Used to take 85mg elemental iron (aa chelate) daily for severe anemia (hb 7.5 g/dl). now hb is 13 g/dl. is it still safe to take same iron supplement?

Needs test for etio.: In healthy people, absorptive cells in the proximal small intestine, which changes iron absorption to match loss of iron in the body, carefully regulate iron concentration in the body . The average American diet, which contains 6 mg of elemental iron per kcal of food, is adequate for iron homeostasis. Of about 15 mg per day of dietary iron, adults absorbs only 1 mg. Get your MD find etiology

Yes: If the underlying cause of your anemia has been addressed, it is okay to continue taking the supplement. Have a healthy diet, exercise, drink plenty of water, have safe sex, no tobacco alcohol weed or street drugs. For nutrition: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. Get HPV vaccine

Dr Zimon agreed

Some basics: When you develop anemia, you have not just depleted the iron within the red cells (hemoglobin), you have depleted the iron stores in the rest of your body. It is good that you have come up into a normal range, but you may need to continue supplementing until your iron stores have been normalized. Confer with your doc on any change in treatment.

Iron deficiency anem: It's very important to determine why the iron deficiency occurred. If it was caused by heavy menstrual blood loss, continue to take iron supplements ( which make your stools black) as long as you have periods. However if menstrual blood loss was not the cause of your iron deficiency and anemia, a workup to look for other sources of blood loss is needed. Discuss this with your MD.