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Old Mon Jan 3, 2011, 07:50 AM
Marlene Marlene is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Springfield, VA
Posts: 1,406
John could not tolerate a full dose of Exjade or Desferral. Nausea was his problem even at a reduced dose. He would take it for 3 weeks and then take a week off. Eventually, he stopped it because his creatine levels were increasing. By that time, he was able to do therapeutic phlebotomies to get the remainder iron off.

Regarding diet...Normally, you take in about 1.5 mg of iron daily from your diet. Unless you have hemachromatosis (sp), your body actually regulates the uptake of iron from your digestive track depending on your body's iron store. If you are low in iron, it will take in more iron. If your iron is ok or high, will take in reduced amounts. This is because the body hangs onto iron and is not easily excreted so it has a built in mechanism to help maintain proper levels. So, based on that and a discussion with our doctor, we never worried about the iron content of our foods. However, taking vitamin C with meals can help facilitate the uptake of dietary iron. And like Lisa said, foods are fortified with iron and it's probably the worst form of iron.
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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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