What oral iron tablets are you taking?

[Jie]

Since starting PD dialysis, I have had iron deficit. Here are the iron tablets I have tried so far:

1. Niferex-150 Forte. This was paid by my insurance and it seems it was absorbed very well. But it is not available any more.
2. Niferex-150 (Fe ASP GLy-fe Polysacc-succ). This seems not working as well as Niferex-150 Forte. It costs $102 for 60 tablets, and my insurance does not pay for it.
3. Ferro-Sequels high potency. It was not absorbed very well.
4. Ferrous Gluconate 240 MG. This seems working quite a bit better than Ferro-Sequels high potency, and it is the cheapest.

What are you taking and how is it working?

[jbeany]

Nothing worked for me orally.  I had to get it IV.  That, thankfully was covered by my insurance.  You can get it IV and paid for if you are on dialysis, too, during the actual dialysis session - much easier than getting the 8 hour transfusion.

[KICKSTART]

Its very common and you will find that taking tablets isnt enough , at some point you will need IV iron and probably Epogen or Aranesp. Taking tablets doesnt build your levels back up now !

[BigSky]

Do not take oral iron, only IV.

Was told oral iron is not absorbed even well in normal people and absorption is even worse in dialysis patients.

[peleroja]

I take polysaccharide iron, 150 mg twice a day.  Periodically they ask me to take IV iron and periodically I refuse.  If they want me to have IV iron so badly, they should have thought of it when I was in the hospital 4 times in the past 6 months with a needle already stuck in my vein.  I will not bow to their 20/20 hindsight.

[Hanify]

They always do it iv for me too.

[Jie]

Everyone else is taking iv except Peleroja. I checked with the web and found out that Polysaccharide iron 150 mg is the same as Niferex-150 Forte, the best iron tablets I had. But my drug store said the FDA has some problems with the company and the production has been suspended.

Where do you get Polysaccharide iron 150 mg, Peleroja?

I am taking iv iron too, but I hate to spend 3 hours each week in hospital for it.   

[Hanify]

Are you not doing dialysis yet?

[KICKSTART]

Jie .. 3 hours a week ?  im done in 20 minutes !

[monrein]

I used to have Ferritin infusions into my dialysis lines.  I too was told that iron tablets weren't particularly effective.

[Jie]

Twenty minutes each time would be great. My local hospital is small and only iv iron available needs 2 hours of infusion. Another hour to get ready and wait for them to mix the iron solution. Can you tell me what iv iron you have, Kickstart? I would try to see I can get them to order it. If it can be done in 20 minutes, I can forget about oral iron.   

[RightSide]

I agree that IV iron is better.

My dialysis nurses have told me that they used to see some occasional allergic reactions to the IV iron dextran solution.  So they switched to Venofer (IV iron sucrose), which they have found has fewer allergic reactions.

[Zach]

There's also a new IV iron that will be available soon to dialysis patients:

"Ferumoxytol (Feraheme, AMAG Pharmaceuticals) is the first new IV iron therapy approved in almost a decade, according to a company press release."

http://www.hemonctoday.com/article.aspx?rid=41325