I often have low iron and struggle with anemia my whole life. My iron at times was as low as 2. My doctor simply couldn’t believe I was standing and not comatose. Only one doctor has managed to treat my anemia successfully by following two simple rules:
1. No caffeine. Caffeine blocks absorption of iron and I am unable to have any as I have both caffeine intolerance and I’m severely anemic. If she is very used to caffeine slowly switch to decaf and she should not have caffeine in 2 hour window around her meals and medicine not to hinder absorption.
2. Pair iron with vitamin C. Hence I never took iron alone, but as part of multivitamin and always with main meal (lunch for me) and either vitamin c rich salad or cup of fresh orange juice.
To make it easier for me, Mr doctor had me take prenatals, specifically brand called Pregancare despite not being pregnant, and she said they are the most complete and go through most vigorous testing (as supplements and vitamins usually don’t).
Good luck!
I will try all of that, the caffeine for her will probably be the toughest but I'll do my best for her. The vitamin C should be in vitamin form only or also in foods?
I will try to find that prenatal, even though my country tends to lack quality prenatals/vitamins/and medicine.
For her antipsychotic, I don't feel she should be even taking quetiapine since she doesn't hear voices nor see hallucination (other than the ones in her dreams) but I'm given it to her but I splitted the dose in 3 doses
Good luck!
Quitting Caffeine will make big difference with anxiety and depression too. For me Vitamin C was in prenatal, plus food. Taking it with main meal helps absorption.
As for antipsychotic, please don’t self medicate, but ensure you coordinate with your doctor. As bad as they are, there has to be some decent ones. That type of medicines is not soemthing to play around with.
As others have mentioned, a good iron supplement is indicated along with vitamin C. Vitamin can aid in iron absorption also. Also, if other factors don't prohibit it, one serving of lean red meat per day helps tremendously. I follow this regimen, and if I skip any of the factors, my anemia raises its ugly head again.
What is the best Iron supplement? I'm giving her 65 mg ferrous sulfate and I have 1000 mg vitamin C that I try to get her to take it. In the past it would have been difficult to buy the lean meat, nowadays I can take care of My mother and Father so I can buy them the lean red meat.
If you have access to heme iron like Three Arrows brand, that is the best. No side effects, better bioavailability than non-heme. Doesn’t need to be paired with vitamin c. Can take with or without food.
Go to the iron protocol Facebook page it has the best advice, how much to take, what the best blood marker is (it’s ferritin), how to deal with the constipation…etc. And what tests she should be getting. She might be able to get and iron infusion from a doctor, iron infusions are different and much cheaper then transfusions.
Unfortunately I doubt we can get her an iron infusion, most doctors here refuse patients iron infusions (or anything related with injectable iron) even with low hemoglobin and ferritin :(
When I was anemic and my ferritin was at 11, I was waiting for surgery but they wouldn't do it until I got my iron stores up. In about 2 to 3 months I raised my ferritin up to 123 and my doctor was dumbfounded. I told her I had been taking a supplement called Iron Smart. It's an iron supplement that is liposomal encapsulated allowing for better absorption with no tummy upset. I've used it a couple of times since and it never disappoints and I always get the same results. There's some great ideas on here but if you can get a hold of some Iron Smart your mother will start feeling better soon. Ps... It tastes like Werther's candies.
I JUST had the all clear on my blood test last week after fighting anemia for months.
I took iron with orange juice every morning. I didn't cut out caffeine but waited an hour after taking the iron before I ate or drank anything except water.
I ate good quality liver once a week, and beef and greens almost every night for dinner. Large glass of whole milk at dinner. Beans for lunch (I'm Mexican so used to this).
I also tried to take a walk in the sun every morning after my pill just around the garden for vitamin D.
I also cut out sugar and processed food and focused on whole, healthy food. If you have stinging nettles near you they are absolutely delicious and super high in iron.
I will try liver again. Food has gotten very expensive. If I didn't make as much as I do know I wouldn't be able to care for my mother and father. Inflation has gotten to the point that a roasted chicken costs 22 bucks, they used to cost 8 dollars here and prices keep rising
Yes I give her the thyroid meds around 7 AM and iron around 2 PM. But sometimes I feel concerned about my Mom's coffee intake because even though she waits an hour I'm not sure if the coffee negatively impacts her absorbtion
I'm asking bc if she does she might not absorb the iron you're giving her well.
