason for me to take them as my iron level was quite normal a week and a half ago. The other doc. wanted me to continue when I saw him a week and a half ago... Feeling confused...lol.. Two GP's with different methods.

Anyhow I took my last tablet (one of two a day) early yesterday morning and today is the first day I have not woken with my permanent headache which I have had since Ive been on the Iron Ferris very high mg. I look better and my joints are not aching. Wow... well pleased..

I have purchased some folate. I will certainly purchase a book ..perhaps an affordable one..lol.. Thanks for your reply...most useful.

[silvestrov in reply to Cybrook]

In Emery's book on iron, which, by the way, is affordably priced on amazon - previously copies could be acquired for 75 dollars or so, he states that iron should only be taken for a specific medical reason. Taking iron unnecessarily can lead to heart disease, liver disease, bacterial infection and cancer. Emery is a biochemist so the book is technical but with repeated readings is worthy of studying.

To have the symptoms of PA and not have PA - or iron deficiency is strange and to respond to iron supplementation is confusing at best.

The following link compares ferric, ferrous and carbonyl iron:

ferralet.com/patients/forms...

On item of interest is Emery noted that iron was best consumed when taken with either vitamin C or alcohol. The geriatric supplement geritol is both high in iron and alcohol. He noted that southern French wine is high in iron content so if you have a condition called hemochromatosis your body acquires too much iron either genetically or through consuming too much iron rich foods, supplements, etc....,) drinking this wine is just as bad as taking iron supplements.

BTW taking folate and methylcobalamin, whether you have PA or not, are both good for PD so it is a good investment. Taking levodopa can cause a rise n homocysteine levels and the following articles notethis fact:

Homocysteine and levodopa

"Epidemiologic evidence has linked elevation of serum homocysteine to an increased risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, and dementia. An increase in homocysteine levels in Parkinson disease (PD) recently has been discovered. Although B vitamin status and genetic factors are important modifying influences determining the degree of this elevation, the main cause appears to be therapy with L-dopa. It has been suggested that breakdown of L-dopa by catechol-O-methyltransferase results in increased homocysteine formation. Therefore, there are reasons to suggest that management of PD may render patients at increased risk of stroke, heart disease, dementia, and even accelerated nigral degeneration. At present, no controlled prospective studies have evaluated this phenomenon, although they are ongoing.

"

neurology.org/content/63/5/...

[Treatment with levodopa can affect latent vitamin B 12 and folic acid deficiency. Patients with Parkinson disease runt the risk of elevated homocysteine levels].

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/145...

I am glad you are taking B12 and folate because if you take levodopa you should take both of the above.

[Cybrook in reply to silvestrov]

Thank you so much for the useful links ...

[silvestrov in reply to Cybrook]

My pleasure and best wishes.

[Cybrook in reply to silvestrov]

Silvestrov... just to answer your statement... "To have the symptoms of PA and not have PA - or iron deficiency is strange and to respond to iron supplementation is confusing at best. "

I knew nothing about anemia 5 weeks ago... my GP gave me a random test... results were I was short of iron...not too badly.. I was given the usual iron tablets...whilst that was happening I researched PA and I was such a candidate, including a family history of it ..in one historical case was fatal before the NHS.

I presented all to my GP... You know what happenes... they say no... He presented his case after Id cross questioned him ..I did not fully understand and could not keep up but it seemed to make sense. So Im leaving it for now...but sneakily taking B12 under the tongue. According to my latest blood test I am no longer short of iron...my reading is now normal. I dont know if this makes it clearer... I am still totally confused myself.

BTW.. I have chosen this book because it is apparently completely layman understandable. The Institute of Iron Disorders seems well appointed to write on the subject I think.

wordery.com/the-iron-disord...

[silvestrov in reply to Cybrook]

That looks like a better book for you to read. The Emery book - fascinating as it is, is not a layman book. I think it has actually been used as a text book. That is to be expected from a man who has studied iron his whole life and his PHD was on iron, mold, etc....

Glad you are not iron deficient any more...being so makes one cranky. I know from personal experience.

[windhorsepixy]

I was the walking dead for years while bleeding to death from fibroids. Liquid iron was the only thing I found to actually absorb. It made a big difference. Many pills will pass right through your body - whole (or close to it) . Iron can be especially difficult.

[Cybrook in reply to windhorsepixy]

Thanks windhorsepixy.... Glad you found something.

[Trixiedee]

Spatone is the best iron supplement.

[Cybrook]

Cheers Spatone.

[Cybrook in reply to Cybrook]

Sorry Trixiedee to call you after a suppliment... my brain is getting back to normal by the minute I think...lol..

[tomkitten]

earthclinic.org

[Cybrook]

Thanks Tomkitten