spatone gaviscon not a good combo?

[Bexybear]

Can anyone help me on this...

Been taking spatone in the evenings before bed a couple of hours after eating and washed down with OJ. recently noticed im back to feeling shattered, breathless and getting palpitations again (37 weeks) and wondered if the spatone had stopped working..have taken it for three months and generally felt much better

Last two weeks ive also been swigging gaviscon before bed so i dont wake up with a mouth full of acid but just read the ingredients and one of them is calcium carbonate. As calcium stops iron absorbtion is this likely to be preventing the spatone from working? Anyone else noticed this and when/how do you take spatone to maximise absorbtion?

gotta keep my iron up for a homebirth and the prescription tabs make me feel vile...

thanks

[Haggisfish]

I'd take spatone in the morning instead. Problem solved!

[gailforce1]

Bexybear - I have been taking Floradix whilst waiting for Spatone to arrive and that you take BEFORE meals. It has extra vits in to help with absorbtion.
Have just opened the Spatone and instructions say that it is best taken on an empty stomach so perhaps you could try it before meals and then it would not interfer with Gaviscon?
Can I ask why you have to keep iron levels up for a homebirth?

[thisisyesterday]

agree, just take the spatone earlier in the day

gailforce1, because they'll try and tell you that if your iron levels drop too low you will heamorrhage and die and thus cannot have a homebirth.

[Bexybear]

Hi haggis

ruled out morning cos i get up and have to eat pretty quickly (still nauseus at 37 weeks) and to make matters worse brekky is cereal and two cups of tea (totally adicted for whole pregnancy)... probably even worse than gaviscon! not sure if there is an iron friendly breakfast

[SmallShips]

Yes I was told not to make my iron tablets before bed if I was likely to need a rennie within an hour or two of getting in it.

I take mine with orange in the afternoon as I drink too much tea in the mornings for it to be absorbed.

[Bexybear]

gailforce I will try the flordix again it gave me awful diarrea the only time ive attempted it though it worked for my first pg

thisisyesterday - exactly re homebith

Im probably obsessing about the detail(even been reading the spatone website ffs!) but as i understood it spatone needs to be taken on an empty stomach and then you need to wait an hour before having any dairy or tanin etc which given that i have to eat every two hours makes it bit tricky...maybe I just need to chill!

[MumNWLondon]

I've been taking spatone mid morning and mid afternoon with orange juice. I can't take the spatone first thing as I take thyroid medication first thing and iron interferes with my medications effectiveness.....

re: homebirth - how low was iron at 34 weeks - are they even going to test again? Mine was 12.6 (lots of spatone!) and they will not be retesting.

[thisisyesterday]

i found cutting out dairy helped hugely actually. you could try cutting down on it if you eat a lot.

as long as your levels are over 10 i think you're fine, even if they do moan!

[Bexybear]

cheers for the advice all

think i will try the mid morning mid afternoon slots and cut some of my dairy fixes (milkshakes and rice pudding . Been a bit dependent on dairy as its one of the only things i can tolerate with the nausea -that and apples

my hb was 10 in late jan (after 3 weeks of spatone) and midwife and gp quite chilled despite me saying i could not take the iron tabs. no tests since but will probably get one next week at 38 week check hence being a bit anxious.

Haven't dared do the sums but i think spatone could be the sole beneficiary of my HIP grant

[thisisyesterday]

there is some interesting stuff here on iron levels in pg specifically to do with having a homebirth.

also, google Michel Odent because he wrote some interesting stuff about hgb levels during pregnancy- i trawled through it during my last 2 pregnancies as am ALWAYS anaemic and was also having homebirths

[Bexybear]

Thanks for the link thisisyesterday...really interesting... I suddenly feel a lot less stressed about my hb levels!

also having made an effort not to compromise the spatone over the last couple of days I feel less tired and the palpitations have stopped which is good too!