Iron Supplements?

My question is since I wasn't anemic before surgery, and my Dr said there was very little bleeding, why would he give me a prescription for iron after surgery?

I chose not to fill the prescription (beyond my multi-vitamin mineral) as I know that it causes constipation and it turns out that I'm really glad I didn't as the whole "gas/constipation thing" was really the only pain I had.

I feel fine without it. Has anyone else been told to take iron after surgery? Is that standard?

Hi there,

This sounds to me like a good question for your doctor...

In my case, I took 600 mg. of iron per day right up until my surgery, but my doctor told me I could discontinue it as soon as I had my surgery. I should have the results of a recent blood test soon, just to make sure the anemia is truly no longer an issue.

If you weren't anemic before the surgery, I'm not sure why your doctor would start you on the iron supplements following your surgery.

As for your decision to not fill the prescription, I'd really recommend talking to him about why he prescribed it. After all, he IS the doctor, and it seems like he must have a reason for wanting you to take it.

Best wishes!

Hi Petelope,

I'm wondering about that too. Same cinerio (sp?) as you...never took iron before, then got a prescription for them as I'm walking out of the hospital. I did have mine filled, but decided not to take them in fear of having constipation too. I wonder if I'd feel better if I did take them. I see my DR tomorrow so I'll ask him. I'll let you know what he says.


Take Care

Hi Petolope and Shari, it's me again...

I'm curious, if you don't mind me askin', how much iron did your doctors prescribe to be taken following your surgeries?

Hi Abby,

You must be on right now because I just posted my post a few minutes ago.

To answer your question, my DR prescribed 325 mg. once a day. Hey, if you're bored too, we could go to the chat room and um.... chat!

Hello ladies,
I was given iron supplements beginning in the hospital due to low blood iron levels, they checked the levels before and after surgery, They always gave me a stool softener with the iron pill to help with potential constipation. I wasinstructed to continue both at home. I did do that for about a week, the constipation was manageable with the stool softener but I felt lousy and something intuitive told me it was the iron. I already take a multivitiamin with some iron so I discontinued the supplement and made a concsious effort to eat more red meat (I don't it very much normally). I figured that no more periods means less chance of developing anemia. I ran it all by my DR yesterday and she said it should be no problem. Definitely check with your doc though, everyone is different. Good luck!!

I would ask the doc- it's highly unusual to prescribe iron for someone who wasn't anemic and didn't lose much blood. And, since you are no longer menstruating you don't need as much iron as you did prior do surgery. You may not even need the standard OTC vitamin mineral formula with 18 mg of iron- 10 might be enough. Let us know what the doc says.

Hi Y'All...Petelope here....I don't know how much iron the prescription was for.....I see my Dr next Wed for post op exam, and I'm going to ask him about the iron. So, I'll post the answer if it's pertinent.

Thanks everybody.

My DR prescribed 150mg iron 3x/day for 8 weeks before surgery because I was so anemic. She told me to take it with a glass of orange juice - NOT pulp free - for two reasons #1 the orange juice helps with the absorption of the iron, and #2 the orange juice with pulp has fiber which helps prevent constipation. After surgery I had to continue the iron 2x/day for 12 weeks. I am on my last week. Except for 7 - 10 days immediately following surgery I haven't had a problem with constipation, and I blame the percocet for that.

Maybe extra iron after surgery helps with healing in some way???

Hi,
I was very enemic and had to take 300 mg twice a day before and after surgery to get my iron level up. Had it checked in a month and my iron was back to normal and was taken off the iron. I felt a little weird when I first started taking it and thought it was the iron, but stayed on it, and within a couple weeks felt really really good. Also used a stool softener (not fiber) to keep everything going smoothly.
So if your doctor reccomends iron, its a good idea to do it. Although its not good to stay on it, because it can affect your kidneys.

Hope this helps, and thanks for this message board. It really helped me just reading it!

Hugs,
Cheryl