Calling Iron Guru's

I have a bit of an iron issue that isn't making sense to me. I have been battling anemia, right now I am taking 3 proferrin forte per day. That brought my ferritin up from 6 12/30/10 to 17 3/30/11, hopefully this will continue to rise. My issue is my actual iron. In December it was 51 (range of 50-170) now it is 36! The only reasoning I can find for this is chronic illness but I'm not sick and haven't been sick more than a couple of times in the last 6 months. My PCP is not very concerned. I feel pretty good generally. I am thinking about going to see a hematologist. Any opinions on what could be going on with me?

You've almost tripled your ferritin in a 3 month period.  That's great!  Are you breaking your proferrin into pieces before swallowing it?  If you can, chew it up.  Take C with it for better absorption, and away from calcium, just for good measure (even though you don't have to).  Google "iron absorption tricks" and read what pops up. 

Do you still have periods?  Bleeding excessively?  Low-dose Ibuprofen cuts menstrual bleeding in half, but be careful about burning your sleeve.  Only take Ibuprofen with food, yada, yada.

And while you're doctoring for this issue, continue to get frequent labs.  Number one, proferrin is expensive.  Number two, you don't want to over-shoot your target unintentionally. 

Finally, go by how you feel.  If you feel good, maybe jus****ch your trend over time.  I do know that raising your ferritin is a long-term project.  It doesn't go up fast.  And yours seems to be responding very well.  Just read up on the different readings and what they actually mean.

This is just another one of those things that we DSers have to educate ourselves on and keep track of ourselves.  Are you charting your labs?  I hope so.

Sheanie, don't tell her to take C with proferrin because that is one iron that does not like C. For her. And yes the proferrin should be broken in half so it gets absorbed better. But for your Iron to go up more you may want to try the tender iron from vitalady. and add it to your vitamin regime. 

Inge, I just spent some time searching for any contra-indications for taking C with Proferrin Forte and couldn't find any reputable sources for this data.  Maybe VitaLady will chime in here.  Do you have any links to your source for this information?

I do break my Proferrin in half. As far as vitamin C, I haven't found anything saying that heme iron can't be absorbed with vit C but lots of info saying that it doesn't aid in it's absorption. Vitamin C only helps non heme iron absorption.

From what I understand, heme iron is so much better absorbed by the body, I don't see what the benefit of me taking a non heme iron would be. Am I missing something? My insurance covers the Proferrin Forte and it is $75 for 3 months whether I take 3 a day or 6 a day so I can up it if necessary.

I had plastic surgery 5 weeks ago, could that have anything to do with my low iron levels? I just want to make sense of this!

Thank you!!!

I'm not an iron guru but I think you might be onto something about the recent PS affecting your iron numbers.  I hope Vitalady will chime in and help you with some suggestions.

What has worked for me is a combo of Proferrin and VL's Tender iron +C capsules. I take 300mg of the Tender in the afternoon and 1 Proferrin at bedtime. The combo has brought all my iron markers up but it took about a year to do it. Seems like the Proferrin is working for you you might just need to give it more time to work, especially since you had recent plastics. Good luck!

--gina

From what I have read, heme iron is better absorbed in an alkaline environment, which milk provides. Uptake is significantly decreased in a acidic environment, such as with Vit C --- just the opposite of non-heme iron.
I'd be concerned about chewing any iron, won't that cause iron stains on teeth?

One of Vita Lady's Tender Iron formulations is a chewable tab.  I've been chewing those for 18 months with no staining of teeth.

~Becky~