Dr. B on Iron Infusions

Nah, the bisglycinate always works for me. But maybe u should think about it. Because of your condition u might not always be absorbing much of the bisglycinate from your GI tract. The infusions go right into the bloodstream. The older infusion formulas of iron (iron sucrose) didn't have as much success as newer formulas. That's the great thing about oral iron is that your GI tract will break it down to its lowest common denominator (if it can) and whatever does get absorbed into the bloodstream should be able to cross the BBB. But I say give our tired old stomachs a break and use ferrous bisglycinate which is already broken down into amino acids and more readily enters the bloodstream and from there our brains. But if you got a lot of hepcidin floating around your body on any given day due to your condition then the oral iron won't be of much help to you. 😟

Ok Raffs, how about an in-between step. There is an over the counter iron patch called PatchMD Iron Plus. It's ferrous bisglycinate plus vitamins A & C. If you are at all interested I will order first and try it. There is a pharmaceutical iron patch that is undergoing human trials and I would prefer that but it could easily be another year before it is available. I might just order that patch right now. Nothing ventured...

Melissa I think they have the ability to place that capsule camera into your stomach via endoscope? I would love to do the camera capsule just because it is so amazing. I have a friend with a condition call gastric antral vascular eclasia or GAVE for short. She has pinpoint bleeding in her stomach and her only symptom is low iron although before it was discovered she was quite anemic. I believe they can readily see that on endoscope so unlikely you have that. I also had an allergist who was anemic and had bleeding (they found in stool) but from an unknown source in body. Like you he had every test done including camera with no result. Finally he went to the University of Chicago medical center where there was a gastroenterologist who had seen this type of thing before. Not to be gross but she literally pulled the large intestine out via rectum and turned it inside out almost like a pair of nylons and found a cluster of small blood vessels that were leaking. It was an outpatient procedure and when he awoke he asked the doctor when she was going to begin. That was the answer. He was fine after that.

Melissa look up "Angiodysplasia of the colon." How old are you? Unfortunately this somewhat rare condition becomes more common with each passing year.

HI, I have had that done, and it sounds way more scary than it really is. I have gastroparesis, so do not digest food well, half the time it does not stay down. S, have had all the "tummy tests" and colonoscopies. Will not get into detail about things they found, but will say the little camera was the easiest thing to do. They did find infected ulcers, and more. So, not sure what else you have tried besides the infusions and Ropinerole, Melissa. The test they want to run is to see if they can see if there is anywhere you are losing blood, since the infusions did not get your ferritin up in any significant way. How long have you had RLS?

Very interesting! I'm twixt and torn between genetics and gut microbiome which is inherited to a certain extent as well. I have high hopes for fecal transplants. Probably too high. I have convinced myself that someday all diseases will be treated/cured with this method. Definitely not dinner conversation. Nonetheless I am thrilled that you continue to be well and continue to post on here. And I appreciate you Laura.

The genetics for RLS comes from having Primary RLS. They found 3 genes which point to RLS. RLS can run in families and the gene is passed down from a parent. I have Primary RLS, i inherited mine from my father, i also have a brother that has RLS. Secondary RLS is having a underlying condition one of them being a low ferritin level.

Yep, born and bred. Auditor by day and know it all by night XO

I live just North of Chicago with spouse and teenage son. He has a good soul. Best journey. Hope life is good south of Chi town.

Shesrestless some of us (not many) get essentially immediate relief from RLS by taking a highly bioavailable form of iron called iron bisglycinate on an empty stomach about an hour before bed. Not a cure, usually needs to be repeated every night or every night you feel the RLS coming on. Another interesting factor I discovered with "my" RLS is that it is exacerbated by a large meal in the evening where I eat to the point of satiation or beyond. It matters not what I eat, just the fact that I eat to the point of complete fullness. I read that a chemical called Leptin is released when we're full and that Leptin decreases the release of dopamine. Such a simple thing to do - not to eat to fullness at the evening meal - yet I do it over and over again. One night last week I had zero RLS and when I thought about it I realized that all I had for dinner was a cup of soup. Part of the problem is that the iron provides such complete relief I know that even if I indulge I can still get relief.

If you think it's strange that Leptin inhibits the release of dopamine, how about Ghrelin (which is released to cue us to eat) increasing the release of dopamine? And it's not that Ghrelin leads to eating and eating leads to the release of dopamine - the below article shows that just the injection of Ghrelin increases the release of dopamine. Since you're taking on the RLS au natural this is big stuff I would imagine. Might be big stuff for all of us. Not sure.

nature.com/articles/ncomms2...

I would think not. I would suspect it would be dangerous. Definitely consult your doctor before taking any iron if you are hemochromatosis.