Anyone else dealing with being severly Anemic now?

Just got my blood work back.  I'm already taking chewable iron 3x daily (Celebrate brand). 

I guess this partly explains why I have been feeling so blah lately (even before my Mom died). 

What are they going to do?  How much more iron can a person take since it doesn't seem to be working? 

I'm taking 180mg/day now. I add an extra 60mg in for the first two days of TOM. Haven't been rechecked since I increased from 120mg to 180mg, but I've been feeling a lot better.

Jan

I had an hysterectomy at 8 months post op because of this. You can get iron infusions if it gets too low.  Keep an eye on it! 

I have also been taking the Celebrate brand and Got my labs back on Friday and my Iron is low. Surgeon said if it get 3 points lower then I will have to have infusions and added a different iron pill so Im really hopeing it works. I was always borderline before surgery.

I had an iron infusion. It really wasn't bad at all, just time consuming. I had to sit in a room in an infusion clinic for around 8 hours start to finish (I had a bit of a reaction that required IV benadryl a few times).

I napped, watched TV, read a book, etc.

I take both the chewable iron and some other iron my doc recommended. This seems to be working lately.

They may have to play around with the brand and dosage of iron you're on. Make sure you're taking it with Vit. C to maximize absorbtion. Also - no coffee (caffeine) near the iron dose - I was told 3 hours. I took Vitron C as it had the Vit C bound to it and it doesn't cause the constipation issues other irons do. There are a few kinds of iron you can try - one at a time to see if another works better for you. There are iron infusions they can do at the hospital - either one now to get your numbers up or some later on a regular schedule. Change your diet to include more iron rich foods and some say a cast iron cooking pan will up the iron also. check with your doc to see what he/she recommends.
Jen 9 + yrs post op.

Taking more supplements is literally a waste of time if you cannot absorb them.

Get thee to a hematologist, now. You need infusions or a transfusion.

Apparantly the new head of the ASMBS believes that the ONLY reason for nutritional deficiencies postop is due to non-compliance, it is NOT (according to her) due to malabsorption.

And that "malabsorption is not that big of a deal"

I'm pretty darn glad I didn't choose that particular surgeon for my WLS (she was on my short list)

And "a little anemic" is not the same as anemic, so no action taken until a person is chewing ice and looking at laundry detergent for a snack. Sigh

HIJACK.....

Hi Shari!  I posted a message the other day asking if anyone knew how you're doing.  How have you been?  Good to see you post.