Iron tablets and diarrhoea

[kaytee87]

I've been taking iron tablets for a couple of days and have a really upset stomach, feel nauseous, stomach cramps and diarrhoea.
Is there anything I can do to relieve these symptoms? Will they go away in a few days?

[browzingss]

Which ones are you taking exactly? Some are more gentle on the stomach than others.

To be honest, I was on high strength ferrous fumarate for 6 months and I had mild general bowel issues on/off throughout that time. Not everyday, but frequently enough. I don’t think you can stop the side effects completely due to the absorption process. However if the symptoms are still intense after a few days, reduce your dosage to 1x a day instead of 2/3x a day, or go back to your GP and ask for a lower strength product.

You can try different things: taking them at different times of the day; with orange juice; after eating a small amount of food or on an empty stomach (whichever works for you); in liquid form etc. Don’t have hot drinks or milk after taking them.

[kaytee87]

Ferrous fumerate 210mg x 3 per day.
I think I'll just try 2 a day and see if it helps.

[lumpy76]

Ferrous fumarate made me wickedly ill despite it supposedly being more gentle than ferrous sulphate. The only preparation of iron I can take is brand name ferrograd. It's ferrous sulphate specially coated to release more slowly and reduce side affects. Definitely worth trying.