If I take 2 Centrum per day (36 mg Iron) Do I need to take any additional Iron

 If I take 2 Centrum per day (36 mg Iron) Do I need to take any additional Iron?

Is it a bad idea to take 2 per day?

You should take two a day.

The ASMBS says menstruating women should take an additional 18-27 mg iron.

In the end, though, you should go by your labs.  If your iron is low when you get labs done, take more.  If it's good, stay the same.

Kelly

Thanks for the quick response.  So as long as my labs are good (going in November) then the 2 Centrum per day is enough?

Good enough for iron.

You'll still need calcium citrate (1500-2000 mg per day) and B12.

Kelly

I disagree with Kelly, simply because I've been around longer and I know more vets.

You need to take iron along with the Centrum -- regardless of the iron in the Centrum.


Centrum will use a type of iron that you won't digest well anyway.  Go buy you a bottle of carbonyl and take a good dose of that to help protect yourself.  I really do suggest 45-50mg from the beginning.  Be sure to take it with vitamin C (200mgs C for every 30mg of elemental iron) and 2 hrs away from calcium.

This is from personal experience and from seeing many, many, many vets along the years.

Here's even a study that said that 60% study participants (see below) were taking iron at 2 years.  If I had to guess of the vets I know, I'd say close to 90% take it at 5.

The study I mentioned above?  Here's the entire information for you:

Nutritional deficiencies after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity often cannot be prevented by standard multivitamin supplementation, by Christoph Gasteyger, Michel Suter, Rolf C Gaillard, and Vittorio Giusti.  (Article can be read here.)

Before you ask, the numbers are based off of an unknown, regular multivitamin.  The studies are not based off of a bariatric multivitamin, or using ASMBS recommendations.  However, this just proves why we should heed those recommendations.  Lots of numbers ahead – scary numbers, actually.

The study, in the end, included 137 morbidly obese patients (110 women and 27 men) — these were the ones who maintained the lab requirements, the supplementation requirements, the doctor visits, etc.  Initially, there were 348 patients in the study, but only about 33% complied with the postoperative care requirements, which, in of itself, is a sobering statistic.

Lab testing was done at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postoperatively.

This, folks, is where it gets really scary.

• 3 months postop, 34% required at least one additional supplement to the multivite
• 6 months postop, 59% required at least one additional supplement
• 12 months postop, 86% required at least one additional supplement
• 18 months postop, 93% required at least one additional supplement
• 24 months postop, 98% required at least one additional supplement to the multivite

• After 2 years, 2.2% took 0 additional supplements
• 18.3% took 1 additional supplement
• 19.7% took 2 additional supplements
• 22.6% took 3 additional supplements
• 27.7% took 4 additional supplements to the multivite
• 6.6% took 5 additional supplements
• 2.9% took 6 additional supplements

• B12 was the most often supplemented — 10% were taking it at 3 months and 80% were taking it at 2 years
• Iron was next — 15% at 3 months, and 60% at 2 years
• Calcium +D — 17% at 3 months, 60% at 2 years
• Folic Acid — 7% at 3 months, 45% at 2 years
• B1 — 1% at 3 months, 4% at 2 years
• B6 — 1% at 3 months, 13% at 2 years
• Magnesium — 1% at 3 months, 13% at 2 years
• Zinc — 1% at 3 months, 12% at 2 years

So what does all of this tell us?  Quite a bit.  First off..  33% of the people included in this study were able to pop a single pill, keep up with doctor appointments, get blood draws, add supplements as needed?  Only 33% could comply for a measly two years?  They got their insides sliced and diced, knowing this was going to be for life, knowing they would need vitamins for life, and they couldn’t maintain a simple protocol for a measly two years?  This frightens the heck out of me more than the numbers above do.  I mean.. what happens at year three?  Or, if they are still kicking, year ten?

But while we’re looking at the numbers, and let’s keep in mind that these are only for two years — and let’s not think about those of us kicking around the five year mark — that 98% of those in the study were at least on one additional supplement to a multivite.  That tells us that we need much, much more than the average bear.  So maybe, perhaps, the ASMBS has it right with their recommendations for doubling the multivite, adding some calcium, some iron, some b12, etc.?  That Flintstones and Tums aren’t going to cut it for long.

I am no expert but from my understanding of multis the calcium in the centrum would cancel out the effect of the iron anyway.

Thats why we arent supposed to take calcium and iron together.

I take my iron batch first and then a couple of hours later I start with my first calcium batch and a multi with no iron etc. I wouldnt count any iron you get from a multi with calcium in it.

Check your labs.  I take 2 centrum a day and still have to take another 45mg pill twice a day... so 126mg total.

i adjust according to how my labs come back.  I was still low taking only one 45mg pill a day so I upped to two.  We'll see how that turns out.

I agree with Andrea.  The iron in the centrum is the wrong type of iron and we can't absorb it plus it is with taken with calcium which makes it useless anyway.  You are best off getting centrum silvers with no iron, and then get some carbonyl iron plus vitamin C and you will be golden.  You can either get Feosol iron - make sure the bottle says carbonyl iron - they are 45mg each.  For every 30mg of iron, you need 200mg of vitaminC.  The other option is to go to vitalady.com and get Tender irons - they are 60mg each and have the vitamin C already in them.  These are cheaper in the long run - very large bottle.

As far as the centrum go - you definitely need to take 2 per day