RedMeat wrote:
You can take more than 130mg of iron with a ferritin of 12. 350mg is safe to take, you can even split a pill if it aggravates your stomach and take half in the evening and half in the morning. You should alternative days of liquid iron and pill form, so you have a better chance of absorbing one or the other. Make sure to take both forms of supplementation with orange juice, which has vitamin C. Vitamin C helps with the absorption of iron. Stay away from ingesting caffeine, zinc, magnesium, calcium, when also taking iron supplementation or eating it in whole foods. Caffeine and those different nutrients, block the absorption of iron.
Supplementation is good, but it's just that, supplementation. You should be eating red meat 5-7 times a week right now along with other non-heme iron (non-meat). Liver is the best source of iron, so you should try to eat that 2-3 times a week right now. Cheerios are also a great iron rich snack to eat during the day, but make sure to eat with orange juice, or strawberries so you can can absorb the non-heme iron.
Keep your mileage very low or completely shut down for a few weeks, until you start to feel better. You can bike, swim, do weights, core work during this time, but running and sweating will only make things worse for you. You lose iron through sweeting and foot strikes. You also will want to get plenty of sleep every night (8-10 hours).
You will want to get tested again within 2-3 months to see what progress has been made. As a distance runner, male or female, keep taking iron. You can back off the amount each week in supplementation, but its a good idea to supplement throughout the year. Keep eating lots of red meat, its good for you!
People need to be careful when choosing the amount of iron they take. 325mg of ferrous sulfate is equivalent to 65 mg of elemental iron. Some people confuse the two and end up taking WAY too much.
My question... How can a person tell if they are taking too much iron ? Is it the extremely high level of ferritin ?