Anaemia - spatone plus ferrous fumerate

[GollyGoshGreat]

I’m trying to get my iron levels up as quickly as possible to counter awful symptoms I’ve been having.

Can I take 4 sachets of spatone plus the prescribed ferrous fumerate is that too much iron in one day?

hi i had low levels of iron and ended up collapsing. I was put on ferrous sulphate but they madme constipated. online i read about spatone and was taking these two sachets daily for a few weeks but still kept fainting and collapsing and i couldnot understand why. I went to docs about it as was feeling so weak and was told spatone was doing absoluteley nothing as i would have had to take 30sachets daily! for them to even begin making a difference. i would check with your doctor as mine was pregnancy related.

From my personal experience it could be. My iron levels may not have been as low as yours (ferritin 7 and Hb 112) and I was stressing that I couldn't take enough ferrous sulphate (due to side effects) and had refused ferrous gluconate because of the nausea.

Anyway, went back to the Dr just before 3 months was up, and my ferritin has doubled and my Hb is 130. I took one spatone every lunchtime with orange juice and one iron tablet about every two days, in the middle of the night - because of the awful way they make me feel.

God knows how many doses I missed.

It possibly will make you feel nauseous taking that much. It's elemental iron you want and I think I worked out a spatone sachet is 2mg elemental iron and a ferrous sulphate tablet is 35mg. It's not the same as the mg on the packet - I don't know the science - my tablets say 200mg and spatone says 5mg.

I'd like to get my ferritin up so will continue to take one spatone a day. I'm no doctor, but to me that does sound like too much iron, plus the iron you gain from your diet. If you can take the tablets as prescribed, do, and supplement with one spatone?

Just my two cents worth.

Thanks - we’re tackling the cause of my blood loss. My haemoglobin was through the floor but just on the border for a transfusion. I’d rather not as I have a rare blood type and I’d prefer those in greater need to get the blood.

I don’t get an upset stomach or sickness from supplements. Fenny sounds like your regime is working well for you. Will you keep it up?

Yes. I'll skip the remaining prescribed tablets I've got and stick to spatone, maybe for as long as three months because apparently a ferritin level of 7 is rather low. I'd like my hair to not fall out anymore. Certainly the cause of my anaemia - minor it seems to yours - was my copper coil and perhaps a stint of skipping meals, plus giving blood. A bad combination! You sound like you've been very poorly though. Maybe ring your Dr? I had a telephone conversation about spatone. They said it was a good idea but to be careful not to overdose.

There is likely no point in taking the spatone and the ferrous fumerate - there will be a limit to how much you are going to absorb in one day.

Ferrous fumerate contains masses more iron than spatone making the spatone pointless.

You also need not just to get your haemaglobin levels up, but your iron stores up - so you need to take ferrous fumerate for at least 3 months after your haemaglobin is normal.

Finally ferrous fumarate is much less likely to cause side effects than ferrous sulphate, so stick with it and leave the spatone alone.

I think spa tone is very well absorbed and took two a day same as you as well as the stronger iron. And I also juiced beetroot and carrots everyday 🥗

I take my iron two hours after any food or drink immediately before bedtime with Lysine and 1000mg Vitamin C - it’s really helping. I can’t tolerate Ferrous Sulphate but SpaTone is a waste of money imo.Vitabiotics Ferroglobin is brilliant, complete game changer for me!

I was severely anaemic during pregnancy to the point I was losing hair. It was only when I fainted that it was picked up on. Skip the spatone. If the iron tablets constipate you, stock up on prune and pear juice and hopefully that'll help.

Thanks for the replies.

Beetroot and carrots? Eloise I wouldn’t think of those two being good sources. I’ll have to check out different veg beyond greens!

Well it’s the beetroot that has the iron but you need to mix it with something 🙈

How are your folate levels? it might be worth supplementing with that too

Eloise makes sense!
Katy not sure, next set of bloods due in three weeks so I’ll ask for them to be checked. Also want to get b12 checked and vitamin d whilst they are there!

yes they were the next two I was going to suggest you had checked

Feroglobin contains folate, b12 and vitamin d as well as ferrous fumerate.

Remember if you are supplementing with any B12 you test results won't be accurate

There's very new research about iron absorption, I'll try to find it. Basically, too much actually means you absorb less.

Up the amount in your diet as well and reduce any calcium and dairy. Also tea and coffee are bad for iron leaching and absorption so reduce them.
Steak with lemon and chick peas also have a lot of iron.
I was the same as you and managed to get things ok after 2 months. Low levels of iron made me feel ‘mad’ and really really awful and weak and depressed.

Sorry I don't have time to find the clinical paper but this is where I heard it first:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05wpg6n

Same experience as Bio -

FWIW, I managed to get my iron up through careful diet stuff the same amount in 5 weeks as I had previously on 3 months of max iron tablets. I stopped drinking milk (all day - slightly addicted to it in redbush tea) and only ate cheese last thing at night. I was very strict about making sure I didn't have any dairy near a main meal and ate iron rich meals with orange juice, especially rare steak or a venison steak once a week. I think I was taking berrocca or Sainsbury's version as it had no calcium. I honestly can't remember if I had spatone too but if I did it was two sachets with orange juice.

I did this because any iron tablet was wrecking my guts even when not on it to the point I was checked for gall bladder issues as I was loosing weight so much. It was actually ibs, so the Gp suggested cutting out milk and gluten and anything else I knew was bad (basically fodmaps, I identified milk was causing gurgling and onions were a no go) and testing iron levels after a month with no tablets. My ferritin went up by 30 points despite 2 horrendous periods in that time. Gluten wasn't an issue for me but the constant milk drinking was.

I'm completely back to normal now, no tummy issues at all but it's taken 2 years and a pregnancy.

Low iron is the pits.

If you are going to try to do what the link suggests I'd show the Gp the research and chat to them first as it's not current guidelines.

I’ve been having next to no calcium in my diet at all (except for the odd weekend cheese toastie) so have just reintroduced milk and cereal at breakfast at least an hour after an iron tablet.

I’m sticking to the hour before/two hours after guide.

Katy I’ve just started taking b12 and vD3 supplements - how long do you understand that you should hold off before a test?

D will be fine it takes months to even get up 1 point on your test results (over 2 yes for me to get from 26 to 49)

B12 I'm not sure but I think it's about 12 weeks - I think it might be in the nice guidelines (sorry I can't remember)

Golly have you listened to the clip?

The BBC thing is interesting - I take floradix so 7mg a day no where near the 60mg but I have them everyday not 3 times a week

Hmm going to have to think about that as floradix agrees with me where other supplements haven't

Neurotrash yes, thanks. Hugely interesting! Every other day it is then. I found this

www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhae/article/PIIS2352-3026(17)30182-5/fulltext

In The Lancet too.