Worried About Anemia

I don't have much to say about anemia. I know that every time I'm low on iron they tell me not just to get the iron, but Vitamin C with it (by they I mean Lifeblood).

From what they have explained to me, vitamin C is needed for the body to make use of the iron you are getting.

I hope this helps.

Hi M.,

Vit C helps in absorbing iron and also if iron and calcium are taken together, it kind of interferes with eack other. So May be after gving some Iron rich food, you could follow it with a some gerber juice, whcih has 100% of daily need of Vit C.

Also lentils without cover are a very very good source of iron. There is one washed lentil which is available in Indian/pakistani/mediterannean grocery stores. It has got "Moong Daal" written on the packet. You could make soup out of it and give to your baby. It is very easily digestible. Or you could boil it, drain it and just give its water. babies in India start with this Daal water as early as 4 months to avoid anemia.

And if you are nursing, Please continue doing so, as the little iron which is present in this form is very easily digested and absorbed.

Red Kidney Beans paste or Hummus dip from walmart would also help apart from spinach, liver etc.One Gerber ArrowRoot Cookies has 10% of daily iron need.

I am sure your baby's iron level would be normal petty soon.

I have bouts of anemia myself. Supplements do not work for me as my body does not absorb iron from unnatural sources. Also, the body needs other nutrients to facilitate absorption of iron.

Natural foods that give me an iron boost: liver and onions, cooked in an iron skillet; fried eggs, over-easy, with the yolk still runny; raw broccoli; raw spinach leaves.

It may seem difficult to get kids to eat this stuff, but I was a kid at one time, and ate all this stuff. And my kids eat this stuff. Raw broccoli and spinach can be dipped in ranch or herbed yogurt dip. Toast can be "dipped" in the egg yolk. Liver and onions, well, you either like it or you dont - marinating/seasoning the liver helps.

Good luck.

There are some inherited forms of anemia which no amount of iron supplements will help. Almost everyone in my family has one type of an inherited anemia, and my son also has it. His doctor did exactly the same thing as yours...had me give him iron supplements for 30 days to see if it would bring his level up. It didn't, of course, and I knew it wouldn't, since my mother and all 4 of my sisters are anemic, as well as myself.

Just follow your doctor's advice, and don't worry! It could be nothing to sweat about. My son is otherwise perfectly healthy, and he is now almost 6 years old.

Take care.

M. at my sons 6 month appt he was put on icar and when we returned one month later his level was a tad bit lower than the previous. My doctor switched him to a different form of iron and a month after that all was fine.

H.

I'm sitting here at work worried about the same thing. My daughter is only 6 weeks and is very anemic. The doctors said it was due to her glactosemia(she has a rare genetic disorder so don't think your son might have it) and that the iron supplement would get her back to where she needs to be. Well, her iron went up from a 27 to a 28...and then it dropped again to a 26. She's not feeding well, and she keeps falling asleep after she's only had an ounce of formula.(I'm unable to breastfeed b/c of the galactosemia) I am going to the doctor again today. We have actually gone every week to get her levels checked. If it falls below 20 they will do a blood transfusion. The one thing that is going through my head is that I think it is more than the galactosemia causing her anemia. My grandmother is a huge red meat eater. She took her iron supplements every day of life...and her red blood cell count still shows up as being anemic. My dad is a red meat eater...and he is anemic too. I've been anemic since my pregnancy and I still can't get my levels up with the supplements. I truly believe the iron supplements are not working. It may be something in our family history as to why the supplements are not working. The doctor and I are going to discuss other options today and I truly hope there is someway we can get my little girl's iron up. It is frustrating cause there doesn't seem to be a lot of other options out there besides blood transfusions.

All 3 of my kids had a dip in their iron level at that same age and those iron supplements just made them constipated. I stopped givng it to them after it affected them like that. What I did instead was make sure that they were getting enough vitamin C every day so they absorbed the iron they were eating. I used to battle with anemia myself for years and it had NOTHING to do with how much I was ingesting. I finally figured that out on my own. It takes MORE than 30 days for levels to go back up again and he is growing fast too. A lot of calcium impedes absorption as well. So don't worry. I am sure the lab tests will come back fine. And when they do, talk to your doctor about going that route in finding ways for your son to help him absorb what he is taking in through his diet and not just throwing more iron at it.

Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience with anemia through my 16 yr old son who has Crohn's Disease. The very best thing that you can do is make sure that he is getting natural sources of iron because the body processes it and absorbs it more easily. If he can eat raisins, that is a great source of iron. Of course, spinach is best, but he's a little young for that! There are juices, yogurt, breads and even some brands of soy milk that are fortified with iron. Keep trying and don't worry too much. And above all, pray and ask for prayer. It works better than any medication or treatment on Earth. My son has been in remission for almost 3 years due to the awesome power of prayer!

Both of my children and myself are anemic - one of the is very. Stay away from Dairy since calucium depletes (sp) iron, no red meat since that also is loaded with calucium. Chicken, fish, deer meat or buffalo (they are not high in calucium) nuts and green veggies. His your son's blood type A - the reason I ask is my oldest is and it is common in that type she cannot take an iron supplement they do not work for her either, occationally she needs to have iron transfusions. As long as she eats properly she is fine. Let me know if you have any questions, ____@____.com.