There are different types of iron supplements. Ferrous is the easiest to absorb and less likely to cause constipation. But...there are iron supplements that are touted as being non-constipating. If you are taking an iron supplement on the advice of your physician...ask him/her to recommend one of the non-constipating variety. Otherwise...talk to your pharmacist. It's been eons since I've had to take iron capsules so I'm not up on the latest and greatest...but I had far less problems taking the ferrous variety.

Lol! Chewables. I used to order from Vitamin Shoppe when I was pregnant. I'd take some of the vitamin throughout the day so I wasn't getting one huge dose at a time. It seemed to help. It kept the nausea down too. Here is a LINK. I used to order the first bottle, but I see there are other options.

A serving of Triscuit crackers a day will add lots of fiber and maybe all you need. My medical office always suggested it to folks taking a round of pain medication. A tasty treatment. :)

Look into desiccated liver pills. Also you need to be getting some form of vitamin c with your iron to help with absorption.

I am on iron supplements per the directions of my doctors and probably will be for the rest of my life. My iron levels are regularly tested.

When they first discovered what was wrong and I started taking my iron supplements, I slowly added more fiber in my diet. I added more black beans, triscuit crackers, avacados, blueberries and raspberries, things like that. Add the fiber slowly, don't add it all at once.

My salads are topped with black beans, blueberries, avacados, raw corn, sunflower seeds, etc. I batch make salads in a jar so my salads are easy to grab and eat.

I take my iron supplements religiously and have to be diligent about eating high fiber foods. Per my doctors' instructions I take my iron with a vitamin C pill or orange juice on an empty stomach, no food 2 hours before and no food 2 hours after. My routine is to take it first thing in the morning as soon as I get up and then make sure I eat something kind of substantial 2 hours after, then eat plenty of fiber throughout the day. That routine has helped me tolerate the iron much, much better. I have tried many brands and SlowFE works best for me. My doctors said that is what works best for most of their patients.

If more fiber doesn't work for you then talk to your doctors and see if they have other suggestions. I sometimes have other side effects from the iron supplement tablets that I don't have with iron infusions. My doctors have told me if I have a period of time when the tablet supplements cause too many issues they will prescribe iron infusions till I get over the hump. So far I haven't needed that.

Good luck. Hope you find something that works for you.

You may also want to see if you're deficient in magnesium.

Prune juice with a little apple juice added

I had to take them for a period of time also. What Daisy said on all that.

When I was finally able to have that first cup of coffee in the morning, I added a spoonful of a super-fine dissolvable fiber. I couldn't taste it at all.

My doctor recommended Ferrous Gluconate (325 mg) because it doesn't cause constipation and it hasn't.

Dried prunes or dried apricots help a lot. Slice open the prune or apricot and add a teaspoon of cream cheese for a treat. Lots of fruit and green vegetables.

Try Belvita and eat one or two for breakfast, that works or take a daily probiotic, that works too.