Iron ?

Hi,

I haven't posted in a while.  I was posting about my son (Steven age 13) and his fistula last year, now I have a concern about my daughter Jenny. She is now 18 and was diagnosed with Crohn's in October.  She has been having trouble with anemia.  Each time we try to introduce iron her symptoms increase and she gets violent diarhea.   Her G.I. is not even sure what to do, and the hematologist isn't ready to do an I.V iron infusion.  Does anyone else have this problem (since it should cause constipation) and has anything worked to make it better?

Thanks,

Laura G.  / Steven & Jenny, both CD

My doctor told me to take iron tablets, but last time I took one I got terrible stomach pains and thought it was the beginning of a flare-up but luckily it passed by the end of the day. Does anyone else get pains from taking iron? I haven't taken any since because I'm worried the pain will come back and I don't want to risk it as I can't afford to take time off work.

I can't take Iron either, its just too hard on my stomach. I am iron deficient and guess I am gonna stay that way, cuz I am not taking the oral Iron, it kills my guts.

I was put on iron tablets(ferrous sulphate). This was in the middle of a flare up which has now passed.They gave me extreme pain and i had a blockage already, so they made me even more constipated.

my doctor has just put me on fersamel syrup, which is supposed to release the iron slowly and the side effects are less extreme.

i am very surprised to hear of people getting D from iron supplements. from every one i've talked to, medical doctors (inc hemotalogist) to naturopaths, and from my own experience, iron constipates you. oh well, we are all different.

you can try floradix, it is a plant based iron supplement. i've only seen it in health food stores.

carlson labs (google them) sells organic dessicated buffalo liver. another natural good source of iron. this is potentially better than floradix cos it is animal based.

you can also try eating more red meat (cooked medium rare at most), liver, and dark green leafy vegetables.

if you are anemic, chances are your b-12 levels are in the tank as well. get those tested.

unfortunately i had to go the iron pill route to get over my anemia. the otc bottles say take 1 pill per day but my hematologist had me taking upwards of 6 pills per day cos my stores were ridiculously low. they told me that you know your body is absorbing the iron when on supplements when your stool turns a super dark color. dont ask my exactly why this happens.

there are many kinds of otc iron pills. which is better? i dont know. i was always told to get it chelated. i would assume liquid form is best since your body doesnt have to break down any coating or binder agents to get to it. but double check on this and dont take this at face value cos some things are better absorbed at different places (ie stomach, small intestine, colon).

last step is iron infusions. i heard they are painful but they arent as bad as they used to be. supposedly it can be done at any doctors office and the infusion takes about an hour.

May I ask why the doc doesn't want her to have an iron infusion?

We played around with my iron for years and couldn't get it up. Iron pills made me violently ill. Adding iron to my diet didn't do any significant good. So, GI sent me to the hemotologist who set me up for an infusion the next week.

I can't believe the difference in how I feel to be at a normal iron level. AND not eating ice all day long!