Supplementing Iron for DS- advice?

[JTsMom]

Jason's iron is low, and his ped recommends giving him a multi with iron (we're doing Rainbow Light Nutri Stars) plus an additional 65 mg 3x/week. We're doing GFCF and Feingold, so basically we need to avoid all gluten, all dairy, anything artificial- esp. dyes, and preferably, any salicylic fruits/veggies- apples, berries, almonds, peaches and more, PLUS it should be listed in my Feingold book. Well, such a thing doesn't exist, so I'm just trying to do the best I can at this point.

I tried a regular 65 mg iron pill, and he just can't swallow it. The last time I tried, he was gagging and crying. I've found a couple of chewable iron pills, but some don't have a dosage listed on them and some have horrible reviews.

I found this one: http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Factors-Chewables-Tablets-60-Count/dp/B001ECXJ1K

and Floradix came up in an on post here when I searched, but I'm not seeing a dosage listed for it. It's a liquid, right? How's the taste? Any other options?

[KLD313]

Floradix is a liquid. I took one capful a day, the little cup comes with it. The flavor wasn't bad, fruity but thick if ha makes sense. Maybe like prune juice flavor with a bit of citrus. Idk it's hard to explain but I hate drinking medicine, it makes me gag but this didn't.

[legaleagle]

Yes, and floradix comes in a yeast & gluten free version. It does have several fruit juices in it. The concentration is 10 mg iron per 10 ml (2 teaspoons) liquid. I imagine you can break it into as many doses as you need to if that would help with the food issues.

Not sure if he'll eat it, but would some kind of fortified rice cereal work? Maybe you could mix it with a safe fruit puree.

[mytwosons]

When my iron is low, the floradix actually tastes good. I now take the floradix pills, but the outside is a redish color, so I'm not sure if they contain dye. They are slightly smaller than a M&M and easy to swallow.

[kbud]

My dd needed iron supplements, but she was 3. We got a script and it was a liquid. It tasted terrible, like blood but funny if I kept it in the fridge she took it just fine. You can mix it with OJ and then it's not so bad. Also the vit c in the OJ helps the iron absorb better.

[JTsMom]

Yes, and floradix comes in a yeast & gluten free version. It does have several fruit juices in it. The concentration is 10 mg iron per 10 ml (2 teaspoons) liquid. I imagine you can break it into as many doses as you need to if that would help with the food issues.

Not sure if he'll eat it, but would some kind of fortified rice cereal work? Maybe you could mix it with a safe fruit puree.


If I'm doing the math right, I'd have to give him 39 tsps a week, right? 65 mg x 3= 195 mg/week needed. 195/10 mg= 19.5 doses, and a dose is 2 tsps. Did I do that right? I'm sick, and in a bit of a fog. :dizzy: That doesn't seem right.




When my iron is low, the floradix actually tastes good. I now take the floradix pills, but the outside is a redish color, so I'm not sure if they contain dye. They are slightly smaller than a M&M and easy to swallow.

They aren't chewable are they? The ones I have are really small, but it just isn't happening.

[mytwosons]

They aren't chewable are they? The ones I have are really small, but it just isn't happening.

No, I don't think they could be chewed.

The liquid really did taste good to me, though. Even when my iron levels are within range and it doesn't take good, it doesn't taste bad, KWIM?

If you don't think he'll take the liquid, have you tried one of the oraflow (IIRC) pill training cups? DS1 learned how to swallow pills when he was 4 thanks to that cup.

[chlobo]

The gluten free version for floradix is called floravital. Just so you know and don't do what I did and buy the wrong one and not be able to return it b/c you bought online.

Good luck. My little guy is low on iron as well.

[mytwosons]

If I'm doing the math right, I'd have to give him 39 tsps a week, right? 65 mg x 3= 195 mg/week needed. 195/10 mg= 19.5 doses, and a dose is 2 tsps. Did I do that right? I'm sick, and in a bit of a fog. :dizzy: That doesn't seem right.

Check with your doctor. IIRC, the floravital products are so much easier absorbed, you don't need to take as much - just the 2 tsps per day. I can't remember if that was once or twice per day...

[chlobo]

One other thought to check the floravital ingredients and make sure they aren't high sals or anything.

