I am 9 months out and I'm very tired, my hemoglobin has dropped from 13.8 to 11.2

My Iron is at 40.

I am on bariatric advantage vitamins with iron. Been thinking about taking Geritol liquid as well. Any thoughts?

Exhaustion is my middle name. No Vitamin deficiencies but nut was my b levels higher. So at 1 yr started shots once a week. Trying for one month to see if it makes a diff

I take Centrum complete and a centrum for women every day.

Have you had your ferritin levels checked? It may be a more accurate measure of low iron/anaemia. I have also been exhausted and my Iron levels came back normal but ferritin levels were very low.

I was recently reading that up to 40% of sleeve patients have iron deficiency one to two years out (especially women).

Edited July 19, 201511 yr by Camella

I am curious if I am becoming anemic or just tired from a lack of sleep. I've been anemic before surgery despite taking my Iron pills. I'm trying to increase my intalke of iron rich foods. I don't mind eating green leafy vegetables, but I'm not a fan of eating four legged animals. Is it really vital for me to eat red meat in order to increase my iron levels? I was going to try and eat Angus beef yesterday until I flipped the box around and read the nutrition label. One patty has 13 grams of saturated fat and 2 grams of trans fat. Yikes!

What foods do you eat in order to increase your iron levels?

If you are taking a Multivitamin that has Iron in it, it is likely your body is not absorbing it. My Vitamins are recommended by my dr are a multi, Calcium and iron. I have to take them separately on a schedule for best absorption.

I take the multi as soon as I wake up, 2-3 hours later I take the calcium, then another 2-3 hours I take the other does of calcium, then I make my other does of multi at dinner and I take my iron before bed time.

I was told you can't take calcium and iron together because calcium blocks the absorption of iron. The dosages are broken over the day because you body can only absorb 500mg of calcium at once.

Janice1968-We had surgery around the same time and we are about the same size and age I take a multivitamin in the morning, and then B12 under the tongue, and then Vitamin D. I was deficient on Vitamin D go figure I live in Seattle. I also take Biotin as I lost some hair but it finally coming back in now. A few hours later I take by calcium chew and if I can remember another calcium chew later in the day.

Good luck-

LA

I'm sure that the nutritionist would have better advice, however as someone who also struggles with anemia, I use the Celebrate chewable with Iron and then boost that with a Bariatric Advantage iron chew (the chocolate raspberry chew) and it got me up to normal before the surgery. She also says to make sure that I do not take any of the iron containing supplements along with calcium as calcium blocks the iron absorption. So does coffee and Fiber fyi. Taking it shortly before a meat based Protein meal is probably to your best advantage.

I have been very fatigued since the surgery but I'm still only a month out and my nut says that's because I am having issues getting enough calories in. We'll be checking the iron again in a month and a half though and hopefully it will still be normal then.

I am 9 months out and I'm very tired, my hemoglobin has dropped from 13.8 to 11.2

My Iron is at 40.

I am on bariatric advantage vitamins with iron. Been thinking about taking Geritol liquid as well. Any thoughts?

Talk to your doctor and see what he recommends. I vaguely remember seeing something negative about geritol which is why it's so difficult to find in store now. You may need to supplement your iron, but Geritol may not be the answer. Perhaps your doctor could give you a prescription for iron. Just make sure to drink extra water with it.

I was wondering if maybe I'm not absorbing all my Iron either. I take the calcium and iron at least two hours apart but I still could be having absorption issues. I've done a bit of research and apparently taking Vitamin C with the iron may help with absorption. I started that a few days ago, so we'll see how it goes.