What medicine should I take to supplement iron for anemia

Iron is an important element for blood production. If it is lacking, it may cause symptoms of anemia. It needs to be supplemented through animal liver or other iron supplements such as tablets. If you take medicine for supplementation, you need to pay attention to the time of supplementation and reasonably combine it with other nutrients to help your health. So what are the medicines for iron supplementation? Let’s find out.

1. What are the iron supplements?

Common iron supplements include ferrous sulfate, ferrous lactate, ferrous fumarate, ferrous succinate and other iron supplements. Because iron supplements can irritate the gastrointestinal tract, women, pregnant women, children, the elderly and other groups are recommended to choose Iron Edge tablets with ferrous lactate as the main ingredient. It has no irritation to the gastrointestinal tract and has a higher iron absorption and utilization. Iron supplements should be taken with warm water, not tea, because tea contains tannic acid, which can combine with iron to form insoluble iron salts, thus hindering the absorption of iron. When taking iron syrup or solution, you should use a straw to prevent your teeth from turning black.

2. What should you pay attention to when taking oral iron supplements?

The most common side effects of oral iron supplements are gastrointestinal reactions, such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, upper abdominal discomfort, etc. Therefore, it is best to take iron supplements between meals or after meals, which can reduce the irritation of iron supplements to the gastrointestinal tract. For a small number of pregnant women or children with strong gastrointestinal reactions, non-irritating iron can be used, or you can start with a small dose, such as starting with half or one-third of the regular dose, and then gradually increase to the full dose after the gastrointestinal reaction disappears.

3. What else should you take when taking iron supplements?

1. Vitamin C

It is a reducing agent that can reduce trivalent iron to easily absorbable divalent iron. It can also complex with iron to form unstable ferrous ascorbate and release iron from other complexes, thus facilitating the body's absorption of iron. Vitamin C itself also has the function of promoting hematopoiesis, so when taking iron supplements, you should eat more

Some vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C, or take vitamin C supplements.

2. Vitamin A

It has functions such as improving the body's absorption and transport of iron; vitamin B6 can increase the bone marrow's utilization of iron; vitamin B2 can promote the absorption of iron from the intestine and can be supplemented appropriately. Vitamin 12 and folic acid are ineffective in treating iron deficiency anemia and should not be abused.