Pre Op and battling anemia

[CanadaLoser 80]

Hello (so many questions from me! *blush*)

I have been anemic for years. B12 deficient too. My Drs feel it's pernicious anemia.

Was anyone else this way before a bypass surgery?

I know Iron can be an issue after so that worries me.

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

Get Floradix Iron with herbs from the health store.I suffered with this until a friend from Canada turned me on to this.It is a liquid.All natural.

Amazon also has it.

[James Marusek 5,244]

I had RNY surgery 32 months ago. After surgery, I periodically have blood work as part of the program. They analyze my blood under a fine microscope. [The number of blood tests is very, very extensive.] The surgical team then identifies deficiencies and modify my Vitamin requirements.

As a result, my body is in much better shape now than before surgery.

[CanadaLoser 80]

Sorry, I should have provided more information to clarify.

I have seen numerous specialists over the last few years, none of which can provide answers regarding why I have anemia and low B12 despite the fact I have been supplementing both for years.

My question is if anyone else already had these issues prior to surgery and how they were handled.

Thanks!

[Miss Mac 6,261]

I used to be anemic. Here is a comment that was within my response on a previous thread:

"When I was younger, I had anemia and anorexia. The doctor gave me a B12 shot once a month and insisted that I eat liver twice a week. The only way my mother knew how to cook it was to fry it in a pan with onions. I felt like I was eating my shoe.

A Mexican neighbor came to the rescue and would mince the liver and put it in her taco meat and other highly spiced dishes. I could not taste the liver and did not care that it was there. This was all a matter of how the same food was fixed differently by two different cooks."

Organ meats are a good source of Iron. So are beef and poultry. I also add fresh spinach in the blender wit my smoothies. The taste of fresh spinach is fairly neutral. I put it in omelets, salads, casseroles, Soups.......a lot of stuff. If I ate sandwiches, I would put it on them, too.

I keep hummus on hand as a dip for veggies, because chickpeas are high in Iron. I throw those in Soups and salads, too. Lentils are another good source. I put those in soups.

Other foods are: kidney Beans, black Beans, broccoli.....many others.

You will find countless lists online, but I trust this one from the Red Cross, because their business is healthy blood:

http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/health-and-wellness/iron-rich-foods/

[Sajijoma 1,324]

I have had anemia all my life. Although I am in the low end of acceptable range currently, I can only get there by cooking all my meals in black non enameled cast Iron pans. If I eat a few meals completely not cooked in the black non enameled cast iron pans, my iron levels dip down in the unacceptable range again. I don't know if you've tried the pans, but it does help. Post op I was severely anemic due to surgery and the fact that I was on liquids and then puréed foods and didn't cook those meals in cast iron. After I made it to soft and started cooking in them again, it went back up to a low normal.

[CanadaLoser 80]

@@Sajijoma and @@Miss Mac - great info, thank you!

I eat spinach like crazy and take 3-4x the regular dose of an Iron supplement as well as 2000mgs a day of B12. Both are still very low but slowly inching up.