Iron level was 9

[Claire2009]

Meant to be at least 30-40 doc said?

Anaemic also, on 3 tabs a day for 3mths now.

[4madboys]

um nope generally your iron level should be above 10. 9 is ok, mine was that whilst pregnant, i just had it tested actually and its not at 12 which the gp said is fine

i would try to up your iron intake just with regular food and also drink orange juice with vit c, as that helps you absorb iron more easily.

9 really isnt that low at all.

[JHKE]

Agree with 4madboys.
When I had my 2 I was anaemic with both due to loss of blood during birth, my levels dropped to 6 and had to have blood transfusions. I remember at the time that my levels had to be 10 for me to leave hospital. I was on iron tablets after that for a few weeks.

[Claire2009]

"There are 2 ways to measure Iron levels, Iron stores (ferritin) & the Iron being used (haemoglobin) normal range for Ferritin is 12-150 ng/mL while normal range for haemoglobin is 12 - 16 gm/dl. Your doctor may have also tested the Mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) which is the average concentration of hemoglobin in a given volume of red cells. Normal range for this is 32 - 36% so that might be where the 30-40 came from"

That makes sense, ish.

Thanks girls, will take the iron tabs and hopefully a dramatic improvement will occur!

[mistlethrush]

Claire - said this before - due to blood loss I was given iron tabs - but managed to get my levels up in a week what they expected in 3 wks by eating carob - available in wholefood shops - you can buy bars a bit like chocolate, but I get the powder and just have a teaspoon in breakfast cereal, bowl of yoghurt, even as a hot milky drink. No side effects to this - although there might be to the iron tabls.

[megcleary]

Mine was 4 the ferritin and it is like running a car with no petrol the GP said I was very emotional and stressed when it was low and the normal range starts at 22 it is as you say different to HB I felt a lot better after a course of iron

[LadyOfWaffle]

Spatone is better than iron tablets IME. I put a sachet in orange juice. Iron tablets made my poo green , all bloated/constipated etc. Spatone is absorbed faster also.

[spiderlight]

Floradix/Floravital is also infinitely better than tablets. It's liquid and it doesn't upset your stomach or bung you up like tablets can. I also find that it's much easier to absorb in this form - iron tablets have virtually no effect on my iron levels but Floravital makes a big difference. You can get it in pretty much any health food shop. Ferroglobin liquid is pretty good too and much cheaper.

[Iworryalot]

what is spatone ? how many Mg of iron is in a sachet ? and is it ok to take daily ? daily amount is 18 i think ? thinking of getting some if good i have low iron very heavy periods use gentle iron tablets at moment .

[KingRolo]

LadyOfWaffle is right about Spatone.

It comes in sachets which you add to orange juice as the vit C helps iron absorption. The mg of iron in a sachet is lower than in an iron tab but it's all absorbed as it's in liquid form.

I took 2 sachets a day and got my iron levels from 9.4 at 22 wks pg to 12.4 at delivery. The midwives were well impressed!

It's often on 3 for 2 in Boots too.

[Iworryalot]

thank you i will have a look , i have heavy P and doc said would do no harm to take iron daily to top up what i loose .
i do get v tired and breathless and have just started to go to gym and feel exhausted so this may help .