[OutOfHere]

Beside ferritin, hemoglobin shouldn't be overlooked as the determinant of iron status. Hemoglobin is a part of the CBC (Complete Blood Count) test.

Iron supplements are notorious for irritating the stomach, worsening gastritis and acid reflux. Even iron bisglycinate, while fully effective, is a significant stomach irritant. Ferric pyrophosphate might be safer, and I'm trying it now, but I have to take it twice a day because once wasn't sufficient.

With regard to addressing anemia, active B12 (hydroxo/methyl/adenosyl), methylfolate e.g. Quatrefolic, copper, and vitamin A also matter.

One can also simultaneously be low or suboptimal in many other vitamins and minerals unrelated to anemia, e.g. vitamin D. Fixing only one of them is no guarantee of a sustained solution.

With regard to blood tests, it can take many iterations of doing them to find anything useful. Doctors are ridiculous to work with in this regard, so I bypass them and get the tests myself. Doctors work for the insurance firm, not for you.

[aeblyve]

> As long as it is in the normal range for your sex and age, you're fine even if your ferritin remains at 0.

This is simply wrong when one considers that iron has many bodily functions outside of hemoglobin, such as acting as a cofactor in tyrosine hydroxylase for dopamine synthesis.

[OutOfHere]

Apologies. Fixed. I will atone for it.

[cachecrab]

Have you tried supplementing iron every other day instead?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12372323/

[OutOfHere]

Alternate day dosing is a great tip for better stomach tolerability! If ferric pyrophasphate twice daily doesn't fix it for me, or if it becomes intolerable, then I will surely consider alternate-day iron bisglycinate. Thanks.

[ksenzee]

If you're not vegetarian, I recommend looking into heme iron. It's a lot more bioavailable, even more than iron bisglycinate, and in my experience it's much easier on the GI tract.