low iron question

My doctor did some blood work last Thursday and I got the result today and my iron was 27 it says the normal range is between 29-163 so I went to family dollar and picked up some ferrous sulfate 325 mg I haven't talked to my doctor about the results yet my appointment isn't until the 30th. how often should I take it, Is it even the right kind, how long till I start to feel better. Is there a certain time I should take it. thanks for any help

That was your Ferritin number?

I personally don't like ferrous sulfate because it usually causes constipation.  And with your iron that low, I personally would want to take a big dose of iron.

I like carbonyl iron because it's all elemental iron and is absorbed well and doesn't cause constipation (at least not usually). 

To keep my iron level around 90, I have to take 300 mg of carbonyl iron a day.  Since ferrous sulfate is only 20% elemental iron, that would mean taking four or five of the ferrous sulfate you bought a day - but I would not ever take that much ferrous sulfate because I like to poop.

And I am not saying you need 300 mg elemental iron.  I'm just saying how much I need.

The ASMBS recommends 54 to 63 mg elemental iron for menstruating women, which would just be one of the ferrous sulfate you got.  But since your iron is low, I would personally choose to take more than that.

Have you not been taking any iron until now?

Make sure you take  your iron, whatever kind you choose, at least two hours away from calcium.  Calcium blocks the absorption of iron.

Kelly what brand of Iron do you take and where do you get it?  I live in Canada, close to the US border and cannot find carbonyl iron.

I use Sundown Perfect Iron.  I either buy it at Meijer or order from drugstore.com.

I had not been taking any iron except the 18 mg that is in my multi but there is calcium in my multi so maybe that blocked the iron? I am waiting for some money to come in but I thought until then I would just pick up some cheap iron from family dollar but I guess I got the wrong kind. I am going to have to take this until I can get the carbonyl iron however, I am already really constipated an I don't know what I am going to do, milk of mag stopped working so did magnesium citrate so I picked up some miralax I'm going to see If that helps because I really need to take the Iron. how much of the iron that I bought do you recommend I take a day to start to get my levels up?  

Were you taking two of those multis a day?  that would be 36 mg iron, which is what the ASMBS recommends for people that don't menstruate.

As far as the calcium in the multi blocking the iron, that depends on how much calcium is in there.  If it's about 300 mg or more, that will block the absorption of iron.  But many multis have less than that, which is OK.  As long as you don't take both your multis together.

Sundown Perfect Iron is pretty cheap.  Get some as soon as you can.

I'll tell you what I would do in your shoes, but please understand I can't really recommend or tell you what to do or how much to take.  If you want medical advice, you need to ask your doctor.

If I was stuck with ferrous sulfate for a short period of time, I would probably take two a day.  That's probably not really as much iron as I would need if my iron was as low as yours, but I'd be worried about never pooping again if I took more.  OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'd be worried I'd need to buy some enemas if I was going to take more and I'd really prefer to avoid that.

I currently take Miralax daily, but if I was going to take two ferrous sulfate tablets a day, I'd probably take the Miralax twice a day, too.

I'd also take my iron, whatever kind, with vitamin C, which aids absorption.  You need 200 mg C for every 30 mg elemental iron, so two of those ferrous sulfates is 130 mg elemental iron, so I'd take 800 mg vitamin C with it.

And I'd drink a LOT of water.

yes I take both my multi at the same time and there is 200 mg of calcium in each I take walmarts equivalent to centrum adults 50 and under. I guess I should take them separately? I will get some Sundown Perfect Iron as soon as I can. I am going to start the miralax and ferrous sulfate tomorrow and see how it goes or should I just stick to the iron in the multi and take them separately from each other? thank you for your help Kelly.

Well, if you take them together, you won't absorb the iron in them.  But even if you take them separately, you'll need more iron than that.  So I would still take the ferrous sulfate.

I am under the care of a hematologist and she has me taking 325 mg tablets of ferrous sulfate three times a day to try and get my Ferritin up. My ferritin was a 5 on a scale of 10 - 260something on my lab test. I am getting a blood draw on 9/2 to see how much it has helped.

I was taking 300 mg of carbonyl iron every day starting in January and from January to the end of July, my Ferritin was going down an average of a point a month.

It will be interesting to see what my number is in a couple of weeks.

Your Dr should help you with the dose.