Sister is Vegan and Tested Very Low For Iron

[Mada_]

Yeah a supplement would sort her out. 

When I was vegan I supplemented and had dark leafy greens with every meal. 

[integral]

@Michael569 She went to the hospital recently from severe stomach pain, they couldn't find the reason. She stopped taking the iron and the pain went away, 5 days later she tried the iron supplement again and the stomach pain came back. Is there a different form thats better tolerated? She was taking ferrous bis-glycinate.

Edited July 11, 2023 by integral

[Israfil]

3 hours ago, integral said:

@Michael569 She went to the hospital recently from severe stomach pain, they couldn't find the reason. She stopped taking the iron and the pain went away, 5 days later she tried the iron supplement again and the stomach pain came back. Is there a different form thats better tolerated? She was taking ferrous bis-glycinate.

Taking it after a meal might help.

[Michael569]

@integral 

It is not unusual to experience these from iron supplements. To various degrees of severity, she might be more sensitive to it, that's definitely possible. Less common with bisglycinate but still possible. As mentioned above she can try with food, that would actually be preferable.

Alternatively there are liquid iron supplements (also best taken postprandial). Chat with the doc and see what they recommend.

How high is her dosage? 

Have her levels moved at all since she started on it?

Edited July 12, 2023 by Michael569

[LSD-Rumi]

@integral Yeah Iron is known to cause GI upset and constipation. She can take Iron IM injection but it may leave some brown discoloration on the site of injection.

[integral]

On 7/12/2023 at 2:10 AM, Michael569 said:

@integral 

It is not unusual to experience these from iron supplements. To various degrees of severity, she might be more sensitive to it, that's definitely possible. Less common with bisglycinate but still possible. As mentioned above she can try with food, that would actually be preferable.

Alternatively there are liquid iron supplements (also best taken postprandial). Chat with the doc and see what they recommend.

How high is her dosage? 

Have her levels moved at all since she started on it?

She switched to a liquid iron supplement (ferric ammonium citrate) and it does no cause stomach pain. 

Ingredients:

Folate (folic acid) 440 µg

Vitamin B12 (cyancobalamin) 110 µg

Iron (ferric ammonium citrate) 20 mg

---

She's been taking it for a few months now and was retested and her iron is slowly going back up. 

Was wondering if you guys have any recommendations for some good liquid iron supplements.

Thanks! 

Edited January 1 by integral

[LSD-Rumi]

@integral Make her eat some liver for god sake 

11 hours ago, integral said:

Iron (ferric ammonium citrate) 20 mg

 

That's way too low. Only 10-15 % of Iron in iron supplements gets absorbed. But she can normalize over a long period if her anemia is not that bad. But she also needs to fill her Iron stores after normalizing her blood Iron, so this may take a long time at this rate.

Edited January 2 by LSD-Rumi

[integral]

15 hours ago, LSD-Rumi said:

@integral Make her eat some liver for god sake 

🤣If it was up to me she would be drinking 2 cups of fresh blood in the morning  

15 hours ago, LSD-Rumi said:

That's way too low. Only 10-15 % of Iron in iron supplements gets absorbed. But she can normalize over a long period if her anemia is not that bad. But she also needs to fill her Iron stores after normalizing her blood Iron, so this may take a long time at this rate.

Mmm got to find a better liquid one that doesnt cause digestive pain. 

[ZenAlex]

What sort of iron rich foods does she consume?

[Mada_]

Yeah just supplement. Then when iron levels are normal she can just take a supplement less regularly.

vitamin c helps with absorption.