To ask if this is an emergency?

[Soitis83]

Posting here mainly for traffic.

The last week or so I've felt terrible. Finally took an iron tablet and felt so much better.
Problem is that better didn't last very long so I took another one..then another and then another. All together 80mg, one packet is mixed with other things and one is just 20mg.
I've convinced myself I'm going to die. Please someone reassure me I'm going to be okay

Does your baby sleep well? I have PPA and I didn’t realise how badly the lack of sleep was affecting me until my youngest started sleeping better. Hope you feel better soon. I would definitely contact your gp on Monday and tell them how your feeling x

Honestly I'm glad so many people reacted that way cus it brought me back down to earth. Only one person called me dumb but that's fine, I've been called worse!

My iron tablets are 325 mg and over the counter

No not at all! He's a terrible sleeper. What's PPA? I'm not sure I've heard of that.
My GP is so hard to get an appointment (who's isn't??) but I'm counting down the minutes till I can call Monday morning

You might end up with a bit of constipation.

Your iron tablet(s) was not the reason you felt instantly better.

If you read the iron protocol it suggests you take your weight in kg and multiply by 5 to get the maximum amount of iron you take in a day, every day. I don't know how much you weigh but for me, I'd have to take 260mg a day. You haven't taken much more than that.

You'll be absolutely fine. Try not to worry.

Really???

Pregnancy iron tablets are over 200 mg and you can even get 300 mg ones so 80mg is absolutely fine.

They would no way send an ambulance for 80mg of iron.

And the feeling better after taking one would be psychosomatic. It takes a while to build up a store.

Perhaps the 111 person mistook the situation???

You're not a burden for needing assistance with your health - mental health is as real as physical health. If you had a broken leg in a cast and needed help for an hour or two you'd consider that reasonable I'm sure. Consider it the same with your mental health, just because it's not visible doesn't mean it's not there. The behaviour and thoughts you've described on this thread are very concerning and having a face to face chat with someone you know and trust could really help you make sense of it all and feel more "with it".

These symptoms you've mentioned could be anything from stress to a virus. Is there a reason you think they're being caused by low iron or do you perhaps think your health anxiety has made you latch on to the idea as it's a known entity from when you were pregnant? Have the symptoms suddenly gotten much worse for you to act on them on a Saturday evening?

I'd suggest having your friend over for a while tonight and giving the GPs a call on Monday to have a good chat about how you're feeling in every aspect. Take care.

Thank you so much for this information

I think 111 flow chart thing has triggered the ambulance as technically you have taken too many tablets, which ticks overdose on their flow chart
Ridiculous overreaction as the ferrous fume rate tablets prescribed for iron deficiency are 320mg each!
I note that the ones screenshotted by OP are B12
OP iron does not make you feel better! It has a cumulative effect.
Kindly meant please educate yourself
This is a factor in your health anxiety

This happened to me too. Any overdose (doesn't matter what the product is - all they care about is if you've taken more than advised) requires an ambulance when talking to 111. Mine was for taking too much Ventolin. I told them not to send an ambulance as I could take myself to the hospital so I 100% believe the OP.

That's so true and I absolutely believe that myself. I think the way I was raised has done a number on me as an adult.
Possibly latched on to it as I needed something to latch onto because I could no go on like that any longer. I wish I had all the answers because two weeks ago I was at my happiest, content, not a glimpse of anxiety in sight, and now it's all I think about, it's honestly so debilitating I cannot express.
I have messaged my friend and she's been so so lovely and has told me she's more than happy to come over without me even asking, which has made me feel better.

I've been taking two 210mg tablets a day, prescribed, for almost four weeks and it's still not made any difference. I doubt 80mg needs an ambulance and defo won't have made you feel better straight away.

Thank you. I didn't over react on the phone at all, I genuinely did not expect an ambulance

Oh no!! You poor thing!
That could well be part of it. One loss is bad enough but more will just be hideous. Please try & speak to someone close or you trust. Being a parent is stressful.
I hope you will contact your GP asap to at least explain how you are really struggling. They will listen & really help.
We could all do with a little help sometimes, & it's nothing to feel bad about, it happens to the best of us!
I really wish I could help you.

Thank you for answering me.

I’m sorry you’re so stressed, and hope you’re able to get the reassurance/help you need soon x

The fact you're reply to all these messages suggest you're very well. Call the GP and book in for some seriously needed support with your anxiety! Sorry but this is ridiculous, and I've got health anxiety!

Low iron can cause heart palpitations, increased anxiety. Check out the iron protocol on Facebook. It was eye opening to me. So many symptoms I have had over the last two years all made sense. I have practically all of them and confirmed w bloods I am anemic and low ferritin (iron stores) so am on tablets.

An iron tablet does not make you feel better instantly. You have to take it every day for ages before it has any effect on your body. If you suddenly felt better that was nothing but a placebo effect.

The iron tablets you took won’t harm you. You are not going to die and they won’t make you even slightly unwell.

You sound like someone who has a severe health anxiety. Your physical symptoms sound like anxiety and you have now convinced yourself you’re dying. You are not.

Your anxiety needs treating so make an appointment with your GP about that.

I got my iron tablets mixed up with my codeine after a C section, so was taking multiple iron tablets a day for a few days, I called 111 and they just calculated my weight etc but weren't concerned by it

You're so sweet thank you. I think losing my mum was the biggest one for me. It made me never ever want to leave my children without me. It's hard, life is hard sometimes isn't it ? But I'll get through it. I've been through far far worse and came out the other end.

I don't think 80mg will do you any harm as Ferrous fumarate tablets are around 240mg, and can be taken up to three times a day depending on how bad the defiency is. You really need to go to your GP and have your ferritin levels checked to see if you're actually deficient.

CBT might help with the anxiety in the long run (or DBT) - I have horrendous health anxiety caused by OCD in conjunction with complex ptsd. At the worst I was in A&E almost weekly and rang 111 almost every day - often several times a day … I ended up being seen by a community mental health team - saw a psychologist, psychiatrist and CPN.

CPN did a lot of therapy with me over a period of about 6 months, which worked absolute wonders - I’ve gone from ringing 111 upwards of 5 x a day to living fully independently and struggling much, much, much less.

It’s worth asking GP about. I have to be very careful with myself - I need to make sure I’m getting all the basics right (food, sleep, fresh air, shower, work, friends, leisure) and have to keep careful check on what I’m watching, reading, because I spiral so quickly if I’m triggered. My fears are palpitations and dizziness...

I have bad days but my GP years ago said to see it like diabetes - normally very well controlled but can have hypos at times, just keep an eye on triggers. It does help, and it can get better.

It sucks when you’re in the worst though and everyone around you is pointing the finger of blame - my family used to do that. Less so now. But when I was very ill they were bloody horrible at times. As if you need that when you’re already shit scared 24/7 that something awful is coming.

lots of love and thoughts xxxx

And now we enter the stage of a Mumsnet thread where the masses come storming in to repeat the same thing about what 80mg means or does not mean.

Gentle nudge to anyone about to say so - it's worth reading OP's replies.

Just seen you have an eight month old baby and you’ve obviously experienced a lot of stress and loss in the past - it would be very understandable if anxiety has hit you suddenly under these circumstances. Could be postpartum mental health problems or even delayed PTSD. So please do get some help for that via your GP. And in the meantime don’t worry about the iron tablets - you haven’t harmed yourself by taking more than you’re meant to.

111 tend to call an ambulance for everything. They can't see you over the phone so they seem to assume the worst.