Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Even though I have been taking iron supplements for 2 months, my ferritin has fallen from 65.1 to 62.1. I am taking Solgar Gentle Iron (iron bisglycinate) 50 mg every other day. Even though it is gentle on my stomach, not increasing my GERD or constipation, it does not seem to improve my ferritin levels. I don't take it with calcium,caffine or milk. Just with vitamin C. I am so discouraged. any suggestions would be helpful. My Movement disorder doctor, who treats my PD, is not an expert on Iron. My PC was the one who told me to take iron only every other day for best absorption.

That isn't enough ferritin. What I've read from the RLS experts is to take 65 mg of elemental iron 3 times a day, empty stomach, with an acid, such as orange juice if at all possible. Once every other day is 1/6th of that.

Even if you take it this way, there is no guarantee it will work, sadly. Either to raise it OR to make the RLS better. That said, I believe it's worth a try.

thanks for the reply. But how is it possible to take iron 3 x a day on empty stomach. My research showed you should take it 2 hours after eating and not eat for 2 more hours.,

There are a couple of important points here.

1. If you are taking iron bisglycinate, it isn't necessary to take it with orange juice or vitamin C. The bisglycinate form of the iron provides the same function as the citric acid (orange juice) or the ascorbic acid (vitamin C).
2. The important point with timing of taking an iron supplement is to get it into the intestinal tract with minimal food so that you are not getting competition to for adsorption into the blood stream. The 2 hrs after a meal guideline is more important than 2 hrs before. You also need to take into account the size of the meal. You can cheat a little and take it sooner if the meal is light. How you would manage this if you are on a 6 small meal a day regime for managing hypoglycemia could be a major problem.
3. During the time when I was taking iron sulfate/vitamin C three times a day, I would eat an early breakfast, take a pill 2 hrs later. Lunch followed by another one 2 hrs later and then the last pill at bedtime with the rest of my RLS meds.

Also, there's no need to take it 3 times a day,. You can still take 6 times as much, but take it all at once. There's some indication that it will be absorbed better if you don't maintain levels by taking it all day long, rather let them drop over the course of the day and take once, at bedtime.

EDIT and you might want to consider trying a sulfate or fumarate to see if you absorb that better. Bodies can be different.

And, if it bothers you, take it with food. Sure, it reduces absorption, but better to get some than none.

I cannot take my iron all at once or it really activates the RLS something terrible and I think that has to do with the digestion is my best guess so I have to do the 3 x daily and space it out 5 hours. I like the bloodbuilder iron and have been using it for years. Don't take it at night or it might keep you up with the B in it.

Another idea might be to take digestive enzymes with the high iron animal meats such as liver, coupled with taking the iron. I have done that before and have noticed a difference.

What digestive enzymes do you take? I had to stop iron for now as it was causing problems with lower intestines.

Has anyone tried iron patches?

Legs, don't think I've come across iron patches....

Polar Bear wrote:Legs, don't think I've come across iron patches....

Nor have I.

My stomach’s sensitivity changes from day to day but I didn’t really take notice of this until recently. I’m getting better sleep so I’m more aware of things which is not always a blessing, lol. I had been taking 3 iron pills for over a year and all of a sudden it started hurting my stomach. So I lowered to 2 pills and I was doing fine again. Then I noticed that some days all I could handle was 30-45 minutes of iron on an empty stomach before I had to eat something or I would get flu-like symptoms. But then the very next day I could handle the pills perfectly and not eat for hours. It’s just weird but having RLS/WED has taught me to go with the flow that each day presents.

Not sure if this has been asked or not...why can’t iron be injected just like B12 shots?

My GP has offered me iron injections but I asked Dr Buchfuhrer about them and he does not favour them. Can’t remember why but it sounded plausible.

A member of a UK forum uses iron patches that she imports from the US and her serum ferritin has increased considerably. PatchMD is the site she buys them from.

PatchMD.com that is