I have been put on Ferrous Sulphate but I can’t use it. My blood test for ferritin is 44 ug/L & it is only that high because I ate red meat I did do in desperation because the test last year was 10ug/L. I am vegetarian & I have great difficulty eating meat it seems to be hard to process for me.
Anyhow I had my cholesterol back it’s 6.9mmol/L
They said normal but on looking at my print outs it’s not.
So my need to stop the red meat & get on a good iron tablet is what I now need one that is gluten free.
My GP has said a statin but I have had my cholesterol at 6.8mmol/L before & have brought it back down to normal level .
My need now is to not eat any red meat again which I don’t enjoy anyway so I won’t miss it.
I have seen on here an iron tablet that was one called Three feathers or Swords but three something.
I would like to know the name & also how well others n Mmm au have found this iron supplement.
Any help given is very much appreciated.
Written by
spinela7
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Dairy products are very low in or absent of iron, if you get a lot of calories from them it will make it harder to get enough iron overall. I haven't consumed meat or dairy for almost 20 years and I've never been iron deficient, even with a after-meal coffee habit 😅
If you have PA, (thats what this forum is about), reduced stomach acid can make it harder to absorb iron and supplementation may be needed even if your diet has sufficient iron.
Three Arrows heme iron has been transformational for me. The chemical ferrous compounds prescribed by the NHS give me a painful gut. Three Arrows are in the US. There is a heme iron tablet (rather than capsule) from Sweden available from Amazon. Heme iron is produced from bovine spleen.
Ferrous sulphate is far from the only form of iron that can be prescribed in the UK. Though there is great reluctance to actually prescribe most of them.
There are several which can be bought without prescription.
The link below has much more information including some details about Three Arrows.
Few UK medicines contain gluten. And, of those which declare that they do have traces, the majority state that the levels are low enough not to cause a problem even ion those with coeliac disease. Somewhat oddly, Strepsils contribute a large number!
Technoid is very right that there are food sources which can be sufficient.
Don't panic about cholesterol. But do consider whether you could have a thyroid issue which very often causes raised cholesterol.
helvella - Iron Document
This is a summary of what I have read up and found out about iron supplements over the past few years. I am not in any way medically trained. You are strongly encouraged to check every detail before making any decisions for yourself.
Any thoughts to having an iron infusion? With my PA and Crohn’s disease diagnosis an iron infusion every two to three years is sufficient to keep my iron levels at the optimum level. Any tablet/capsule form upsets my gut. Just a suggestion.🩷
I think you're thinking of 3 Arrows heme iron. Definitely worth a try to see if you tolerate it. It's a heme iron from the US, there are some heme iron supplements you can get in the UK as well.
I also couldn't tolerate some non heme iron supplements, but did quite well with ferrous fumerate which I got on prescription. Might be worth a try
Yes definitely worth a try, I've heard good things about those as well. My levels are higher than they were and going up, so just persevere until you find one that you can tolerate
A registered dietitian would be a good place to start for advice about dietary iron.
Vegans and vegetarians do face more of a challenge maintaining adequate iron levels, and iron deficiency is a major problem World-wide.
It's easy to be taken in by product labelling, but just because something lists iron in its contents it doesn't mean it's easily utilised and absorbed, which is why a dietitian is useful.
Remember that iron deficiency is a symptom of something else, not a disease in itself. Take care not to overdo it if you find something that works, because 'too much' tends to be worse than 'not enough'.
I agree a dietician is good advice especially help with vegans & vegetarians just so much researching.
The advice I get from Healthunlocked though is tried & tested for me they are the ones I ask first.
I do check contents lists & then recheck then research.
Yes there is a reason why we are low in iron for me I can’t keep the levels up at all always a bit anaemic.I feel my body is not absorbing iron & I don’t know why.
Thank you for telling me about too much iron intake I would hate to make things worse for myself.
I always take small doses of anything food etc just to see what my body feels.
You seem to know exactly where you're coming from. Iron tablets have been one of the most common causes of fatal toxicity in children when they get their hands on 'mum's iron tablets'. Overdose in kids doesn't need much; in adults it takes more, but if the transport threshold is exceeded, then the dreaded 'free radicals' are there to cause horrible problems. We're designed to absorb iron, but we don't have an inbuilt system to get rid of any excess, because iron is comparatively scarce in the environment.
Oh, I forgot to mention, a big plus vote for Registered Dietitians. They're a group of highly qualified professionals, who are registered by the HCPC. It's a protected title, so you know what you're getting. Absolutely anyone can advise you on diet regardless, but Dietitians are actually qualified to do so. Adopting the title without being a registered, qualified dietitian is a serious offence.
As an ex-HCPC registered professional, I do have to 'big them up'!
