Iron supplements and bowel movements?

[HRJ]

Um, my stool is black.  Is this normal when taking iron supplements, or am I taking too much?  Also, I used to only go #2 once every few days, and now I am going every day.  Today it was loose.  Does this mean I am taking too much?  I've never had black stool my entire life, so I know it has to be somehow related. 

[lillymonster]

iron changes the color of your poop, yes. I usually have the opposite problem that is constipates, so I am not familiar with loose stools, but I have heard that can happen. Were you tested and this is what the doctor told you to take or did you just start taking iron? Sometimes some women don't need it. I am not one of them! But it could also depend on if it's a natural iron too.

[HRJ]

He tested me and put me on a prescription.  It had 90mg of iron in it (and my levels weren't horribly low) plus it had colace in it.  So I decided to take the Solgar Gentle Iron instead.  I'm taking about 75 mg a day. 

[teeg1973]

Yes, it will turn your stool black!  I actually read somewhere that if it didn't turn your stool black, then you were not absorbing it correctly....so I guess it is a good thing?!? 

Tracy

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by HRJ 

He tested me and put me on a prescription.  It had 90mg of iron in it (and my levels weren't horribly low) plus it had colace in it.  So I decided to take the Solgar Gentle Iron instead.  I'm taking about 75 mg a day. 

It's probably just the form of iron causing the loose stools. It's really not a big problem. But dark stools are normal. Your body excretes iron through the poop, occasionally you can iron overdose. You are taking 3 pills day? different types of iron use different levels, so you might only need just one pill a day because your body absorbs it better than the prescription one that is 90 mg. My levels were low, but not badly and I am taking 27 mg (1 pill daily) of blood builder by megafoods. Before then I was only taking 18 mg of iron (jarrow ironsorb) The only reason my iron levels were low was because I stopped taking them because I had constipation and I was trying to figure it where it was from.

Maybe try cutting back to one or two pills a day if you are taking more than one.