Slow release Iron supplements

I went to the pharmacy today to pick up some Iron supplement. The lady showed me all the stuff they had and one of the products was a gradual release type product. Is this better for wls patients or worse. Anybody know anything about this topic?

It may have to do with your specific type of surg...I don't know. What I do know is that for us RNYrs it's probably not a good idea. I know that my nurse told me not to use any slow-release pain medications, because by the time they've made it out of my gut, they're still releasing! She said fast-acting if anything other than normal stuff. Gotta get it all on the table so our gut can suck it up.

At least that's how I understand it.

These "gradual-release" forms of iron are designed to produce less constipation than ordinary ferrous salts, though I've never seen any studies that prove that this is the case.  However, in post-op RNYers, they have the same potential drawbacks as all timed-release meds; namely, that they might not release all their drug before the "tiny time pills" enter the large intestine (where they can't be absorbed.)  OTOH, they certainly will release a good deal of their iron; we just can't be sure of how much, so you could probably work around this by upping the dose.

Carbonyl iron (Feosol Caplets, not Feosol Tablets, is one brand name) isn't a ferrous salt; it's pure metallic iron in the form of a micronized powder.  This has been shown to cause less constipation than ferrous salts such as ferrous sulfate and ferrous fumarate.

/Steve

Damn Foobear! Having you on this board is like having your own private pharmacuetical consultant. Thanks for the info.