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So, it seems that my iron pills were making me sick

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/15/2015 3:20 PM (GMT 0)
I wanna share this in case someone else has the same issue...
I have been treating my uc with scd for two years and it has worked well and has allowed me to stop remicade, that was causing me alot if side effects. about a month ago I started to have symptoms again blody watery stools mucus, constipation... I went back on strict scd and stopped all my supplements. Things went back to normal within a few days... Then I resumed my iron pills and within a few days I had symptoms again. I stopped them for the second time and things went back to normal again...

I have always had an issue with low iron but now I'm thinking that iron pills are not the answer and I read that they encourage gut dysbiosis... I am waiting to get iron infusions now...
Posted 2/15/2015 3:29 PM (GMT 0)
Gosh that sucks! Yes iron supplements can be very irritating to the gut. It's a good thing you figured out what was causing the problem.
Posted 2/15/2015 5:35 PM (GMT 0)
same in my case, i can't even eat whey protein or other stuff which contains vitamins and iron because i'd have blood immediately
Posted 2/15/2015 6:40 PM (GMT 0)

boumboumbambino said...
I wanna share this in case someone else has the same issue...
I have been treating my uc with scd for two years and it has worked well and has allowed me to stop remicade, that was causing me alot if side effects. about a month ago I started to have symptoms again blody watery stools mucus, constipation... I went back on strict scd and stopped all my supplements. Things went back to normal within a few days... Then I resumed my iron pills and within a few days I had symptoms again. I stopped them for the second time and things went back to normal again...

I have always had an issue with low iron but now I'm thinking that iron pills are not the answer and I read that they encourage gut dysbiosis... I am waiting to get iron infusions now...

Hi, I had a very similar situation to you. Doctor said iron pills could cause constipation, but they were doing the opposite for me, they caused me to have diarrhea. On top of that, they didn't really help with me fatigue. I may try iron infusions next.
Posted 2/15/2015 6:51 PM (GMT 0)
I once had a consultant who wrote to my GP and told them not to keep trying to give me iron for my borderline anemia as it seems to worsen UC. Sadly far too few gastros seem to spread the word, some don't even seem to know themselves.

Glad you have been able to stop your flare.
Posted 2/15/2015 6:56 PM (GMT 0)
I think iron is problematic for a lot of folks. I had issues with it when I was flaring. I highly recommend supplementing with lactoferrin to those with iron deficiency. It helps the body absorb iron and gives less to the pathogenic bacteria. More here.
Posted 2/15/2015 8:21 PM (GMT 0)
I've taken iron pills with no problems at all. I had really low iron last year that made me exhausted all the time and actually made my hair fall out. I was pulling out chunks, had bald spots, and just lost a TON of hair. Once I started iron pills (one pill twice a day) my hair stopped falling out and it has since started to grow back. It's not to where it was yet (hair growth takes a long time) but it's definitely normal looking now.

Hope the iron infusions work better for you!
Posted 2/15/2015 8:27 PM (GMT 0)
i'm having the same problem. thought i was doing ok until i got bloodwork last week. i am critically low again so will be going for another round of 5 iron infusions. this will be my 20th one coming up. i am totally annoyed about the whole thing.

i stopped taking my iron pills over a year ago. my only side effect is black poop and a black tongue. some constipation, too, but i take magnesium for that.

i started my iron pills twice a day again but my doctor said my levels are too low to play around with this time and that i need the infusions or i'll end up needing blood transfusions again.
Posted 2/16/2015 9:52 AM (GMT 0)
Researcher posted here and told us not to take iron supplements because they encourage bloom of bad bacteria while discouraging the good.

I have one which neither plant nor animal, Blood Builder I think from destroyed bacterial cells. Seems fine.

Best to go low dose or eat meat etc.

Pitched 5 things to my GP who has me directing my own care.

4-meds ( approved, scripts written)
5-iron infusion ( he agreed that my iron reservers at 5=ferritin is too low despite RBC barely in range, so have appointment with cycling pulmonologist to see if he will do the infusion. I said 6 months of iron pills will be hard on my gut, lets just workaround and leap ahead of the problem. Worked for GP now need this guy to agree.
Posted 2/16/2015 11:29 AM (GMT 0)
Bambino: Just out of curiousity, were you taking iron pills before UC? If so, maybe you just needed to sop them and you don't really need the SCD at all.
Posted 2/16/2015 3:19 PM (GMT 0)

garylouisville said...
Bambino: Just out of curiousity, were you taking iron pills before UC? If so, maybe you just needed to sop them and you don't really need the SCD at all.

Haha, I wish! But no I've had UC for seven years and I started the iron pilla 2 years ago!
Posted 2/17/2015 4:40 PM (GMT 0)
I believe that iron supplementation can promote inflammation, which is of course the exact opposite of what you want when you are flaring.

But unfortunately a number of gastros see the anemia from UC related blood loss...and prescribe iron.

Perhaps low-dose iron would help (*not* delayed-release...I believe delayed-release meds can stress the liver) - but OTC iron supplements seem to come primarily in pretty high amounts (150% RDA, etc.).

Anybody have a link to low dose supplemental iron on the internet?
Posted 2/17/2015 4:42 PM (GMT 0)
Anyone heard of carbonyl iron?
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