B vitamins and iron supplementation

[DoDoc]

For several years I had been taking a multi-vitamin (for eye health) containing modest amounts of B vitamins and iron. Over a year ago I had my B12, folate and iron tested. The results were:

Vitamin B12 and Folate

Serum vitamin B12 849ng/L (197 – 771) High

Serum folate 17.4 ug/L (3.9 – 26.8)

Iron Profile:

Will be filed as 42R4.00 Serum ferritin

Serum ferritin 56 ug/L (13 – 300)

Serum iron level 19.3 umol/L (10 – 30)

Serum transferrin 2.6 g/L (2 – 3.6)

Percentage iron saturation 29.4% (30 – 40) Low

Four months ago I stopped taking the multi-vitamin, and opted for iron rich foods instead - including liver on a weekly basis. I recently had my B12, folate and Iron levels tested again. Here are the results:

Vitamin B12 567 (145-569) pmol/L

Serum folate 28.60 (8.83-60.8) nmol/L

Iron 15.5 (5.8–34.5) umol/L

Ferritin 50.9 (13-150) ug/L

Transferrin saturation 25.1 (20-50) %

TIBC 61.8 (45-72) umol/L

As you can see, all levels have dropped since stopping the multi-vitamin.

Should I consider taking:

1.A B comlex supplement (like Igennus) ? (or is my B12 already high enough?)

2.An iron supplement like Solgar Gentle iron (25mg)? – or is there a danger of raising my iron levels too high.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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