Anaemia

[misspollysdolly]

GP phoned on Friday to tell me that a blood test has showed that I'm 'a bit' anaemic. My hb is 8 and should be around 12-15

Can anyone tell me, how low then is 'a bit' anaemic? Is 8 really 'a bit' or actually in fact rather 'a lot' anaemic?! What can I do to sort it? GP has just said adjust diet - more red meat and green veg etc. A nurse friend has suggested that with an hb of 8 (she described this as very low) I should have been given iron tablets.

Any tips on what to take and how long to expect it to work in bringing the iron level up?

Post delivery I was down to 4. So had iron prescribed it was horrible causing terrible constipation.
What does your GP think is the cause?

Yes, I'd agree it is very low. Certainly enough to make you feel pretty tired and symptomatic. Having said that some people do have low hbs and cope well.

Tbh iron tablets are fine but can be very constipating.Liquid Floradix is gentler. A good quality multi vit is useful, too. Iron tabs should be taken with vit c to aid absorption so a glass of orange juice. Avoid tea within an hour each side, too.

Foods as you said plus pulses, dark chocolate, eggs, peanut butter...a variety of sources is ideal. A folic acid supplement also aids absorption.

It might take a while ie several weeks or months to improve your levels.

Lastly, have you addressed whatever has caused this to happen in the first place?

Good luck

Does Liquid floradix taste gross....?!

No, delicious. I love it.
Doesn't upset your yum like pills.

Ds is at about your level, v unusual for z boy. He loathed the liquids and tablets, so we do red meat, lots if dark green veg, eggs, multi vitamins.

This is the supplement I was thinking of getting:
www.vitabiotics.com/feroglobin/

Anyone used that one?

I bought that supplement (feroglobin) and only took it twice because I couldn't bear it, made me feel like I was going to throw up because of the taste. I take ferrous fumarate, which I tolerate well but do find constipation a bit of a problem. I'm also surprised you weren't prescribed iron. My hb was 8 and I was given a prescription - though my ferritin was 2 at the same time so I guess my GP really wanted the levels to come up

How long did it take for the level to come up, dotty?

After 3 months or so, hb had gone up to 12 and seems stable at that. I'm still taking the tablets though because my ferritin is still low