[KpbS]

Would he eat a couple extra servings of meat for you? Chicken or turkey or beef? Does he like meatballs (you could make them GF/CF) and he could dip them into a sauce. Does he like spinach--fresh or cooked fresh? Just a thought...

[JTsMom]

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I know it's a lot to work around, and I appreciate everyone taking the time to chime in.

I did check the ingredients, and here's what I found:

Ingredient Details: Aqueous extract from: african mallow blossoms, chamomile flowers, fennel, spinach, juice concentrates (grape, pear, black currant, cherry, blackberry, carrot), rosehip extract.

So there are salicylates in there, but I think that is going to be true of anything that isn't a pill, kwim? We're in Stage 2, so he can have some, but this would be every day.

I also looked at the pill swallowing cup- that's a possibility too. I hate to sound like a whiner, but trying to figure all of this stuff out always ends up costing an arm and a leg b/c it takes so many tries to hit on something that works. I'm trying to figure out where to gamble this time.

I was surprised his iron was low. It's been checked several times over the years (probably b/c we're pale people), and it's always been perfect. I think that all of the dietary modifications are what's throwing it off now, so I really don't know what step to take next. He actually has always eaten a ton of chicken (more white meat than dark though), and he's recently started eating more beef. Plus, we cook in cast iron at least once a day. However, with Feingold, we eliminated a lot of Vitamin C, and I wonder if that's decreasing his absorption. I bought some OJ last week (oranges are Stage 2, and he's not done well with adding that stuff back in up to this point), and surprisingly, it doesn't seem to be affecting him, so that might be really good. Right now he's sick though, so that's probably slowing him down a bit. It's so hard to tease out what causes what b/c there are so many variables.

[KpbS]

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I know it's a lot to work around, and I appreciate everyone taking the time to chime in.

I did check the ingredients, and here's what I found:

Ingredient Details: Aqueous extract from: african mallow blossoms, chamomile flowers, fennel, spinach, juice concentrates (grape, pear, black currant, cherry, blackberry, carrot), rosehip extract.

So there are salicylates in there, but I think that is going to be true of anything that isn't a pill, kwim? We're in Stage 2, so he can have some, but this would be every day.

I also looked at the pill swallowing cup- that's a possibility too. I hate to sound like a whiner, but trying to figure all of this stuff out always ends up costing an arm and a leg b/c it takes so many tries to hit on something that works. I'm trying to figure out where to gamble this time.

I was surprised his iron was low. It's been checked several times over the years (probably b/c we're pale people), and it's always been perfect. I think that all of the dietary modifications are what's throwing it off now, so I really don't know what step to take next. He actually has always eaten a ton of chicken (more white meat than dark though), and he's recently started eating more beef. Plus, we cook in cast iron at least once a day. However, with Feingold, we eliminated a lot of Vitamin C, and I wonder if that's decreasing his absorption. I bought some OJ last week (oranges are Stage 2, and he's not done well with adding that stuff back in up to this point), and surprisingly, it doesn't seem to be affecting him, so that might be really good. Right now he's sick though, so that's probably slowing him down a bit. It's so hard to tease out what causes what b/c there are so many variables.

Interesting--can he take a gummy vit C? I bet you are really on to something. Hopefully the C will boost his absorption. Hope he is on the mend soon! :hug:

[JTsMom]

Thanks! We're kind of a wreck here right now. My knee surgery was supposed to be tomorrow, but both boys and I caught this bug, so we're all sorts of screwed up here. I'm trying to be productive since neither of us feels up to school today.

So, on top of ditching a bunch of fruits and veggies, I also stopped vitamins and went as basic as possible, planning to add one thing back in at a time. I started with some Stage 2 stuff- disaster. Then I tried an Omega for 1 month- disaster again. Of course, both times I had to wait for him to chill out again, so that killed more time. Now we started the multivitamin again, and that seems to be going ok, and he'll actually eat them. They have 200% rda for Vit. C, so that should help too.

His ped actually rec'd a ton of supplements for him, and we haven't gotten very far b/c of all of the other failed experiments. It's so hard to know what to try first, and so far, I've not done a good job guessing at all. I hate that his diet has gotten so bad, and that's affecting all of us, so I would love to be able to add stuff back in there.

[mytwosons]

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I know it's a lot to work around, and I appreciate everyone taking the time to chime in.

