Just normal pregnancy 'tiredness?'

[mumtobe2019]

Hello,

I'm 24 weeks pregnant with twins and have found the past two weeks to be increasingly difficult (I know this is to be expected).

I am becoming more and more breathless and tired from simple tasks. I have had on and off heart palpations and have been feeling really fatigued, tearful, overwhelmed, low concentration, and generally 'not myself'. I've continued to take Pregnacare throughout my pregnancy and have also been taking for over a month two sachets of Spatone each day (with Vit C).

After feeling lousy all weekend I woke up this morning with really strong heart palpitations that would not stop, was very weak and light headed.

I've went to my GP today to have my iron levels checked and the results have already come through. My ferritin levels are 11 so whilst on the low side no other treatment is required.

I've slept all afternoon and feel like I could sleep for days. I've been off work for three days and without a sick note I really should return to work tomorrow.

Can anyone advise where I go from here? Shall I just accept this as normal pregnancy symptoms? Is there anything else I can be doing to make myself feel 'normal' again?

I suffered from a couple of days of exhaustion when I was pregnant - I remember standing at the bottom of my stairs and bursting into tears at the thought of the effort required to go up them!
My GP took bloods to check for iron and vit d - iron was similar to yours but vit d was very low - a few days of an intense dose made me feel so much more human. Perhaps worth going back to the GP to request that?

I'm 12 weeks pregnant and I am absolutely exhausted, sometimes I feel like everything is just TOO hard..makes me miserable.. I'm carrying one! Can't begin to imagine what carrying twins would be like..

What did ur GP say about the palpitations?

Ah! I do normally have low vit.D levels but I thought my daily Pregnacare would be sort me out @tweetypi. But I agreeI think this should be checked out.

@Bigonesmallone - the GP and midwife seemed to think the heart palpitations were normal in pregnancy and checked me out today but thought everything seemed fine.

@mumtobe2019, did you mention the palpitations to your GP?

I'm sorry, I've just read that you did.....
I'd be concerned about feeling light headed when having palpitations. Worth keeping a record how often that happens and check your pulse rate (speed and regularity) and jot that down too.

I'm 30 weeks pregnant with a ferritin of 12 and am being treated for anaemia with prescribed iron tablets, which will be much stronger than spatone or anything else over the counter. I've read that a ferritin of under 30 in pregnancy should be treated the same as 'proper' anaemia with iron tablets. I've not had palpitations but have had all the other symptoms same as you. I'd go back to the GP if possible.

I suspect what’s up is that you’re 24 weeks pregnant with twins!

My twin pregnancy wrecked me.

I had all kinds of heart investigations as my pulse kept going ridiculously high and I had very frequent palpitations.

You will, I’m afraid, only get more breathless and tired. Towards the end I barely moved if I could help it.

I read somewhere that we aren’t designed to carry more than one baby at a time so it can take quite a superhuman effort.

Get as much rest as you can now!

Oh just to add... my heart was fine. No issues at all as soon as I delivered.

I was actually signed off at 24 weeks with my twins.. best thing that could have happened. I didn’t have palpitations but was sooooo tired constantly.
I wouldn’t rush back

Low magnesium can cause heart palpitations, mcscle aches, extreme tiredness. Its very difficult to eat enough magnesium in an ordinary diet and many people are deficient, and that is before a twin pregnancy. Check you multi vits and see how much magnesium they have. Top up the dose so you are taking 100% of the recommended dose every day. If you go a bit over, dont worry, your babaies will use it. Then take at least 3000 iui of Vit D every day, and see how you feel in a week. If you arent any better, go back to the doctor and ask for a thyroid test. Its also common for that to go out of whack during pregnancy and its something that shouldnt be ignored as it impacts the babies as well as you. Listen to the PP about iron levels, I dont have much experience with that.

You can have Anaemia like symptoms when your ferritin is under 50 so 11 is very low. I know I feel horrendous (exhausted, breathless, palpitations) when my ferritin dips below 30/35.

As long as your serum iron is not high then I would take some iron supplements. There is not enough in Spatone to do fuck all! Take 210mg of ferrous fumerate three times a day with some vitamin c to aid absorption and reduce constipation (I think 2000mg a day is that maximum you should take in pregnancy but please check this). I take 500mg with each dose but I am not pregnant. If you can not cope with ferrous fumerate you could try ferrous glycinate which is easier in the stomach.

How low was your vitamin D. Low vitamin d can also make you feel terrible. If you were deficient you needed a loading dose of 300,000iu over 6-10 weeks - a multivitamin won't cut it. Your vitamin d levels should really be around 100 ultimately but you definitely don't want to be in the deficient category.

As others have said please make sure your GP has checked your thyroid (TSH, T4 and T3 ideally). A TSH over 2.5 (I believe it was increased from 2 to 2.5 but can't find the reference now) in pregnancy is not recommended.

If you have already had a lot of tests done you can ask for copies. You need the results and ranges and if you are not sure what they mean come back on here.