Gentle iron supplements or private iron infusion in London?

[Exhausted647382LND]

In short: Can someone please recommend iron supplements that are VERY gentle on the stomach? Or has someone paid for an iron infusion privately somewhere in London?

I'm horribly exhausted (not the sort cured by a good night sleep) and in a lot of pain (PGP, back, hips) since I had my daughter TWO YEARS AGO. I've had blood tests, MRI, X-ray etc recently because of how much agony I am in. Absolutely everything is fine except "slightly" low iron (ferritin of 12) and some inflammation in my pelvis.

GP told me to take iron supplements. I've spent ££ on various ones and they leave me so sick, I actually had to call in sick at work once, which is very unlike me.

I do have a very sensitive stomach after a series of food poisonings and then ulcer in my early 20s.

So I gave up on the iron supplements. But my new physio (I have a new physio helping with my PGP who is brilliant) told me today that low iron can contribute to inflammation and could be part of why my PGP is so bad.

I'm close to a breakdown, I'm so tired. I already know the basics about avoiding dairy and caffeine with iron, eating lots of meat, take iron with vitamin C etc.

Posting in AIBU for traffic as I'm desperate and close to quiting my job, I'm so tired.

I’m booked for an infusion on the nhs (ferritin is 18) but they didn’t offer it to me a few years ago when it was only 14 but I’m now on cancer treatment so my brilliant CNS has got involved. I do find Solgar Gentle Iron is generally a good supplement.

I find it so surprising that some people with much lower aren't offered these things. Mine is apparently not considered a problem at 10-they haven't even offered pills. Maybe some people have a private GP or aren't in England, but it amazes me that something so common is ignored.

Oooh in that case I will try them, thank you @Tink3rbell30 !

Unfortunately the conversation was to have it done privately, but it was literally the first thing offered to me (like "if you'd like to pay, you should consider having an iron infusion"), hence my waiting for a month to see whether tablets are going to do anything. If the blood test next week shows that the tablets haven't done much I'll be taking money from my savings for it.

Dietary changes make zero difference for me - I just don’t seem to absorb it.

All I can tolerate so far is spatone, which as others have said are more of a maintenance thing. I’ve just had a scary experience with iron bisglycinate which was supposed to be a gentle one - stomach is still recovering two weeks later. Couldn’t tolerate Floradixnor Better You either 🙁

When I had my initial appointment with a haematologist before my infusion, she said it would take a couple of years to raise my ferritin to her recommended minimum level of 80 by taking iron tablets and would be almost impossible through diet. Which is why I opted for an infusion. It took my ferritin from 5 to 113 and has made a huge difference to my life.

I've had two iron infusions on the NHS at addenbrookes in Cambridge. The first my iron was 3.6 and didn't rise quickly enough with supplements. Even at that level they were reluctant, I begged my GP to refer me because like you I couldn't tolerate the oral iron and in my case it gave me severe constipation.

To be honest it wasn't a magic fix. It sent my iron sky high just afterwards and I expected to feel loads different but didn't really. Now a year later by iron is back at 9 at last check but I have since overhauled my diet and taking the better you oral spray which hasn't constipated in the same way. I'm due to go back for another test soon and hoping I'll see an improvement.

I can't comment on the iron side of things, but have you asked for any help specifically with your sensitive stomach, as it might be the reason you don't absorb iron very well, and it will also contribute to the exhaustion.

Unfortunately it's really hard to get help with GI issues, but have you ruled out (or ruled in and already manage) food intolerances such as coeliac and lactose intolerance? It's common to develop lactose intolerance after severe food poisoning for example.

I am finding I can tolerate iron bisglycinate now. It took a few days to settle down, but I couldn't take any of the other oral options at all.

I started using a lucky iron fish and no stomach issues at all. And ferritin went from 24 to 84 in a few months. Get the official one tho not an Amazon knock off as they can have cheap metals mixed in.

