Iron ?

Last labs showed slightly low iron,  which came as NO surprise because I've been anemic since I was a child.  I would like to start taking iron and not sure what I should get. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Currently I take:

2 Centrum Silver chewables
Sublingual b12 2x week
Biotin 5,000mcg
Citracal calcium citrate +D petites (6) 
2 really gross tasting chewy bites (calcium citrate)

Carbonyl is the best choice for ionic iron.

Heme is the best overall.  Too bad there seems to be a severe.. lack of it.

Andrea?

My PCP recently prescribed 325 mg of Ferrous Sulfate twice daily.  My insurance wouldn't cover it since I could get it in an OTC.   Before I found the OTC, which only has 65 mg of iron in a 325 mg pill, I found this stuff:   Hema-Plex Tablets

Supplement Facts

Serving Size:  1 tablet Servings Per Container:  30   Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Vitamin C (Proprietary Esterified Complex - as ascorbyl palmitate, ascorbic acid, magnesium ascorbate, potassium ascorbate, zinc ascorbate) 300mg 500% Vitamin B-2 (as riboflavin) 25mg 1470% Pantothenic Acid (as calcium pantothenate) 25mg 250% Zinc (as monomethionine) 5mg 33% Manganese (as amino acid chelate/complex) 5mg 250% L-Cysteine (free form amino acid) 50mg ** Proanthoplex (Proprietary Proanthocyanidin/Bioflavonoid Complex: Bioflavonoids (from Citrus limon exocarp), Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus fruit), Blackberry (Rubus villosus fruit), Green Tea (Camellia sinensis leaf), Black & Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeaus fruit) 25mg ** Beet (Beta vulgaris) 15mg ** Bioperine (Piper nigrum fruit extract)(standardized 95% (2.37mg) 1-piperoylpiperidine) 2.5mg ** Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopheryl acetate) 30IU 100% Vitamin B-1 (as thiamine HCL) 25mg 1667% Niacin (as niacinamide) 50mg 250% Vitamin B-6 (as pyridoxine HCL) 25mg 1250% Calcium (as amino acid chelate/complex) 25mg 2.5% Iron (as amino acid chelate/complex) 85mg 472% Selenium (as amino acid complex) 10mcg 14% Copper (as amino acid chelate) 2mg 100% * Based on a 2,000 calorie diet ** Daily Values not established Other Ingredients: Di-calcium phosphate, spinach (Spinacia oleracea leaf), broccoli (Brassica oleracea floret), beet (Beta vulgaris leaf), spirulina, shattered cell wall chlorella, barley grass juice, microcrystalline cellulose, stearic acid, silica and pharmaceutical glaze. Free from sugar, salt, starch, artificial colors and preservatives. Free from the common allergens yeast, wheat, corn, soy, and milk. Recommended Use: As a dietary supplement, one tablet daily.

Which would you recommend I take?

Thanks!

Karen

Neither.

Your doc wrote for you an iron supplement that's decent for people who have acid in their gut.  For us?  Not so much.  And you're right -- 325mg of ferrous sulfate is equivalent to 65mg of elemental iron.  The rest of that stuff is the salt -- the "sulfate" portion of the name.  Smart of your insurance to kick it out because it's cheaper for you to buy it OTC (MUCH, MUCH cheaper).

With that said -- I HATE ferrous sulfate.  It constipates.  It hurts.  It binds.  It causes gas.  And it sucks all around.


But this "heme" iron that you found?  IS NOT heme.

Ionic iron comes from plants.  It comes from metal filings.  It comes from chemical processes.

Heme iron is from blood.


In fact?  REAL heme?  HATES vitamin C.  ABSOLUTELY HATES it.  You would never put vitamin C next to Proferrin or Bifera.  Cause vitamin C would eat it.

Go find you some nice carbonyl.  It will absorb, won't cause the crappy side effects that the ferrous sulfate will, will, you know, actually absorb like your doc thinks the ferrous sulfate will, and practices accurate labeling.

Or Bifera if you want real heme -- it's mixed with an ionic called polysaccharide.  Which is good as well.  Just remember not to take with vitamin C.

I guess that's why it's HEMA-PLEX instead of HEME-PLEX... trying to infere it's heme when it's really not... 

I'm taking the 325 mg of ferrous sulfate that I found with 1 chewable 1000 mg C... is that enough acid to help with the digestion?  I would really like to fini**** all rather than having yet another bottle of something or the other sitting on my dresser unused..... 

More than enough.  But why the 1 when he wanted you to take 2?

Sorry, I should have clarified... I'm taking 1 1000 mg Vit C with my 1 325 mg ferrous sulfate twice a day.....

You don't need to seperate the ferrous sulfate, and then you just need to take the single vitamin C (200mgs C for every 30mgs elemental iron, so you're golden).

Just trying to make your life easier...

I take the same twice a day trying to space them and remember to take them is an issue. So you can take both at one time??? I do have vitamin c believe they are 500 mg each. So I take one of each twice a day. But if there is an easier way.

What about bariatric advtanage they have the caboryl one in it how much would you have to take if you had the 29 mg chewables? If you are taking the ferrous sulfate one at 325 mg?? How do you figure the difference in mg to know how much you got to take? 

thanks,
Robin

325mg ferrous sulfate is equivalent to 65mg of elemental iron.

But if you're already doing pills, you COULD buy pill-form carbonyl.

Vitalady even sells one with the correct amount of vitamin C already in it.  It's 60mg of carbonyl, 400mg vitamin C, all in one capsule.