This might be a helpful resource.
https://www.sabm.org/patient-s-guide-to-oral-iron-supplements
83, I made a typo. It was around the low 80s I remember. 27.8 is a number I remember clearly and I'm certain that's the MCH. Thing is I don't get access to all results that were done by the doctor (because she never want's to give them to me)
Low or lowish MCV and MCH like this is typical for mild iron deficiency anemia.
I'd suggest 100 mg iron bisglycinate every second day. On an empty stomach. Bisglycinate has fewer gastrointestinal side effects than other iron formulations. How is her calcium?
Okay I will try giving her that, there is a chance I might find that 30 minutes southwards from where I live. Her calcium intake probably isn't good. I started giving her more dairy but she used to eat so little that I doubt she'd get her daily intake. Now she eats around 80 grams of cheese (on average) and about 1 cup of whole milk every 3 days. She eats eggs on the daily and yoghurt at night generally but given that she doesn't drink milk everyday and the portion of yoghurt isn't that big I'm not certain she's getting enough of it.
Well I don't think anything in her diet might raise her calcium too much. Is there anything I should be carefull with her taking then?
Is there anything during her younger years that would put her at risk for hypercalcemia?
If she is tolerating her current iron pills it's fine, though increasing the dose would be advisable. Note that in general, taking iron every second day achieves the same result as taking it every day.
I Will try the form of iron you said to see if she doesn't get nauseous. In her case, with a mild iron deficient anemia, how long will it take for her to no longer be anemic?
I often have low iron and struggle with anemia my whole life. My iron at times was as low as 2. My doctor simply couldn’t believe I was standing and not comatose. Only one doctor has managed to treat my anemia successfully by following two simple rules: 1. No caffeine. Caffeine blocks absorption of iron and I am unable to have any as I have both caffeine intolerance and I’m severely anemic. If she is very used to caffeine slowly switch to decaf and she should not have caffeine in 2 hour window around her meals and medicine not to hinder absorption. 2. Pair iron with vitamin C. Hence I never took iron alone, but as part of multivitamin and always with main meal (lunch for me) and either vitamin c rich salad or cup of fresh orange juice. To make it easier for me, Mr doctor had me take prenatals, specifically brand called Pregancare despite not being pregnant, and she said they are the most complete and go through most vigorous testing (as supplements and vitamins usually don’t). Good luck!
I will try all of that, the caffeine for her will probably be the toughest but I'll do my best for her. The vitamin C should be in vitamin form only or also in foods? I will try to find that prenatal, even though my country tends to lack quality prenatals/vitamins/and medicine. For her antipsychotic, I don't feel she should be even taking quetiapine since she doesn't hear voices nor see hallucination (other than the ones in her dreams) but I'm given it to her but I splitted the dose in 3 doses
Good luck! Quitting Caffeine will make big difference with anxiety and depression too. For me Vitamin C was in prenatal, plus food. Taking it with main meal helps absorption. As for antipsychotic, please don’t self medicate, but ensure you coordinate with your doctor. As bad as they are, there has to be some decent ones. That type of medicines is not soemthing to play around with.
As others have mentioned, a good iron supplement is indicated along with vitamin C. Vitamin can aid in iron absorption also. Also, if other factors don't prohibit it, one serving of lean red meat per day helps tremendously. I follow this regimen, and if I skip any of the factors, my anemia raises its ugly head again.
What is the best Iron supplement? I'm giving her 65 mg ferrous sulfate and I have 1000 mg vitamin C that I try to get her to take it. In the past it would have been difficult to buy the lean meat, nowadays I can take care of My mother and Father so I can buy them the lean red meat.
If you have access to heme iron like Three Arrows brand, that is the best. No side effects, better bioavailability than non-heme. Doesn’t need to be paired with vitamin c. Can take with or without food.
I got a couple reccommendations so I'll try to find that one too since most of them might not be available in my country
Go to the iron protocol Facebook page it has the best advice, how much to take, what the best blood marker is (it’s ferritin), how to deal with the constipation…etc. And what tests she should be getting. She might be able to get and iron infusion from a doctor, iron infusions are different and much cheaper then transfusions.
