Interesting oral iron supplementation research

dahlia123

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Sep 29, 2016
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I had a consult with a hematologist a few weeks ago regarding my iron deficiency. During our appointment, she referenced some relatively recent iron supplementation research that I had not heard about. The doctor explained that they are finding when people take a large dose of oral iron, the body releases its iron regulator hormone helpcidin, which basically stops the body from absorbing any more oral iron for the next 48 hours. They are hypothesizing that it might be more effective for people to supplement with a single, large iron oral dose every other day instead of taking smaller doses multiple times a day. Journal article from The Lancet here.

She said there are few more studies researching this in the works with IDA patients. Sorry if this was already posted- I tried to search but didn’t see anything. I thought it was notable, and am interested to see what future research shows.
 
They are hypothesizing that it might be more effective for people to supplement with a single, large iron oral dose every other day instead of taking smaller doses multiple times a day
I wonder how large.
my doctor is having me supplement 3 times a week.
 
Interesting. I currently take 1 Heme iron pill 1x day after not taking any for awhile and seeing my Ferritin drop to 30 in Sep 2019 versus 65 in May 2018. I wonder if taking 2 pills every other day would be beneficial for me?
Note that I am post-menopausal.
 
The only issue with studies like this is they are done with normal folks, not those of us with malabsorption.

A vast majority of us usually end up on iron infusions (think large dose), that lasts for anywhere from 6 months to several years. In 9 years, I’ve had two infusions. Oral iron is useless for me.
 
The study was not done with heme iron. My labs prove that I absorb heme iron very well. I keep my iron infusions 3 to 5 years apart with oral heme.

This study does NOT apply to us. We are zebras in a herd of horses.
 
FWIIW... I acted on this article and changed from 1x 60 mg Fe 2x per day to 2x 60 mg Fe 1x per day (vitro c)

My low ferritin levels resolved after this change. I don't do every other day, just once a day

Could be coincidence, but it worked for me. I was searching for a way to get Fe away from 2x per day because it interferes with the calcium supplement schedule
 
I used to take two a day. Went to one a day. Ferritin still too high. Now I am doing one every other day. Will see the hematologist next week. She will let me know if I should stay on one every other day or go back to one a day.

There are a couple of other things I absorb well.
 

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