Hi all , I am 6 months out , on Bariatric Pal Multivitamin One chewable plus 45mg iron tablet , but it's still not doing it .I only had the tests done yesterday and first thing today the doctor texted and said you are very low on iron .She told me to get in touch with my dietician for her to decide what's to be done , but I only have her e mail so don't know when she'll reply .

Has this happened to you ? what did you get told ? please don't suggest including more fruit and veg or red meat into my diet , as I am struggling with "ordinary" food going down as it is .

Many thanks for reading x

I have low(er) iron levels. When I did blood work at 6 months, the doctor told me to add an iron pill every other day, on top of the 45mg already in the Bariatric vitamins. I haven't done my next set of blood work yet, so I can't tell you how my numbers have changed.
Obviously you should listen to your nutritionist, but this is what happened to me.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using BariatricPal mobile app

Sounds like you are having absorption issues. { sorry cant remember how to spell that} There is a person on here who can tell you about that

What does your team say about you struggling to eat ?

Hi , thanks for the replies .They have tried me on iron pills but they don't work .I think Summerseeker may be right - I'm not absorbing them as I should be .I have got Spatone in (liquid Iron sachets ) I may take one of them a day until the dietician gets back to me .Do you know who this person is Summer ? thanks

Dont quote me. I think its @Arabesque

if adding more iron supplements doesn't work (and they don't for everyone), they may suggest an infusion. That'll do the trick if nothing else does.

Edited February 23, 20233 yr by catwoman7

Thank you both .The dietitian still hasn't got back to me neither has the nurse .

8 hours ago, fed-up said:

Hi all , I am 6 months out , on Bariatric Pal Multivitamin ONE chewable plus 45mg Iron tablet , but it's still not doing it .I only had the tests done yesterday and first thing today the doctor texted and said you are very low on iron .She told me to get in touch with my dietician for her to decide what's to be done , but I only have her e mail so don't know when she'll reply .

Has this happened to you ? what did you get told ? please don't suggest including more fruit and veg or red meat into my diet , as I am struggling with "ordinary" food going down as it is .

Many thanks for reading x

Just wondering how low your iron levels are? If you are anemic getting an iron infusion will help reset your levels.

Edited February 23, 20233 yr by Possum220

Hi Possum , I don't get the print out until next week , but I will post the results if anyone knows how to translate them .Thank you .

the value even more critical is ferritin. That's the amount of stored iron in your body. When that gets too low, they usually recommend an infusion.

I was low a few years ago after an internal bleed (not related to the WLS) but not down to infusion level, or particularly symptomatic of anemia, but I (under direction from PCP) doubled by iron supplement and that brought it up over a few months. I'm not a big fan of the iron used in most multivitamins as it is usually the cheaper and less well absorbed forms, but normally use a chelated iron bisglycinate sold by Solgar under the "gentle iron" branding. Even at a doubled dose it didn't yield any objectionable side effects for me (typically constipation, which we usually don't need more of post op!) These days, I don't use any iron supplement as everything is stable in that regard, but that is what I use when needed.

https://www.amazon.com/Solgar-Bisglycinate-Non-Constipating-Vegetable-Capsules/dp/B0001OP028/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1A814LJNJAFJ6&keywords=solgar+iron+gentle+25mg&qid=1677253207&sprefix=solgar+iron%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE3UDZOTjZONU9SS1gmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA4NzQ3MjIyTDhYRUpONUhKSElKJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MDg3NDUyVDE5SVVWM1JSTDJTJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Thanks all .I have got my serum ferritin level it says - Below Range -7ng/ml

Below low reference limit .

Does this mean anything to anyone ?

Thanks

Edited February 24, 20233 yr by fed-up

RickM ,I got the Solgar.

Very interesting subject! I was reading about iron just yesterday and one thing that stood out to me was that when you try to increase your iron levels by taking more of it, it takes several months for the results to show up in your blood tests. So keep that in mind. Don't expect instantaneous results.

On 2/24/2023 at 12:48 PM, fed-up said:

Thanks all .I have got my serum ferritin level it says - Below Range -7ng/ml

Below low reference limit .

Does this mean anything to anyone ?

Thanks

yes - ferritin is the amount of stored iron you have in your system. 7 is crazy low. You're probably in infusion territory, but I'm not a medical professional. Your doctor will know what to do...

6 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

yes - ferritin is the amount of stored Iron you have in your system. 7 is crazy low. You're probably in infusion territory, but I'm not a medical professional. Your doctor will know what to do...

I should add that there are different scales for measuring ferritin (and a lot of other blood values), so what's low on one scale might not necessarily be what's low on another. Your doctor will know if it's a problem and what to do about it. Mine was 168 on my last lab - although at one time it got down to around 30. I was able to bring it up with supplements - but some people malabsorb iron supplements and have to get infusions instead. But again, your doctor will know what to do.