Iron?

[drummerman]

Keep seeing people concerned about anemia and contemplating iron sups.

I remembered that during my 1st tx, I found out that iron was hard on the liver.

So be careful.

http://www.hepatitis.va.gov/patient/faqs/harmful-supplements.asp

dm

[Cal]

DM.
Have to back you up on this one DM. We are always told no iron supps no, protein powder with iron etc etc. we are told that iron help proliferate HCV virus. I wouldn't use supps until after tx and after consulting a doctor. I recall iron supps not being helpful anyway for our RIBA kind of anaemia. Cal

[drummerman]

yep.
I was so stringent on the first tx that I wouldn't even eat foods that contained high amounts of iron.

dm

[KimInTheForest]

Keep seeing people concerned about anemia and contemplating iron sups.

I remembered that during my 1st tx, I found out that iron was hard on the liver.

So be careful.

http://www.hepatitis.va.gov/patient/faqs/harmful-supplements.asp

dm

Hi DM. I heard all the "no iron/no meat" info for years as I researched liver supporting diets. And I think that is how I came to be so iron deficient (and B12 deficient). I have been eating vegetarian for many years as part of my liver support regime. I am also a big drinker of black tea. It's my comfort food, my happy place. And black tea (i.e., English tea) massively reduces absorption of iron (and calcium, zinc, and even B12) because both caffeine and tannins block absorption of minerals. Coffee would actually be the better choice in that regard - no tannins.

I agree totally that people who are worried about becoming anemic from ribavirin should NOT just rush out and consume iron-rich foods or supplements, since the riba-anemia does not involve iron deficiency. And they could put themselves into an iron overload position. But those people might want to go get their ferritin (iron) and B12 levels checked. And if they are as low as I was, supplements will only help them - even during treatment, imo. I didn't start taking those supplements until post-tx because that's when I found out how deficient I was. But I would have taken them during tx if I had known. I am also back to eating meat - at least for now til my iron level gets back up there. (My vegan friends will flay me if they see this post.)

Just my 2 cents
kim

[drummerman]

makes sense.

Its a balancing act for sure.

dm

[Else]

I heard that long, long ago and have been taking an iron-free multi-vitamin every since.