Iron Supplements with T2 Diabetes

[Burgerqueenbee]

Sorry posting in chat for traffic as diabetes boards are quiet.

I have been prescribed some iron tablets for anaemia during pregnancy, but I can't really take them with orange juice as recommended because of needing to keep my blood sugars tightly controlled.
Neither the midwife or pharmacist could advise best course of action and whilst I wait for my consultant to advise me I wondered if any other T2 diabetics had any solutions?

Can a vit c supplement be used alongside or will this not work? I have tolerance for a small amount of berries which I have with breakfast (whole not juice) would that be enough vit c? Or some daily brocoli with evening meal?

I appreciate it probably looks like I'm over thinking things but baby is already measuring a bit big and I would rather not throw caution to the wind.

(not pregnant or diabetic, but have struggled with iron levels for a few years)

I know they recommend orange juice for absorption. However I only ever take iron tablets just with water, and my iron level responds really well.

You know to avoid things like cheese, possibly eggs, tea etc at the same time? - they reduce absorption. This applies to iron tablets or foods with iron in! - eg if you have broccoli, avoid cheese.... I leave 1.5hrs each side of the tablet.

And - if you're not used to iron - start off slowly. Eg if they say take 3 tablets a day, start off with one for a week. I do not wish to discuss the trapped wind pain you get otherwise :-)

People respond to different compounds of iron (eg sulphate v fumarate), so worth getting a test in about a month to see if your level is going up.

I’m a bit new to T2D so not sure what the proper answer is. I wasn’t diagnosed with it when I had anaemia so hopefully someone more knowledgeable comes along.

But when I was first diagnosed with anaemia I was on iron three times a day and for practicalities sake took a vit c supplement with one of the doses each day. It seemed to work. From what my GP said it’s a case of some vitamin c is better than no vitamin c.

Thanks both, really helpful advice - I was not aware of not having dairy/tea etc within 1.5 hours.

I think I will need to take it between/after meals since yoghurt is currently my only breakfast option, be much easier if I wasn't pregnant!

I do have a blood test booked in for 4 weeks time so hopefully whatever I manage with the vitamin c will be effective enough.

I also take my iron tablets with a vitamin C tablet rather than orange juice etc. I take 1000mg. And I take it 2 hours after food and 1 hour before food (& 1 hour either side of tea).

The things to avoid list is on some PILs and not on others ... and then of course the pharmacists don't always hand them out anyway (I went looking: I 'd spent months chewing paper, hot water bottles etc).
I would recommend taking after food if you possibly can. Iron can be quite unkind, particularly at first (unless the vit c tablet helps cushion it?). I introduced it first to my biggest meal. However if you aren't eating much, bodies can cope with a lot of things, and you will get used to it, and then feel better from having more iron :-) Good luck!