I did check the ingredients, and here's what I found:

Ingredient Details: Aqueous extract from: african mallow blossoms, chamomile flowers, fennel, spinach, juice concentrates (grape, pear, black currant, cherry, blackberry, carrot), rosehip extract.

So there are salicylates in there, but I think that is going to be true of anything that isn't a pill, kwim? We're in Stage 2, so he can have some, but this would be every day.

I also looked at the pill swallowing cup- that's a possibility too. I hate to sound like a whiner, but trying to figure all of this stuff out always ends up costing an arm and a leg b/c it takes so many tries to hit on something that works. I'm trying to figure out where to gamble this time.

I was surprised his iron was low. It's been checked several times over the years (probably b/c we're pale people), and it's always been perfect. I think that all of the dietary modifications are what's throwing it off now, so I really don't know what step to take next. He actually has always eaten a ton of chicken (more white meat than dark though), and he's recently started eating more beef. Plus, we cook in cast iron at least once a day. However, with Feingold, we eliminated a lot of Vitamin C, and I wonder if that's decreasing his absorption. I bought some OJ last week (oranges are Stage 2, and he's not done well with adding that stuff back in up to this point), and surprisingly, it doesn't seem to be affecting him, so that might be really good. Right now he's sick though, so that's probably slowing him down a bit. It's so hard to tease out what causes what b/c there are so many variables.

IIRC, you've tried eliminating gluten but didn't see a difference. Is that correct?

I bring this up because low iron was one of the first signs I had of my suspected celiac. (Negative test, but I hadn't consumed gluten regularly for some time. Since DS1 is positive, as are other family members, they labeled me as suspected celiac.)

So, it might not necessarily have to do with what he's not eating, but what his body isn't absorbing.

[JTsMom]

He's been totally off gluten for a little over a year now. We have tried re-introducing it in small doses a couple of times. The first time, we were convinced there was no difference. The second time, we let him OD a bit on really junky stuff, and thought maybe there was a difference. So we've just stuck with it thinking we'd try every possible thing at once, and if that didn't work, we'd know we had to move to meds.

Would his iron be low if he did have Celiac but wasn't eating any gluten?

[chlobo]

In regards to cost, I always buy at Whole Foods because if it doesn't work out they have a no-guff return policy. You don't even need the receipt. They just issue you a credit and on to the next supplement. Once I'm sure my kids will take a supplement, then I look online for the cheaper version.

Just a thought.

[mousemom]

I don't know how this would work in terms of your specific dietary restrictions, but our pediatric hematologist recommended Enfamil Fer-in-Sol to supplement our son's iron level. It is a liquid. It is actually meant for infants and toddlers, so you would have to check with you dr for dosage instructions and to make sure it's ok for an older child. A 1 ml dropperful supplies 15 mg iron (and we were doing that 2x per day, so I think that would get up to the amount you needed). DS takes it straight and has never objected to the taste, but they can also be mixed with a little juice (and taking it with vitamin C helps boost absorption anyway). One thing you may not know, liquid iron supplements will stain your childs teeth. We were told it's not permanent, but it's not very attractive either.

ETA link:http://www.drugstore.com/enfamil-fer-in-sol-supplement-drops-iron-for-infants-and-toddlers/qxp150803?catid=182629&fromsrch=fer%2Din%2Dsol

[mytwosons]

He's been totally off gluten for a little over a year now. We have tried re-introducing it in small doses a couple of times. The first time, we were convinced there was no difference. The second time, we let him OD a bit on really junky stuff, and thought maybe there was a difference. So we've just stuck with it thinking we'd try every possible thing at once, and if that didn't work, we'd know we had to move to meds.

Would his iron be low if he did have Celiac but wasn't eating any gluten?

From everything I've read, it can take a year or more for the gut to heal and the villi to regrow. I think that would be extended each time you ingest gluten.

Also, I would think he'd need extra iron, not just the regular amount found in food to raise his levels once he was low.

[mousemom]

Also, I would think he'd need extra iron, not just the regular amount found in food to raise his levels once he was low.

Based on what I've read about iron levels, this is correct. Once the iron is testing low, it is very hard to bring it back up just by adding iron rich foods to the diet or even a multivitamin with some iron in it.