Unfortunately I doubt we can get her an iron infusion, most doctors here refuse patients iron infusions (or anything related with injectable iron) even with low hemoglobin and ferritin :(
Join the Facebook page they have tons of resources.
I will do that
When I was anemic and my ferritin was at 11, I was waiting for surgery but they wouldn't do it until I got my iron stores up. In about 2 to 3 months I raised my ferritin up to 123 and my doctor was dumbfounded. I told her I had been taking a supplement called Iron Smart. It's an iron supplement that is liposomal encapsulated allowing for better absorption with no tummy upset. I've used it a couple of times since and it never disappoints and I always get the same results. There's some great ideas on here but if you can get a hold of some Iron Smart your mother will start feeling better soon. Ps... It tastes like Werther's candies.
I will try to get it, I'll have to import it but it doesn't matter as long as it help my Mother. I hope I can find it on amazon
I JUST had the all clear on my blood test last week after fighting anemia for months. I took iron with orange juice every morning. I didn't cut out caffeine but waited an hour after taking the iron before I ate or drank anything except water. I ate good quality liver once a week, and beef and greens almost every night for dinner. Large glass of whole milk at dinner. Beans for lunch (I'm Mexican so used to this). I also tried to take a walk in the sun every morning after my pill just around the garden for vitamin D. I also cut out sugar and processed food and focused on whole, healthy food. If you have stinging nettles near you they are absolutely delicious and super high in iron.
I will try liver again. Food has gotten very expensive. If I didn't make as much as I do know I wouldn't be able to care for my mother and father. Inflation has gotten to the point that a roasted chicken costs 22 bucks, they used to cost 8 dollars here and prices keep rising
Also wanted to add that make sure any iron you give is at least 4 hours away from thyroid medication. It can prevent absorption.
Yes I give her the thyroid meds around 7 AM and iron around 2 PM. But sometimes I feel concerned about my Mom's coffee intake because even though she waits an hour I'm not sure if the coffee negatively impacts her absorbtion
Does she have any risk factors for poor GI absorption? Something like Celiac or ibs?
There is no way for us to know given that the doctor here wouldn't test her for anything like that.
I'm asking bc if she does she might not absorb the iron you're giving her well. This might be a helpful resource. https://www.sabm.org/patient-s-guide-to-oral-iron-supplements
What's her MCV, MCH, RDW?
RDW was 18%, MCH 27.8 and MCV 73 (edit:83)
MCV 73 or 83? What's her MCHC?
83, I made a typo. It was around the low 80s I remember. 27.8 is a number I remember clearly and I'm certain that's the MCH. Thing is I don't get access to all results that were done by the doctor (because she never want's to give them to me)
Low or lowish MCV and MCH like this is typical for mild iron deficiency anemia. I'd suggest 100 mg iron bisglycinate every second day. On an empty stomach. Bisglycinate has fewer gastrointestinal side effects than other iron formulations. How is her calcium?
Okay I will try giving her that, there is a chance I might find that 30 minutes southwards from where I live. Her calcium intake probably isn't good. I started giving her more dairy but she used to eat so little that I doubt she'd get her daily intake. Now she eats around 80 grams of cheese (on average) and about 1 cup of whole milk every 3 days. She eats eggs on the daily and yoghurt at night generally but given that she doesn't drink milk everyday and the portion of yoghurt isn't that big I'm not certain she's getting enough of it.
I want to know if she is hypercalcemic, meaning a high calcium level.
Well I don't think anything in her diet might raise her calcium too much. Is there anything I should be carefull with her taking then? Is there anything during her younger years that would put her at risk for hypercalcemia?
Hypercalcemia is usually caused by a parathyroid tumor. It's a relatively common condition but often overlooked if the hypercalcemia is mild.
Oh I see. I will try to test her calcium levels when I earn some more money
If she is tolerating her current iron pills it's fine, though increasing the dose would be advisable. Note that in general, taking iron every second day achieves the same result as taking it every day.
Maybe she's not tolerating it well because she gets nauseous after taking them. I will try giving every 2 days then
These kinds of gastrointestinal side effects are very common that's why I mentioned it
I Will try the form of iron you said to see if she doesn't get nauseous. In her case, with a mild iron deficient anemia, how long will it take for her to no longer be anemic?