I'm asking a lot of questions - sorry - but I really have to get this problem sorted out, and this is such a great place to ask questions.
When I first got RLS really badly, I read up and found out about possible iron deficiency. I thought this was strange as I eat huge amounts of food with lots of iron in (I'm vegan, and am very careful about my vitamin and mineral intake - which is much better now than when I was an omnivore!) A friend suggested that my ageing gut probably wasn't absorbing iron so well any more, and suggested iron patches. I've been wearing a patch every night for just over a month now. Each patch delivers 15 mg of iron, so I was very discouraged when I read Sue's advice to take 325 mg a day. On the other hand, perhaps patches deliver the iron more efficiently than taking pills orally do? Or should I be wearing multiple patches all over me every night!
Written by
Desperate100
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
the 325 mg of ferrous sulfate deliver 65 mg of elemental iron as opposed to the 15 mg of iron the patches deliver. The value of the patches is that you don't have to worry about constipation or gastrointestinal upsets.
I would also suggest you try a good probiotic like Symprove or VSL. They can help heal the gut and aid absorption of iron.Raising ferritin levels doesn't help everyone but the majority will benefit.
I used ferrous bisglycinate every other night, it doesn't cause constipation. I raised levels from the 60s to 145 over a year. Still no improvement. I then had an iron infusion at St George's and raised serum ferritin to 785. Sadly it made no difference.
Uptake of oral iron is low. Very low. Uptake through patches on the skin os usually far higher. I don't know the figure. Maybe google can help. But the 75mg in ferrofumerate and 15mg in the patches are therefore not comparable.
Good find, Sue. And, yes I have seen that paper before. Quite a while ago there was a discussion about iron patches and their (limited?) potential to deliver iron. I think this is just one study. In general, patches with medicines are quite effective in delivering the med as they bypass the gut. Same with sublingual tablets. But it may well depend on what needs to be delivered, eg its size or affinity to water or oil, etc. There may be a good reason that skin patches for iron are far less effective than claimed. But I don't know, too far out of my knowledge.
Remember to take iron on an empty stomach at night with vitamin C to aid absorption. The doctor explained to me the black tarry stools are caused when the iron binds with the proteins in the stomach.
Did you check your vitamin D? There is a correlation between low iron and low vitamin D. Vitamin D blocks Hepcidin which blocks iron absorption.
Don’t give up. I ended up with an infusion. I take ferrous bisglysinate every night with vitamin c.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Iron in the Brain not in the Blood
IV iron infusion and questions
Success with iron infusion (sort of)
Gabapentin/Iron Doses
