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Old Fri Jun 6, 2008, 09:52 AM
Marlene Marlene is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Springfield, VA
Posts: 1,406
Hi Dick,

There are no dumb questions . Iron supplements are hard on the tummy and can cause constipation also. So I can see how you can feel better by not taking them. Your doctor should have checked your iron levels before starting on any iron supplemention and then again to monitor it ongoing.

Too much iron can cause fatigue and if you have too much in your bone marrow, it can suppress it as well. Most men are not iron deficient but it does happen. Any chronic bleeding can deplete iron.

Here's a good link on iron: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/iron/

At the beginning of your disease, your doctor should have run a baseline on your iron, B12, folate, B6, copper, MMA and homocysteine. Not all do. Some just do B12 and iron. If you've seen any of my other posts on this you'll see I feel very strong about correcting nutritional imbalances. In times of disease/stress, your body requires more than having "low normal" levels of them in your blood.

Hope this helps....BTW...that was a good connection to make. Sometimes you do have to look back to see what was different.

Marlene
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Marlene, wife to John DX w/SAA April 2002, Stable partial remission; Treated with High Dose Cytoxan, Johns Hopkins, June 2002. Final phlebotomy 11/2016. As of July 2021 HGB 12.0, WBC 4.70/ANC 3.85, Plts 110K.
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