Ferritin and Iron Supplementing?

October 7, 2003

Hi,

I need opinions about taking an iron supplement. The nurse at my

surgeon's office is new and said that since the surgeon didn't note

that I should take extra iron, then I shouldn't. My 1 year labs in

September came back that my ferritin was 17. A friend of mine who is

over 2 years out uses the same surgeon/office. Her ferritin was 27

and he put her on extra iron. I currently take 1 Flintstones

chewable with iron and 3 Caltrate chewables a day. My feelings are

that I'm not real comfortable with this office's postop aftercare

especially after a year or more out. My surgeon went nuts over my

PTH/calcium levels and had me run out and do a dexascan which came

back normal. My PTH and calcium numbers weren't out of the normal

scale but were on the low end. But he didn't really seem to pay any

attention to the other bloodwork numbers. The nurse said they were

going to repeat the bloodwork in 6 months. Do I wait for the next

bloodwork to worry? Or do I start supplementing with extra Iron now?

I'm having some fatigue. Maybe I should go and see my primary care

doctor? I just don't know what to do.

October 7, 2003

>>> I need opinions about taking an iron supplement. The nurse at my

surgeon's office is new and said that since the surgeon didn't note

that I should take extra iron, then I shouldn't. My 1 year labs in

September came back that my ferritin was 17. <<<

Certainly I am not a doctor, but I do have an opinion on this. If it

were me, I would start taking an iron suppllement right away. Once

you ferritin level - which shows you 'warehouse' of iron in th body -

drops down low, it can be a bear to get back up. I know from

experience. I am now having to get weekly iron injections trying to

get mine up from a low of 9. After 16 weeks, I my ferritin has come

back up to 48. Not glowing, but much better! And I have been taking

both carbonyl and polysaccharide iron every day since my surgery. (Of

course, I am very distal - 16 months out.)

If you have a proximal surgery, you might want to add 2 carbonyl

irons and 2 vitamin C's a day (each pair at a different time a day

and apart from other vitamins/minerals and dairy products. I would

also ask for the iron to be checked again in a couple of months to

make sure it is headed in the right direction.

Sheri

In Sunny Florida

October 8, 2003

Sometimes we FEEL sick before the numbers on paper match. The norms are

just that. What is good for me is too low for you, but too high for someone

else.

Remember, normal people can eat carbs without losing their minds, too. But

that would not apply to us. LOL!

B12 needs to mate with intrinsic factor, which is living in the lower

stomach. They are forever separated. They reunite eventually in the common

channel, but their ardor has cooled, so it doesn't seem to do much good.

Some do very well on sublinguals, the rest of us just do shots. I think in

some cases, that might be the lazy ones (here I am). I do weekly. Some

random thoughts on it helping Raynaud's & such. Levels are good this way.

Why mess with it?

Thanks,