Low Iron Levels

I took anti-nausea pills to tolerate the iron supplements, but it was still uncomfortable. Infusions only work about 2x better (measured at 35 days after) than oral iron supplements - but no GI side effects. They are expensive though.

Both infusions and pills will only have short term benefit if you have ongoing bleeding. I have had low to moderate, but more or less steady bleeding for a year, and after 12 infusions (6 rounds of Feraheme) about a month apart, I am still borderline anemic. If you are not bleeding, the benefit is much more dramatic.

I'm anemic as we speak. My bowels don't really bleed these days, but I have a feeling there's probably still occult blood in my stool. Not to mention I'm probably just deficient from being sick for so long.

Floradix is a great natural supplement for iron, but maybe prescription iron pills will work for you. For a lot of people they cause GI irritation and don't fully absorb. Whichever supplement you take, make sure you take it with food. I unfortunately can't take iron supplements of any kind, including floradix, because it irritates the hell out of my gut.

If tolerable, you can also just eat beet and spinach, or drink their fresh pressed juices. Beet has the perfect ratio of iron to vitamin C your body needs, and spinach is high in iron. Both are high oxalate foods though so if you have weak kidneys or are prone to kidney stones then go easy.

You can also try eating liver once a week, if it doesn't gross you out. I cook organic beef liver, and turn it into liver pate (a spreadable form of liver) by putting it in the blender with garlic, onion, spices, and olive oil. It keeps for about a week or two in the fridge. I eat a bit of the pate on crackers once every couple of days, seems to help. Liver pate is pretty tasty, and it reduces the gamey flavor. I wouldn't bother buying liver pate in stores, it is filled with so much chemical garbage, and they often use pork filler so there's barely an actual liver in it!

IMO food sources of iron are always better, though you're talking to someone who eats iron foods and is still anemic. Sigh.

try vitamin friends gummy bear iron
they are much easier to absorb and do not cause the abdominal pain that the pills have
make sure you get enough vitamin c with iron
also some people can only absorb heme or non heme iron
heme iron is from animal products and non heme is from non anaimal products so try to get both so that you are covered
it takes a while for you stores to get back up and for

If your hemoglobin is so low than you might need a transfusion
They supposedly help a lot fortunately I was able to avoid it by the skin of my teeth

325 mg of ferrous sulphate sounds like a lot but the amount of iron that's absorbed is way less.

I met with a hematologist and was advised to take ferrous sulphate every other day as there are very little benefits in taking it every day and it does reduce compliance because of discomfort.

I like slow fe because it's released slowly and causes less nausea and pain.
I have since stopped the vitamin friends as they did not make my iron levels go up even though tjey didn't bother my stomach.

If your iron levels don't go up within 2-4 months than it might be time for iron infusions.

How did it go? I have been battling low iron levels for many many years now. Here in Europe, iron infusions were a quite good way to go. Interestingly, venofer worked well for me, while ferlecit didn't raise the levels. Still do not know why. In the US, they didn't do the iron IVs, but instead gave me a blood transfusion - which was very surprising to me, as I thought the risk is much higher with those.

But I am still looking for some sustainable and easy way to keep my iron levels reasonably high. I am eating enough meat I think. Tried some oral supplements, but didn't respond to well to them. Solgar gentle iron were the best for me so far when it comes to tolerability, but I am not sure if it really helped a lot.

I avoid dairy, so it might be a bit lower than for avid milk-drinkers. Will it matter much?

Well calcium actually inhibits iron absorbtion. Lots of times kids who drink tons of milk are anemic.

I have heard about the iron skillets

Liver is full of iron if you want I'll give you a recipe