Iron and constipation: My doctor recommended me a... - Thyroid UK

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Iron and constipation

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My doctor recommended me a vitamin with iron. I have a minimum of 35 g of fiber and lots of water daily(per doctor recommendation). Since I started the vitamin, the constipation came back horribly. How do you fight that side effect of iron? Thank you and be safe!

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11 Replies

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SeasideSusieRemembering4 years ago

Xiflo

What exactly did your doctor recommend it for - Low vitamin levels or low iron/Ferritin levels?

What are you taking and how much iron is there in the supplement?

in reply to SeasideSusie4 years ago

He prescribed it for me to avoid low iron levels since I am in Perimenopause .

I stopped taking them. Thank you and be safe.

SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to 4 years ago

He prescribed it for me to avoid low iron levels since I am in Perimenopause

To avoid low iron levels???? Did he test first? If not that's ridiculous, iron needs testing before supplementing, if you don't need it then you'll increase your iron levels and too much iron is as bad as too little.

in reply to SeasideSusie4 years ago

No, he did not test it. He told me to buy a multivitamin with all B vits, vit D and IRON and he recommended me one that I bought through Amazon, which seems to be too good to be true but, I just discarded it. Thank you. Be safe.

SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to 4 years ago

What a shame you wasted your money. But the iron would have affected the absorption of the other vitamins anyway, iron needs to be taken 2 hours away from other supplements.

humanbean4 years ago

Most people find vitamin C to be helpful when taking iron. Vitamin C in high doses causes diarrhoea. The dose people need to get things moving is very individual. For some people 1000mg (1 gram) per day might be enough. Other people may need as much as 5000mg (5 grams) or even more per day. Spread the dose throughout the day and take it with your iron pills, then experiment with the dose.

Other things that help are magnesium supplements - some are better than others for constipation. Magnesium citrate powder could get things moving, although it is a good idea to stick to a dose which gives you about 300mg - 400mg magnesium per day.

Regarding fibre... That is a massive dose of fibre you are taking. You might find that taking so much is actually bad for you. See these two videos for more info :

youtube.com/watch?v=xqUO4P9...

youtube.com/watch?v=4KrmpK_...

in reply to humanbean4 years ago

Thank you so much. The doctor put me on that diet of fiber. Not fiber supplements but food that is high in fiber.

Thank you again

humanbean in reply to 4 years ago

You could ask your doctor how much training in diet and nutrition he had at university, and how much reading he has done on the subject since graduating.

In reality doctors get no training on diet and nutrition, and would therefore consider it to be of no use or interest after they were qualified.

in reply to humanbean4 years ago

Sad but true

SlowDragonAdministrator4 years ago

Previous post shows you were very under treated on levothyroxine

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Have you had thyroid levels retested recently?

The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 is in top third of range and FT3 at least half way through range

Important to test vitamin D, folate and B12 too. These are also frequently low if hypothyroid

All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels

in reply to SlowDragon4 years ago

Thank you as always. Be safe.

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