Iron Deficiency Anemia, Supplements not working,

[amayajune]

I just received my medical records from a clinic I have been going to for 2 years. I am a female, so this may play into some of the iron deficiency. Looking over my lab CBC and Iron results since age 18 I have had consistently low levels of Iron Saturation [4 or lower] and Ferritin [3 or lower, currently a 1]. After the first test showed up this year at a 3 [ferritin] I was prescribed Ferrex 150 Forte 3 times a day, the most I could handle was two. [In the past I was prescribed over the counter iron supplements like Slow-Fe and this caused me great stomach pain and soreness in the abdomen area. ]After 1 month of the Ferrex, I was tested again. My ferritin levels are at a 1, I would give you the iron stat, but the forgot to include my latest test results in my copy of the records. I am having almost constant pain in my back and shoulders, recurrent headaches that force me to stop what I'm doing, I am lethargic and unable to concentrate or read. But starting a few weeks ago, I started to get these sudden bursts of sweats and feelings of heat. They can last up to 6mins. I am wondering if this is a another symptom of the iron deficiency. Also I have recently talked with a coworker who had iron deficiency anemia and was given an iron infusion [IV] and suggested I ask my doctor about this, I wonder why this has never been mentioned by my doctors in the 2 years I've seen them. Would this be a viable solution to my iron deficiency?

[star queen]

Dietary iron is from protein (beef is best), especially organ meats like liver.  Try putting more of these foods in your diet.  You can increase iron absorption in the body by eating or drinking foods high in vitamin C, or taking a supplement whenever you are consuming iron.  So have a glass of OJ with the bacon, hamburger, or liver. When you take the iron supplement, take a vitamin C supplement (500-1000mg) at the same time. Hope this helps

[EAPellow]

Along the same lines as the comment by star queen, another way you can ensure proper iron absorption is to decrease the amount of tannins in your diet. Tannins prevent your intestins from absorbing a number of nutrients, one of them being iron. Tannins are found in high concentrations in blacks teas and coffee, as well as a number of other foods and teas, though I don't remember which ones off the top of my head.

Normally, an iron deficient person would absorb more iron from their diet than a healthy person (people don't usually absorb more than 10% of the iron they eat). You could try cooking with iron cookware, which will release iron into the food, especially acidic ones. You could also also avoid antacids, which decrease absorption.