Blood tranfusion 3 units...Vets???
Some people don't absorb iron very well at all, and need periodic infusions. If yours is that low, you likely need infusions also. Whole blood is nice, but it won't boost your iron for very long. If I was you, I would see a hematologist immediately. You should get ALL of your vitamins and minerals checked. That will take 14 or 15 vials of blood. If they take less, they aren't being thorough.
The rest of us absorb iron ok, of most varieties. The problem with any of the ferrous salts is, they will constipate you, and possibly give you bad stomach upset too.
I use the Sundown Perfect Iron, as do many others. It's carbonyl iron, is absorbed very well, and doesn't constipate. Most likely, you just weren't taking enough. I've known some who had to take 300 mg per day. That's 12 25mg tablets per day. But that 300 mg is all elemental iron. One tablet of ferrous sulfate is 325 mg, but only 65 mg of that is elemental iron. The rest of the pill is what constipates you. If you took 5 ferrous sulfate to get 300 mg of elemental iron, you would need dynamite to have a bowel movement.
Yes, taking vitamin C with iron helps absorption. Other things, such as calcium, zinc, magnesium, copper, coffee, tea, eggs, soy, fiber, grains, alcohol, etc, interfere with iron absorption. For that reason, most take iron separately, not in a multi, and take it right before bed, two hours apart from any other supplements, food, or drink.
Lastly, make sure they are checking not just hemoglobin, but ferritin. Hemoglobin measures the iron available in your blood, while ferritin measures how much iron you have stored for future use. The blood transfusion might have fixed your hemoglobin, but if your ferritin is low, you will still need an iron infusion.
6'3" tall, male.
Highest weight was 475. RNY on 08/21/12. Current weight: 198.
M1 -24; M2 -21; M3 -19; M4 -21; M5 -13; M6 -21; M7 -10; M8 -16; M9 -10; M10 -8; M11 -6; M12 -5.
