Just got my lab work done. Anemia still with me. I'm trying a new Chinese herbal supplement, DonQuai, supposed to help regulate things so that I hang on to more of the iron I'm eating. I use cast iron to cook with, eat plenty of beef and spinach, take 90 mgs of iron with Vitamin C in a chew able format daily. This anemia is getting boring.

Everything else looks stellar. My B-12 is still too high. I think that this shows that I AM absorbing the stuff I'm taking. This blood work was done after 3 days of no supplementation.

Bottom line: 2 years out, and going strong. Full steam ahead, and keep working on the iron issues. I'm being a good little girl with the vitamins.

I meet with my surgeon in January to go over the results.

Good going Sandi! But Iron IS the big issue with us...isn't it!
I was recently told not to take my iron supplement with my
thyroid meds in that each makes the other tougher to
absorb. So if you're another hypothyroid gal, watch out for that
one. I think I've tried everything under the sun to get the iron
to bind and store, with very little luck. I'll be anxious to hear how it
goes with the new herbal supplement you're starting! Keep us posted!

Yeah Mickee, I'm hypothyroid too. I know about taking my levoyxl with anything though. It gets its own shining two hours of spotlight time very early in the wee sma's (insomnia can be a mixed blessing--I can take my thyroid meds at 3 a.m. no problem...)

Anyway, I'll keep you posted. So far the Don Quai has been a good thing. I'll pm you with the whys and wherefores so that I don't get too personal here for the guys...

Great.. I'm always up for anything that would help get me back to
donating to the Red Cross... (been a reject for a few years now... big time bummer)

Sandi, it sounds like you are doing everything you need to be doing. Good job on getting all of your supplements and vitamins in. Your blood work definately shows the fruit of your labors. I still struggle with taking my vitamins. Hugs.

Hi Sharon! I sure love seeing your smiling face! Hope things are going well with you and your daughter and that little grand baby...

I carry my vitamins around with me all day so I don't forget. I will not go to bed unless I've finished for the day... I have a little screw top bottle I carry with me everywhere I go.

EXCELLENT SANDI!!

Just keep on working on that iron issue!!

Also, I must add that your new pic is GORGEOUS!!! WOOHOOO!!

Julie =)

P.S. My B-12 is always HIGH TOO and I take it maybe once a month...MAYBE! lol... I wonder why that is? wierd.

I go in March for my OVERHAUL! lol...

Here's part of a pm I had going on with MickeeFinn. The Don Quai won't help her, but she is getting some results from Slow Iron...

"Well, sorry that this isn't the solution for you. I know what you mean about being a donor, I've always been too (good old O negative, the "Universal Giver" )I was taking the slow iron too, but everyone told me that we can't absorb time release anything. Well, you're proving that this isn't always true!

We're all stumbling around in this together aren't we?

I take 90 mg of iron daily--3 36 mg pills (from Ferronyl) and it has extra Vit C right in the iron chew. It tastes good too! Can't beat that. I get them online. Kind of pricey, but I'm serious about trying to beat this anemia.

I take all kinds of multi chewable vitamins. I like the Costco Dinosaur ones...they are my usual. But I'm experimenting with the Emergen-C drinkable multivitamin right now too. I want to absorb as much as possible, but my labs looked really good on everything except Iron and Carnitine. So... I think that the vitamins are ok.

Good luck on your iron levels. Please do keep posting how the slow iron is going for you. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you're on to an answer!"

I post this in hopes someone else can use the info...

Thanks Julie, I'm working it!

Glad your results are better, Sandi.
My friend, Angie, 1 1/2 yrs post op, has to have iron injections because it's the one thing she's not absorbing.
Re: taking the thyroid medication w/ the iron, glad it was mentioned because I didn't know that. I do take my iron before breakfast because it makes me nauseous if I don't, so my thyroid is taken about 45 min. to 1 hour after that. Do you all think that is enough time between them? I could switch the thyroid to after lunch w/ my zinc.
My regimine is: iron (Repliva) before breakfast; Synthroid, multi-vitamin, Ranitidine 1/2 hour after breakfast; zinc after lunch; B-50 and Ranitidine after dinner; 3 Calciums w/ D whenever I manage to get them in. Does anyone see any problems w/ this?
I do take Actos for Type II Diabetes before anything else, but only when my BS is >120.
So much to learn!!!

[color="#800080"][/color]

Hey, if you want to really see the full accounting of my lab results (guaranteed to cure insomnia!), go to my blog, click on the link on the right called, "RNY Journey"...

@bjean: My thyroid med says to take it one hour before anything else! So that's what I do. Then I take my 1st calcium and B-12 (when I take B-12). I take my iron and my multi WITH my meal since iron is best absorbed with protein and Vit. C... I do NOT take my iron if I'm having dairy for my meal as calcium is supposed to halt iron absorption. It's all very confusing. I use my supplements as if they were little bites of food through out the day... Finally, I take my last calcium right before bed.

Not saying that this is what you should do, but you asked...hope it helps.

Sandi, looks like I am getting used to the way things work for me too! Being that I have iron deficiency anemia, they really loaded me up on the iron in the beginning and that was the main cause of all the 24/7 nausea I had. I too do the iron with protein and Vitamin C and the calcium comes after lunch and dinner. Multi's are after breakfast and I only take the B-complex once a week so I kind of just wing it with that one. I have to continue to take Nexium to ward off the nausea so I take it as soon as I get up and sip my coffee since I can't eat for an hour after taking it but the doc said the coffee was okay. I figure that it is okay to take it before breakfast since I get up at a quarter of five. Who would want to eat that early? I sometimes think this is all just a plot to make our lives difficult cause there are so many things that can't be mixed and you have to wait for a specific amount of time before taking anything else. I truly hope that someday, some genius out there will figure out a single pill that will do it ALL at once for WLS patients AND make it a teeny tiny pill!

I agree with YOU Celadon! I do think that it's a plot. They make the hoops and we jump through 'em like trained tigers at the circus! But remember, the tigers are watching...waiting for their chance... We will win this war! This is OUR year!!!

Anemic sistahs and brothas--ARISE and get your iron under control!!! This is our year! No more low energy, we're going all the way!!!

Sandi really a good report you are definately doing things right. I dont have my next set labs until April as that is when I do my every two year health evaluation. I generally dont get lab work done in between unless there is a health situation that would require it.

Thanks Damon! Glad to hear from you. How is your pain situation going?

Sandi, I am so glad you labs are great except for the iron situation. I get mine done in Feb unless I get my PS before that. But I doubt that is gonna happen. Has your Doc talked to you about injections yet, or is it not that bad? Wishing you a great New Year! 2008 is gonna be BEAUTIFUL!

Sandi,
So far the procedure results are good but I will wait a month or so before I call it a success. We will see how it is then and act accordingly.

This thread prompted me to take my list of meds into my pharmacist. Mark is a great guy & very knowledgable...one of those pharmacists you don't find often; he not only is great w/ the pharmacology, but also understands that part of the job is educating the customers. We went over each medication/vitamin/mineral and figured the best times for me to take them to avoid poor absorption and interactions with others.
Something he said that I wanted to pass on is that some docs don't have WLS atients taking anything, like Zantac/Ranitidine to reduce acid, and he has had clients who got very sick because of it.
You were all correct that the iron should be taken w/ food and the thyroid med not be taken with the iron. So, now it is all worked out.
But, my hair is starting to fall out so I invested in Biotin. Since it is a B I think I can take it with my B50. Bama, if you're out there, what do you think? You are pretty knowledgable about this stuff.
Jeanie