In Australia so iron infusions are very cheap here, I’ve had an iron infusion recently, made such a difference to my energy levels. Takes about an hour. Iron supplements, even “gentle” liquid ones don’t work for me. I’d go for it. My daughter had one a few years ago aged around 18 too. No side affects.

I took Floradix when I was pregnant & afterwards as I was recovering from a PPH, the prescribed iron tablets upset my stomach & gave me the most awful black diarrhoea. Have you tried increasing the iron in your diet? Lots of dark green leafy veg, red meat, liver is excellent, if you can't eat it on it's own I can recommend putting it semi frozen into a chopper, give it a couple of blasts then mixing it with minced beef & adding it to things like spaghetti bolognaise or chilli con carne, you can't tell it is in there, I usually start adding 25% of the weight of mince, then keep adding to a level you can stand, 50:50 if you can manage it, with tomato & garlic you can't taste it.

OP look into Feredet and Sodifer- two different brand names of liquid iron to treat iron deficiency. You can buy it online from pharmacies and it is very strong, easily absorbed iron (far stronger than supplements). I’m taking it and it hasn’t affected my stomach and seems to be making a difference, although it is early days.

This makes me so cross - that I imagine, mainly women, are being left with iron levels so low. I am on week 3 of iron tablets prescribed- but I had to fight for them, even with a level of 15, one pt below the cut off but way below the optimal level. Life is already improved, my knees were crucified 3 weeks ago and are already feeling better. Diet and shop bought supplements won’t get you back up sufficiently - great for staying on top. Do you know why it has dropped? My Dr offered the coil as they think mine could be caused by heavy perimenopausal periods so that could be a preventative option. I hope you work it out because life will be SO improved once that level
is up. xx

3 arrows heme iron is amazing stuff!

Thanks all! I already made all the right dietary changes a long time ago, there is nothing more I can do on that front, I am very clued up on that. I have also been tested for coeliac and ruled it out.

I got the Better You Spray which so far I can tolerate, will see if it makes a difference, I'll go for a blood test privately in autumn.

I don't know why they are so low, I'm not sure I've ever had my iron levels tested before. GP ordered the tests because of the very extreme fatigue I am feeling.

Sympathies OP, I’m in the same boat. Was diagnosed with iron level of 12 a year ago due to heavy periods every 19 days (more frequent periods can be a rare but not unusual part of peri menopause apparently). The prescribed tablets gave horrible constipation so I take Better You cheek spray higher dose one plus 2x Spatone sachets daily. My body can cope with them but it’s slow going and last year took 4 months to feel better. Foolishly, once I felt better I pretty much stopped taking the supplements and the last 2 months have been feeling rubbish again so have started the routine again but know it will probably take another couple of months to take effect.

Are you a stomach/ front sleeper by any chance? I am and the last year I’ve been waking up with hip pain if I sleep that way. It’s hard training myself out of a lifetime of that sleep position but I try to sleep on my side now with a small flat-ish rectangular cushion between my knees which helps and prevents the hip and lower back pain. It didn’t occur to me that it’s linked to low iron levels but maybe it is.

Deepest sympathy @Exhausted647382LND .

I had an iron infusion at the start of 2025. My ferritin was 4, hb 110. I also have hashimotos, and my TSH was higher than it should be. GP was very much, ‘you’re borderline…. Take some tablets and get on with it’.

Physically and mentally I was in a heap on the floor.

i saw Dr Klein in Cambridge. He was bloody brilliant. First time I felt anyone took me seriously, rather than fobbing me off. He looked at my stats and basically said no wonder you feel like death!

Iron infusion raised ferritin to 113. He asked if I’d ever been tested to find out if thyroid problems were autoimmune (I hadn’t), and also ran bloods for other autoimmune issues, which showed positive for parietal cell antibodies which were causing borderline stats for b12 and can interfere with iron absorption (in addition to dreadful periods).

Unfortunately I’m not really getting anywhere with GP getting to the bottom of my extremely heavy periods. Bloods over the past year showed ferritin levels dropping… 43 at the end of ‘25, and 15 last week. I’m gutted.

