I'm always amemic b'cos I have Ulcerative Colitis, Ferrous Sulphate makes me constipated wud Folic Acid b good

Question

to take instead?
I have to go hospital every six months for an infusion of venofer (iron), one a week for six weeks.
The staff are so slow it adds to my distress, the infusion only takes 20 mins, but I'm there 4-6 hours and I can't bear to go through it again.
I also suffer from MSC and most of the nurses and other patients wear chemical fragrances, so it's a nightmare for me, plus the Hospital is too warm and stuffy!
Surely I could get my iron levels up some other way? I eats loads of vegetables, sprouts cabbage etc, apricots, liver.... My colitis is hardly ever in remission and I'm always either severely constipated or I have bad diarrhea, so I can't take Ferrous Sulphate because that makes me even more constipated.
I'm on 3 senna and 3 docusate daily, while these make me open my bowels every other day, they cause me severe tummy ache. I'm SO sick of being sick!
I also take 3 Azathioprine, 30mg Lansoprazol, Codliver Oil & Primrose Oil.
Would it be safe for me to take Folic Acid?

Answer 1

first thing is with this complicated history you need to see a professional naturopath alongside with whoelver else you're seeing medically.
The other thing would be look at the type of iron you've been taking. Iron sulphate is poorly absorbed, can destroy vitamin E in the body, and cause constipation and nausea. Instead, look at an iron chelate which has a better absorption and less or no side effects.
When taken with vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folate and some vitamin C it maximizes iron's absorption in the body. Having said that with ulcerative colitis, you're absorption is likely to be less anyway so that needs to be worked on simultaneously. Have you looked at Pure aloe vera juice and glutamine? they are very soothing for the bowel and help heal wounds along the gastrointestinal tract.
Get under supervision of a naturopath :) a good one :) good luck!

Answer 2

Ask your doctor about switching to an over the counter Iron supplement called SlowFE. It absorbs slowly, so you don't get most of the irritating side effects that the other iron supplements tend to give.

Answer 3

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