Hi,

I just was told I have low iron and B12 (ferritin is at 5), no wonder I've felt like garbage for 8 months. I still have a bunch of follow ups to try to figure out why, although the doc drew blood to test for various things (celiac, lactose, some other things Im not sure of--). I was a vegetarian for 14 years then went into heavy endurance training and started eating meat (really only chicken) in 2010. So Im hoping thats it as supposed to say, cancer. Did they discover why you are so deficient?

If you have a blender or magic bullet, this is something Im going to try:

http://easynaturalfood.com/.../raw-liver-smoothie/

Cut into 2 oz chunks, freeze for at least 14 days and supposedly you can't taste it.

Good luck!

Jen

Liver is very high in iron. I guess it can be considered a form of meat but not red meat.

Cooking in a cast iron skillet.

I have also seen 'liver tablets' that can be taken.

Overall, though, it just takes time for the iron to be built back up in your system. Took me about 6 weeks before I felt better.

Just went through a year of this with my daughter. Turns out she has Celiac disease. That is something that you need to be tested for. If you are taking in enough iron then you have to figure out why it's not getting absorbed. DD always ate a very good diet, so I couldn't understand how she could have such low iron. I insisted on her getting tested for Celiac and finally got the diagnosis after about 6 months.

One problem that many people run into is that the iron supplements that doctors prescribe aren't easily absorbed by your body. My daughter now uses Proferrin and it's made a huge difference. It's made from heme iron, so it is absorbed through your entire small intestine. Even before she started eating gluten-free her iron levels started increasing with this supplement. Biggest issue with it is that it's expensive, but worth it when you have tried everything else.

www.proferrin.ca

Good luck with it. I know how difficult it can be to have to deal with low iron.

I've used proferrin and right now in the US it's out of stock until possibly mid-July. :(
https://www.proferrin.com/proferrin-es.php

Floradix. One word, one bottle, one very quick fix.

I used both Floradix (liquid, must put in fridge) and Proferrin (pills). Now that I'm more in 'maintenance mode' I would prefer not to have to keep my iron in the fridge and use it within 30 days... since I'm not taking it every day - the small bottle of Floradix still has 25 doses.

But that said, Floradix is awesome if you are anemic!

Dried fruits like apricots, spinach salads, almonds....

Thanks for all the tips - I'll try most of them (except chicken liver. That one kind of makes me want to cry).

Dark leafy greens such as kale and chard. Put them in smoothies. Lots of iron that your body can assimilate.

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leslie myers
http://www.foodsensenow.com

I was diagnosed with low iron stores and anemia a few months ago. I have been able to increase my ferritin level by about 10-15 units each 6 weeks or so through supplements and diet; however, it is important to take your supplements with vitamin C (either from a food source or vitamin) in order to help your body absorb it. Also, when you are eating foods in an effort to obtain adequate iron, vitamin C helps with absorption - this is especially crucial when eating non-meat sources of iron. In general, your body absorbs iron from meat more easily than it does from plant based sources.

On another note, I am surprised you are not anemic with such low iron stores. I would guess that even if your Hemoglobin and Hematocrit are within normal ranges, they are not as high as they should be. If you get your iron stores up, you will feel a lot better.

Good your daughter was diagnosed relatively quickly-many people go years with symptoms treated and not the underlying cause-also have celiac, had low iron and very low vitamin D, and B levels so low it was causing neurological problems.
Have you been tested for other deficiencies besides iron?
But to answer your question, my dr recommended dried apricots, even just a couple each day, and black beans

I was diagnosed with low iron about a year ago.. at that time my feritin level was a 13! My symptoms were breathlessness, rapid heart rate, heart palpatations, dry skin, extreme fatigue and unable to reduce time when I run a mile. The dr put me on iron, 7 weeks later they said your levels are acceptable, stop the iron. So I blindly did this... a few months later I start to feel breathless on my runs again! I go back to the dr and this time my feritin level is 5!! I feel like walking death! It's really awful. By 10:00 a.m. my eyes are burning from extreme fatigue and it's all I can do to make it through the day :( Once again they put me on iron and at this point I think this is B.S. I plan to go to my doctor this week and demand every test there is to figure out WHY my iron is so low instead of throwing supplements at it all day! Some background info: I'm a 43 year old female who has never shown any sign of low iron in the past and have had three children. Although I am severely low on iron stores and my iron level is also low I do not have iron deficiency anemia "yet". I was diagnosed 13 years ago with endometriosis which has never negatively affected me in any way, I don't even realize I have it, but assumed this could be a factor in the sudden low iron?

Anyone out there that can share experiences similar to mine I'd love to hear them. I'm at my whits end with this and it feels like an eternity before I will ever feel normal again :(

Christine

I can't believe that your iron levels improved after only 7 weeks. You need to get a copy of all of your blood tests. It usually takes months and months to get your iron levels back up. Also, anything under 20 is considered low iron, but if your levels are at 21 that's still not good news. Should be over 40 or 50, according to my doctor. Also, just because you're not technically anemic, doesn't mean your blood levels are good enough for the level of training you are doing. Again, get a copy of your blood tests so you can see what the numbers actually are and what the trends are like from test to test.

You have to figure out why you have low iron. If you are eating a good diet and are not a vegetarian, then you should be getting enough iron in your food. So the question becomes why is the iron not getting absorbed. That's what led me down the path of investigating Celiac for my daughter. Not saying that's what you have, but you need to investigate the why so you can prevent it from re-occurring.

Good luck.

Who knows... all I know is that within weeks I felt like a new person.. this time I still feel horrible. No energy, headaches- all the awful things are back tenfold. I had my blood drawn yet again today and should know tomorrow what the numbers look like this time after 6 weeks of constant iron supplements and consciously eating more red meat. I have so lacked energy I haven't trained or done any running for two solid months now.

Another note- they put me on a birth control thinking I may be bleeding monthly more than my body can handle.. to my surprise I bleed an additional 11 days after being put on the hormone.. then was told to stop taking that pill and they called in a new one- SURPRISE today I am bleeding AGAIN! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that excessive bleeding and chronic low iron do not mix well! I have never in my life had this issue, ever! I am as regular as they come.

I plan to force the issue and want the colonoscopy, endoscopy, sonogram of my belly (uterus) and whatever tests they need to run for celiacs thanks to your insight.

I'm happy your daughter was diagnosed - pray that I also get an affirmative diagnosis so I can move on to health.

Cut our tea (black / green) and reduce your milk and milk product intake. At least around the time you are taking iron supplements and or eating iron rich foods. Both of those will bond with iron and turn it into a non digestible form. Increase your intake of citrus during the times you are taking iron pills or eating iron rich foods. That will help get the iron more readily available for your body.

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Ian

I'd agree with the thing about tea and coffee, have it between meals, not with, the tannin in them reduces iron consumption. Vitamin C helps iron consumption. Try to eat more green veg, apricots, nuts, sunflower seeds etc and I read somewhere that good quality dark chocolate is a better source of iron than animal foods :)