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?

Ask your doc whether they know about taking it every other day to aid absorption. I maintain my levels doing this with one tab every other day. You may find it less irritating if you do it every other day instead. Research on absorption: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31413088/

It may be that your levels are too low for alternate days but worth mentioning.

I was diagnosed as celiac too.

Went to gp thinking I may be anaemic. Recognised some symptoms from being anaemic years ago, but had some other symptoms too.

Bloods confirmed anemia ( not quite as bad as last time) but also raised gluten antibodies. First endoscopy said higher risk. Repeat bloods 6 months later and repeat endoscopy confirmed the diagnosis.

Part way though the iron tablets had improved things, so they were stopped. Was then still having to eat gluten before the repeat tests, so iron levels dropped again. Although I had stopped eating gluten after diagnosis, i was feeling some of the original symptoms, and blood tests confirmed low iron levels.

If the stomach hasn't recovered yet, you aren't going to absorb as much of what you need.

As you have said, eating the gluten could cause dome of the symptoms being mentioned. Didn't realise how bloated I was, until I stopped the gluten intake.

I got terrible gastric problems from taking iron. It took me a while to fix my stomach as anything acidic burned.
Can you ask the dr to refer your for the intravenous iron?

Im meant to be taking iron tablets ferrous sulphate 3 x a day but i get such dreadful stomach issues, on toilet all day long, gas, bloating, feeling quite sick that i havent been taking them. The latest guidance is to take on alternate days as a greater amount if iron is absorbed, as another pp has said.
The spatone is easy to take and ididnt find it had side effects.

I second switching to iron bisglycinate (gentle iron). It's a more easily absorbed form and comes in a lower dose than the ones often prescribed so fewer / no side effects. 60mg every other day is mentioned here as working best: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09ply54
If this doesn't work then considering coeliac might be a good idea.

Infusions may well be a better choice for you if you can't stomach the tablets.

It definitely doesn't agree with my stomach either. The best I found was tablets called Maltofer.
Pharmacy advised not to bother with spatone of you have a serious deficiency because it doesn't contain enough iron to be helpful.

Three arrows nutra

Serum ferritin of 4 here, can’t tolerate tablets so have infusions. Those are common side affects of taking that type of iron. Talk to your gp as there are other options.

Iron supplements are known to cause digestive distress but if you're hair is falling out due to anaemia I wouldn't just stop due to the stomach upset.

My mum is frequently anaemic and her GP said to take the tablets every other day to aid absorption. Something in your body kicks in to avoid getting too much iron when you take them daily.
It might not solve the problem but in addition to helping use the iron better it would give your stomach a night off in between doses.
Hope you feel better soon, it’s such a drag.

I spoke to the pharmacist and they advised changing to ferrous gluconate - which is better but not great. I still get digestion issues. I’m pushing for an iron infusion.

Yes and it’s very common. I had anaemia in all of my pregnancies and when they tried to give me the tablets, I refused. I took them the first time and they made me so constipated, I was in agony. I took spatone instead, little sachets of liquid iron from Holland&Barrett. Much more gentle.

God yes - ew - iron tablets often feel like the cure's worse than the disease!

Spatone packets are good as an alternative. You can get them in Boots.

I was looking for one just recently that is gentle on the stomach and came across Active iron advanced. It seems to come in both 20mg or 25mg doses, so don’t know if that’s strong enough, but claims it’s more easily absorbed than most, so as effective as higher doses of other iron supplements, and also much less likely to cause stomach discomfort or constipation. I’ve been using it for almost a week and so has a family member who has problems with tummy and constipation as it is. I haven’t noticed any problems for my family member and I haven’t had any myself so far.

I agree with this. Spatone isn't a very high dose, but when my dd was anaemic I used a double dose and put the sachet contents into a glass of fresh orange juice. Altermatively take it with vitamin c tablets.
No tea or coffee within 2 hours and you can boost absorption by 4 times.
No side effects and it works.
So many people don't take iron supplements properly.

I hope you check back here, OP.

Put your foot down with the Dr & tell you you can't & truly do not want to take the tablets & want to look at an infusion. It will take so long to get your levels up to anything substantial on the tablets. It varies across the country as to who they are offered to (which is appaling imo) but anything below 9 should be considered per NICE guidelines.

They should also be looking at why your levels are so low - cos they are! You must feel like shit & have forgotten what normal is like. My final straw (after hair falling out, having to move slowly in case my vision went & so on) was nearly slicing my finger off at work cos my co-ordination was absolutely borked - I was at risk of seriously hurting myself cos I work alone.

Really pin your gp down about infusions

I know it’s dodgy to make comparisons, but a sibling had a ferritin of 5.

An immediate appointment was made so that they had an iron infusion.

it took about an hour to complete, and sibling felt some benefit even the next day, but was advised that the full benefits would unfold over about six weeks.

I hope this info helps you.

I can't tolerate iron tablets that I've tried. My iron is that low now, but I found infusions amazing.

They actually make them now with orange in, so even easier. I double dosed for a while, but as pp said the reason for the anaemia also needs addressing.

My iron didn't normalise till I got a Mirena.

They want me to have mirena but I’m scared, how did you find it?

I came on to say this as well. My GP actually told me to take them every other day as they would work better.

The amount of iron in things like Spatone might keep people topped up, but is nowhere near enough iron to correct such a deficiency. I was told this at the iron clinic.

Merina has been perfect for me. I've had it 8 years with no bleeding at all.

I take ferrous fumarate every 48h to maintain levels (it doesn't upset my stomach, lots of medications massively affect me but I dodged the iron bullet!) and it's 215mg per tablet. 20 or 25 is going to do v little for OP.