Could iron tablets be making me poorly??

[Biskitteef]

I suffer with chronic anaemia (lowest point was a ferritin of 3). They always prescribed me iron tablets which I’d take sparingly but often forget and sometimes just gave up on.

Then my hair started falling out so I decided to take the newly prescribed iron tablets more seriously, religiously taking them every single night.

Now - these ones are a different brand (still ferrous fumerate but the box looks very different). Then have an awful weird taste, with the old ones I got a slight metallic taste from them but these have a strong weird chemical taste to them.

For the past few weeks I have suffered with a constantly bloated stomach, wind and mild abdominal pain. Everytime I eat, my stomach bloats up and starts hurting. Could it be the iron tablets causing this?? I have a dr appointment next Friday but tempted to stop taking them until the appointment?

It’s worth checking your symptoms with the doctor incase it’s something else, but iron tablets can have these type of side effects. I take ferrous sulfate which I find a bit better than others, but still need to drink alot of juice etc as they are constipating. I find they also make me feel nauseous in the morning. I have to take them though due to very low ferritin. You probably already know this but best not to have any caffeine or milk containing products around the time you take your tablets as this greatly reduces absorption.

They are quite the stomach irritant, my ferritin was 2 and i I was on ferrous gluconate three times a day, spent most of the day on the loo had a month off work to get my ferritin to 20.

ferrous glucontae gentler than ferrous sulphate

Look for a gentle iron.

Sounds like it could be. I find it's best to take them at night, then I sleep through any issues!

I take spa tone, it's lower iron content but more bio available so works for me. The tablets always murdered my digestion.

Stopping for a few days to see if the symptoms disappear might be wise? Then GP if they don't.

Iron Supplements have always given me the runs.

I get really bad bloating and the runs when taking iron tablets. Maybe ask GP for a different pill or maybe a spray instead.

Yes, it could. They have the same effect on me.

@Biskitteef absolutely! I’m in a similar position. Most iron tablets make me extremely ill. I take prescribed gentle iron supplements and much better.

I also look at food that’s high in iron etc to try and boost it.

I have dreadful issues with taking 2 iron pills alongside some as yet undiscovered food item but possibly cheese. I thought it was cheese for a long time but it's not, it's the iron. So far nothing on just one pill. Really bad stomach cramps, not being able to breathe properly with the pain, followed by severe diarrhoea for hours.

I can’t tolerate the tablets. I have regular blood tests and infusions.

You need to take it with something to help your poo. Pysllium husk or those powders you dissolve in water which I've forgotten the name of but they are usually orange flavoured.

Wild nutrition do a great iron supplement which I found to be fine for my digestion. Im mostly veggie so I credit it with getting my iron ‘very high’ according to the midwife who gave me my blood test results at the start of pregnancy!
Perhaps worth a shot OP as these super strength ones are no good if you can’t tolerate them

https://amzn.eu/d/00yljzVM These are fab. Got my ferritin from 23 to 140 in a few months. Much gentler on the stomach and have vitamin C to aid absorption

Have you been checked for Coeliac disease? It’s a very common cause of low iron and abdominal pain (as well as many other symptoms like mouth ulcers, headaches, miscarriages and infertility).
1:100 people have Coeliac disease but only a third of them are diagnosed. On average it takes 13 years to be diagnosed with Coeliac disease.

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/about-coeliac-disease/symptoms/

I find that magnesium supplements, even those Trip drinks, make me really loose, so I take my ferrous fumerate in the morning, have a trip drink with my dinner and I'm pretty much ok.

Yes. I had the same side effects and my iron levels did not improve. Turns out I couldn’t absorb the iron tablets which was the cause of my discomfort agony. I ended up having to consciously overhaul my diet to have iron rich food sources.

Tablets made me really ill, I got changed to liquid iron and made all the difference

good to hear as I’ve been taking these for a few months and due another blood test soon

Yes they could be. I also have low ferritin and I am supposed to take the tablets 3x a day on an empty stomach. However I can only tolerate 2x a day with food at the moment as otherwise I get horrendous bloating, heartburn, reflux, constipation etc.

Liquid iron is supposed to be gentler on the stomach but I haven't tried that yet.

Yes, quite a typical response to this type of iron. As other posters have suggested try a different type like Ferrous bisglycinate which is often better tolerated.

Iron is best absorbed in an empty (or as empty as you can manage if it causes upset) stomach, with vitamin c to help absorption. When taking the supplements, avoid having tea and coffee and calcium rich foods like milk, cheese, yoghurt etc around the same time as these can block or reduce absorption.

As others have said, make a conscious effort to also increase iron in your diet (paired with vitamin c) and if you have heavy periods, look into these with your GP as this will not be helping your iron stores.

It can take a while for stores to improve too.

Try either taking it with food or at bedtime to minimise the side effects.

Taking it every other day is better than not taking it at all.

Manage constipation with fibre or laxatives.

Try to persist, many stomach side effects will settle in 2-4 weeks.

Many 'gentle' iron products don't contain enough iron to treat anaemia, they have so little iron (hence why no side effects!)

My iron level was 4 and was on serious iron tablets. A few soft dried apricots (Lidl do good ones) helped my stomach immensely

They are awful!
Try the liquid - or the shots. There are apple ones that are lovely - Spatone