Iron supplements

[marigold60]

I've started taking iron supplements and it's early days but what concerns me is I've read it can be toxic if you take too much. What would be too much? does it make a difference depending on what it's being taken for?

[Akashrajput]

Even I've the same doubt I've low iron and ferritin I've been taking iron supplements from past 3 months don't know whether to continue or not

[Hidden in reply to Akashrajput]

see my reply to Marigold.

[Hidden]

Unless you suffer from a condition called haemochromatosis, you cannot get iron toxicity from oral iron.

You can take too much in the sense that it can cause gut problems, mainly constipation.

The reason that you can't get iron toxicity is because you hardly absorb any of it. Most of it doesn't get absorbed, hence the gut problems.

This is because a hormone called hepcidin is naturally released in order to prevent excess absorption. People with haemochromatosis lack this hormone.

The trick with oral iron is to take it in such a way that it gets absorbed and doesn't cause gut problems.

The following does this.

Take "gentle iron" ferrous biglycinate. They are one a day.

Take two of them, but only once every two days, (every other day).

Take 30mins before or 2 hours after eating.

Drink a glass of orange or take a Vit C tab at the same time.

It is a good idea to have blood tests for serum iron, transferrin saturation and ferritin

If transferrin is below 45% then you will have problem with iron toxicity.

If your ferritin is below 75 it is a good idea to keep taking iron.

[marigold60 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you that's very informative. My ferritin is around 90 so not too bad but I have found I've had more energy since taking the supplements and I'm hoping it will help my rls too. I was just a bit concerned I could take too much

[Akashrajput in reply to Hidden]

I take ferrous ascorbate is it mild or toxic ?

[Hidden in reply to Akashrajput]

See my reply to Marigold

[DicCarlson]

You should get updated blood tests every 3 months or so to see just where your supplements are going. Here is some additional information...

bloodtestsresults.com/iron-...

[WideBody]

The recommendation from John Hopkins is to get 65mg of elemental iron twice a day, on an empty stomach and with a little vitamin C to aid absorption. The body needs enough iron to meet your daily needs and replenish your iron stores.

Look at the section on iron. The videos are also quite helpful

hopkinsmedicine.org/neurolo...

I found that I also was also low in Vitamin D. (Vitamin D blocks hepcidin which blocks iron absorption) If you are taking iron you should also be getting blood tests every 3-4 months. The first few tests are very important. It is necessary to see if your body will absorb the iron. When I first started, I tried a lot of different over the counter formulations and nothing worked. My Doctor prescribed Liquid Ferrous Sulfate (no prescription is required). I now you Ferrous Bisglysinate with great success.

Remember that supplementing with iron will skew any blood tests, even if you stop supplementing a week before. The recommendation is to stop supplementing 48 hours before the test, (I go a week).

I got an infusion that raised my ferritin from 30 to 114. I then did oral supplementation and got to just over 270 in 3 months. I was aggressive and did the 65mg twice a day. I found no added benefit (for me) above200.

It seems to me I have been testing my iron for years. Testing every 3-4 months I believe it would be very difficult to iron to be toxic, especially if you are low.

[Hidden in reply to WideBody]

See my reply to Marigold.

I usually suggest that people only take iron once every other day, not daily and certainly no more than once a day.

There is evidence that more is absorbed this way, because once released hepcidin remains active for 24 hours.

This also reduces gut upset.

[WideBody in reply to Hidden]

The way it was explained to me. The black stools are caused by the iron not being absorbed. That should be the guide, where does does intolerance start. I started with twice a day for a month. Had issues, talked to the doctor, he said 650mg once a day, which fixed the constipation issues.

The most important thing is to test to make sure the body can absorb iron, then the goal is to replenish the iron stores. I was told if I kept my ferritin at 200 for a couple of years, my iron stores probably have recovered. It can take years for iron to go down. 18 months to go from a ferritin of 200 to 30.

I was assured that since I was chronically low in iron, the body has a great capacity to absorb it.

Finally I took iron every day for a year, got my ferritin to 200 it did absolutely nothing for my RLS, it was only when my ferritin fell to 30 did I realized there was an issue.

So feel free to take iron every other day, but be prepared results can take years especially if your truly low in iron. The body will utilize all the iron to stabilize your hemoglobin and very little will go to the iron stores and brain.

From my experience, go for it, but test!

Sorry Manerva let’s agree to disagree agreeably.

[Hidden in reply to WideBody]

Yes that's good. Let's diasgree amicably.

You might like to take a peek at this though.

practiceupdate.com/content/...

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