Advice on iron

[catpurple7]

Hi all, so after my iron results a week or so ago and my dr dismissing that i have iron deficiency anemia i decided to self medicate with ferrous fumerate 210mg. Last week i took 3 a day with vitamin c capsules as i read somewhere that that is the adult doseage ( i can't find it now) i have suffered all week with stomach pain, diarrhea and extreme flatulance. I then watched a youtube video on the iron clinic in london and so i emailed them my blood test results and what i was taking and today they got back to me and said based on my results i would benefit from an iron infusion, but i can't afford it ( although i am considering putting it on a credit card) they also said that i was probably taking too much iron and that they reccommend 65mg of elemental iron every other day. My ferrous fumerate contains 68mg per tablet. I haven't taken any today but if i take 1 tablet every other day isn't it going to take forever to get my levels up? Also i read that our bodies absorb heme iron better so would it be better to take a heme iron supplement? If so does anyone have any reccommendations?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Will tag humanbean and SeasideSusie

I think there’s recent research that shows alternate days supplementing gives better results

As a vegan you will struggle to improve iron

Most recent GP results

Serum Ferritin 13.3 microg/L 10 - 200

Serum Iron Level 12.3 micromol/L 11 - 30

Serum Transferrin 3.30g/L 1.8 - 3.6

Transferrin Saturation Index 15% 16 - 50

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Catpurple7

I have seen it said that taking iron alternate days gives better results.

Going straight in at 3 tablets per day was probably too much. Iron often causes constipation but it can cause diarrhoea as well.

Ferrous fumerate might not suit you, you could try ferrous sulphate and see how you get on with that. Or look for "Gentle Iron" although that has much less elemental iron, usually 20mg. If you need to take it slowly then so be it.

If you find a heme iron supplement can you post what brand it is please, I don't know of any.

[catpurple7 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I'll try taking it every other day and see how i get on, if not i'll try ferrous sulphate. I did see a heme supplement on amazon called optifer f natural heme iron and folic acid.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to catpurple7]

Brilliant, thank you. I've made a note of it and can pass on details if anyone asks about heme iron 👍

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to catpurple7]

Heme iron supplement is derived from animal products, usually beef

amazon.co.uk/Original-Heme-...

Bovine hemoglobin powder, Calcium phosphate dihydrate E450 (bulking agent), Microcrystalline cellulose E460 (bulking agent), Magnesium stearate E470b (anti-caking agent), Ethyl cellulose E462 (emulsifier), Silicon dioxide E551 (anti-caking agent),Talc E553 (coating), Carnauba wax (carrier)

Hemoglobin powder

usbio.net/media/H1850-30/He...

Hemoglobin powder is freeze-dried hemoglobin for use in preparing microbiological culture media. Hemoglobin Powder is obtained from desiccated beef blood.

Heme iron is always animal based

SeasideSusie

[Snooperkitty21]

I’ve struggled with my iron level and find that taking a polysaccharide iron complex has never bothered my stomach. I got mine on Amazon. It’s a higher dose of iron (150 mg elemental).

[Debon]

I take a slow release iron or chelated. This stops the stomach issues.

[humanbean]

I wouldn't advise ferrous sulfate - it's very poorly tolerated by a lot of people.

For info on the iron supplements available in the UK - there are more available than people realise :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

And regarding the every other day advice :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[catpurple7 in reply to humanbean]

Thanks so much humanbean i knew there was info on here somewhere but i just couldn't find it lol