Has anyone here ever tried Floradix for low iron?

[MitchellVII]

I have been taking iron pills because I have LOOOOW iron after my severe anemia and they don't seem to be doing the trick. Apparently most of the iron in iron pills gets wasted in the digestion process.

I've been reading about this liquid iron supplement called Floradix. The reviews I have seen are very good (and I hope they are true). Has anyone here tried this or know anyone who has?

[justsing]

I have heard about, but not tried it, nor has it been recommended for either my father or my daughter, both of whom are chronically anemic.

One of the big issues for iron metabolization is an adequate amount of vitamin C, and also B12. If you're low on either of those, your body won't process the iron. Iron -- and B12 -- uptake occurs primarily in the terminal ileum portion of the small intestine, right where it hooks up with the colon. So if you've had a lot of surgery in that region, your absorption might be compromised.

When I was on chemo, they gave me a one time infusion of Infed which is an IV iron. It worked GREAT. You might ask your doc about it.

[MitchellVII]

JustSing,

Thanx! All good information. Odd that none of my doctors have mentioned anything to me about Vitamin C or B12. Frankly, I find that profoundly annoying. It is like when they released me from the hospital after my CRC surgery and told me NOTHING about potential constipation and how to deal with it. I only learned when I was rushed to the ER with severe blockage.

My Hematologist simply prescribed these iron pills for me and that was it. Also, I had a full right colectomy so yes, there was surgery very close to if not including the lower part of the small intestine - once again, a fact that no one ever bothered to mention to me - ugh - so annoying. I also have never heard any mention of an Infed Infusion even though my iron stores are about zero. Grrrrrrr.

Thanks again Sing, I'll ask my doc about all these on Monday.

[justsing]

My knowledge of this comes from having a kid with Crohn's disease which is focused in the terminal ileum. The GI fellow that was following her case when she was first diagnosed also had Crohn's in the same place. Her medical training was as an Osteopath instead of an MD and so she was very up on all sorts of nutritional issues. I LOVED her. You might want to check out the www.ccfa.org website. It has lots of great information about taking care of your gut after surgeries, nutrition, etc.

Good luck at your appointment.

[Adain]

Thanks for taking the time to help, I really apprciate it.

[Lizard]

I took floridix for several months and it did squat for me. My doctor did not recommend floridix at all for chronically low iron. When I went for surgery my hemoglobin was 70 and my feritin was 2. My oncologist scheduled an intravenous iron infusion every chemo round for around 5 months. It only takes about 15 minutes. My iron is now in the normal range (130s). Ask your doctor if you can have infusions. I found them to be much easier on me and did not seem to notice many side effects.

Liz