Dr Klein said I need another infusion or I’ll be right back where I started (I’m already halfway there), but as GP is dragging their feet on sorting out the cause of why I’m haemorrhaging iron (literally!) I’ve dragged my feet- as it costs so much I wanted to fix the problem before topping up… but I think I’m going to have to have another infusion asap and before we fix the cause.

By the way, he said NICE and WHO guidelines state ferritin deficiency is below 30…. Which GPs seem to ignore.

As stated by PP optimal is 70-100

"GP has said flat out that ferritin of 12 is normal and no injections are necessary."

GP's have no idea what low ferritin is for women, the min lab reference of 12 is just plain wrong. You need to supplement.

There is a liquid iron supplement that my GP prescribed me, although it contains a fodmap so if you have IBS caused by fodmaps ot may cause upset.

You can buy Iron Bisglycinate with vit C on Amazon. It's effectively absorbed and much more gentle on the stomach. The vit c assists absorption.

You should take it on an empty stomach and avoid tea, coffee and dairy for an hour afterwards or 2 hours before.

Also, take it every other day.

I take it at night, it gi es me messy bowel movements the following morning but that's all.

However, I don't know the cost the private I V iron. If you're ina lot of pain and you can afford it that would be a quick hit to check if it relieves your pain and gets you a normal life back

Yep I agree. Before I realised I could use my work private health care for an infusion I started taking these. I was already starting to feel better after a couple of weeks on them and still take a few a week to keep my levels topped up. Absolutely no side effects at all.

How did you get referred there, and was it by your GP? That would likely be my closest hospital. Was it to gastro or to haematology? I can't tolerate supplements at all at the moment, and though my Hb isn't low enough yet, it might be before long as my ferritin is dropping (still techinically in the normal range though, according to Addenbrooke's lab ranges!). I know that inability to tolerate iron supplements can be a reason for infusion, but I suspect that Hb and ferritin would have to be off the scale low first. I'm getting lots of symptoms even at the level I'm at, though.

I spent three months on ferretin supplements and then got tested again and they hadn't improved. At that point I asked to be referred and they ummed and ahhed about it. I pushed, saying I had symptoms of iron deficiency that were affecting my ability to function as an employee and as a parent - it helped that I'd been sent home from work the day before because I had a dizzy spell. I would exaggerate any symptoms you have to get seen because in my case I had low levels for a very long time before I started feeling the symptoms. It was the ambulatory care clinic I went to, I think.

Also, between the first blood test and the infusion, I was asked to do a fit test to rule out any internal bleeding. This came back positive and I had to have a gastroscopy and colonoscopy at addenbrookes which was awful, but came back negative. I think the GP felt sorry for me after all this so didn't take as much pushing!

Sytron was the only one I could tolerate.

I've had extensive blood transfusions & iron infusions. My ferritin has to be less than 4 (the lowest reading & essentially zero) and Haemoglobin of under 8 in order to get an iron infusion.

You can get horrific scarring & staining from iron infusions - I have a dirty stain around one of my arms & very self conscious of it.

If you don't have a serious bowel condition that makes absorption impossible & you don't have life threatening anaemia then you are much better off with Sytron than an infusion. Infusions don't actually work any quicker than supplements

thanks. I expect even if my Hb has dropped, it won't be much below 12, which probably rules out referral. I'm having some spotting, so I suspect gynae referral might be first, though it's clearly from starting hrt. It sounds like the referrals go to gastroenterology and they reject most of them unless Hb is very low, which doesn't help when I don't have any suspected GI issues, just struggle with horrible side effects to tablets. Don't think my GP is very interested or likely to refer as they know most referrals are rejected these days and infusions are only done with consultant referral at addenbrooke's I think. Maybe you had a very good GP!

I thought the infusions did work a lot more quickly than tablets. But I have heard that some people get small marks - didn't know it could be huge staining though, or scarring.