I have been to 4 Dieticians with the NHS & all were lovely helpful & knowledgable women.
I have picked up many things from them in conversation but it can take months to see one.
When you speak with Healthunlocked you are speaking to people who have experienced health problems have most likely been to dieticians as well they have been there health wise they also know stuff!
I didn't even suggest that access to one of my favourites would be quick or simple! But they're very good. I am more cautious about some of the 'nutritionists' who don't have the same registration process, but many will be very good.
Hi. I had a consultation about Vit B12 deficiency with Dr Klein at The Iron Clinic. My level is 60 so quite good for me - but he (and others) recommend at least 100. He advised me to use Gentle Iron 20mg daily - available from Holland and Barrett. On a seminar he suggested take with orange juice. I was using ferrous fumerate with Vit C supplement - helpful except for stomach issues.
I also use gentle iron as it's vegetarian. I find this easy to take. It does need to be taken apart from tea/coffee/dairy tho. I usually take it first thing on morning on an empty stomach, then don't have any tea/coffee/food for a couple of hours.
Sorry for the delay in replying. Looks like you've had useful responses already from helvella and LizWilsonpa , but just to reiterate, Gentle Iron is Iron Biglycinate. I use the Solgar brand, but other brands are available. The liquid you're thinking of is probably the Floradix type stuff, which I believe is very low dose.
My understanding is the Gentle iron dose is the equivalent to the elemental iron content - e.g. a 20mg Solgar capsule is equivalent to 20mg elemental iron. I believe this form of iron is already 'chelated', so available for your body to use, so doesn't require the use of vitamin C to help your body absorb it.
I've had no side effects, apart from feeling slightly nauseous shortly after taking them, which is probably due to taking them on an empty stomach first thing on a morning. This quickly goes away with a glass of water or a cup of herbal tea though. There's some research suggesting taking a dose every other day is at least as effective as every day, but this isn't conclusive.
The main thing from my research is to take the iron on a morning, on an empty stomach, which is at least 2 hours after, or 1 hour before eating. Also to try not to have any food with calcium, or tea/coffee, etc in that time either.
Good luck with it all. I know personally how debilitating low iron symptoms can be! 😊
I have gone from ferritin of 8ug/l last September to 104 as of mid June. I'm vegan so really didn't want to consider haem iron so stuck with non-haem and have got on very well with iron bisglycinate from Avvalabs. I found after a while Ferrous fumarate gave me stomach pains but the Avvalabs one has been fine. It's a case of tying different ones until you find one that suits you. I take it on an empty stomach, away from food and supplements by at least an hour or ideally 2 with extra acerola cherry vitamin c to help absorption. I did have to take a high dose to reach 100 and kept testing myself several times along the way with a full iron panel to make sure I wasn't overdoing it as iron can be toxic if your system can't transport it to the correct places. I also had to deal with my very heavy periods and make every effort to eat iron rich veggies/beans at both main meals of the day. The liquid or spray irons were not high enough of a dose for me personally but then I was very low to begin with. They also turned my teeth brown! Others have not had this problem.
I still don't feel great to be honest, but with so many symptoms it's been hard to know what is related to the iron deficiency (I was anaemic in September too) and what is down to other things. I am perusing other diagnostic avenues too but it's seems getting the iron piece of the puzzle in place was a place to start.
I have been iron deficient all my life, never with a level above 30 so I don't expect a miracle cure now I'm at 100. My GP never told me all these years and it's only recently looking back on historic tests I can see how bad it was. I found a test from when I was 7 when I was also anaemic but my Mother said she was never told. I think the body will need many months of a consistent ferritin level to start to repair and turn on functions that have probably been turned off for a very long time.
By the way, my husband is also vegan, he is not iron deficient yet has exactly the same diet as me. There are many reason for becoming deficient and as Technoid said, you can get plenty of iron from a non-meat diet it just takes a little more planning. But, it's important to work out what is your personal cause for the deficiency and deal with it. It's not just about taking supplements and hoping something good will happen. I'm sure you know this 😊
I know my thyroid is too low & GP aware I test again in 8weeks. My new levo only comes in 100mg & cutting a wafer tablet into quarters is never going to be precise. I agree getting the ferritin level up is your first piece of the jigsaw, you have started Bertiepuss that was a big puzzle piece you placed on the board your body can heal, but do pat yourself on the back for laying that big foundation piece 104ug top marks.
Hello, I am not sure if anyone here has mentioned Ferric Maltol? I was prescribed this by my GP as Ferrics fumerate and sulphate make me feel quite nauseous. That said, I have been taking this for 3 months and there has only been very minor improvements but it may work for you ☺️? And it would be free as a prescribed medication 💊
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Iron levels
Medichecks Blood test. 7/2/2017 - help with results please.
Iron low
Low Iron Levels 
