What is iron for anemia? What exactly are the drugs for oral iron?

For patients with iron deficiency anemia, if the iron deficiency is more severe, doctors generally recommend taking oral iron to supplement iron in the body, promote the synthesis of red blood cells, and reduce the symptoms of anemia2, but many people don't know what oral iron is, so they are more worried when they eat it, so what is anemia iron?

1. What is iron?

Iron is a drug containing iron, and its main role is to replenish the body's iron and is used to treat patients with iron deficiency anemia.

2. Why should I take iron medicine?

Iron deficiency anemia is often treated with iron supplements. There are many types of iron supplements, and it is necessary to pay attention to distinguishing the currently commonly used iron supplements, mainly ferrous iron, and the more commonly used in clinical practice are ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate tablets (rich blood iron tablets), ferrous lactate, licanon, etc.

3. What drugs should iron refer to?

Ferrous sulfate syrup, ferrous fumarate dry syrup, ferrous gluconate, ferrous lactate, ferrous succinate, ferric vitamins (also known as Funand) and Beibei Xuebao are commonly used iron drugs.

4. How long should I take iron?

It takes about 1-2 months to recover from iron deficiency anemia with iron supplements, but it should be noted that even if the blood routine is normal, it will take 2-3 months to achieve a complete cure.

5. The use form of oral iron

The most popular iron supplements on the market are in the form of tablets or capsules, which also have the best absorption effect; However, some people have difficulty swallowing, or children need to supplement iron, they can take liquid drops, but this dosage form is very easy to blacken teeth.

6. Side effects of iron supplements

1. Most iron supplements will have side effects such as nausea and vomiting after taking them, and the side effects of iron containing ferrous lactate on the market are relatively small, and they are more conducive to the absorption of iron. This iron supplement containing ferrous lactate is more suitable for infants and pregnant women.

2. People who take iron supplements for a long time will have black stool color, but there is no need to be overly nervous, which is a normal phenomenon. There are also many people who will be constipated after taking iron supplements, so they can ask their doctor to prescribe stool softeners to take them together.

7. Precautions for taking iron supplements

1. Iron supplements should not be taken together with calcium tablets, zinc and other supplements, so as not to interfere with the absorption of iron.

2. When eating iron, it should not be taken with antacids, such as gastric milk tablets, gastric powder, etc., because gastric acid will help the absorption of iron, and eating antacids will reduce gastric acid and reduce iron absorption.

3. Do not drink coffee, milk, tea, and red wine when taking iron, as these drinks will interfere with the absorption of iron.

4. When taking iron, you can add a small glass of orange juice or vitamin C to increase the absorption rate of iron.

8. Dietary taboos

1. It is not advisable to blindly supplement iron

Iron supplementation should be carried out under the arrangement and advice of experts, because iron can treat anemia and malnutrition, some people think that iron is a blood tonic and nutritional medicine, so blindly take it, which is harmful.Blind consumption of iron will cause the following harms: 1) Long-term excessive iron can be deposited in the tissue cells of many organs, especially in the liver, spleen, thyroid, adrenal gland and stomach, etc., which can be induced in severe casescirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, and skin pigmentation, etc., is called idiopathic hemoglobinosis. 2) Even if too much iron is ingested at one time, it will corrode the gastric mucosa and cause excessive free iron in the blood circulation, just like whether gastritis will become gastric cancer, there will be cell hypoxia, acidosis, and in severe cases, shock and cardiac insufficiency. 3) Normal iron supplementation, if the dose is too large, there will also be adverse reactions, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, bad smell in the mouth, jaundice, drowsiness, etc. Therefore, iron should not be taken blindly, and if the condition requires iron supplements, it should also start with a small dose and gradually increase the dose.

2. It should not be taken at the same time as other medicines

Before using iron, it is necessary to pay attention to understand that some drugs will affect the absorption of iron, and should not be taken at the same time as other drugs, 1) should not be taken with antacids, these drugs can reduce the concentration of gastric acid, and iron is absorbed from the intestine in the form of ferrous ions, gastric acid promotes the reduction of ferric iron to ferric iron, which can increase the absorption of iron, and antacids are not conducive to the formation of ferric iron and affect absorption. 2) It is not suitable to take with alkaline drugs, these drugs can produce insoluble complexes or precipitates when they encounter iron, which hinders the absorption of iron, and alkaline drugs will neutralize gastric acid, reduce gastric acid concentration, and affect iron absorption. 3) It should not be taken with antibiotics, as iron will form insoluble compounds with some components of these antibiotics, which will affect the absorption of iron.4) It should not be taken with lipid-lowering drugs, which can bind to iron and reduce absorption, reducing efficacy.

3. It is not advisable to drink casually

Some dairy products and legumes should not be consumed while taking iron. Milk is an alkaline food, which reduces the acidity of gastric juice, which is not conducive to the dissociation of iron and the formation of divalent iron ions, and milk contains calcium and phosphate, which can precipitate iron and hinder the absorption of iron. Tea contains a large amount of tannic acid, which is easy to combine with low-valent iron to form insoluble substances, which affects the absorption of iron, and anemia patients drink tea, which will aggravate the symptoms of anemia. Coffee contains some polyphenolic compounds that can form insoluble salts with iron, hindering iron absorption. Soybean milk is rich in amino acids, and what calcium for diabetes will react with iron to form chelates that cannot be absorbed by the human body, affecting the absorption of iron, so it is not advisable to drink milk, tea, coffee, soy milk and other drinks when taking iron.