Anaemia

[jellybeans]

Hi I have had anaemia on/off for years. I have heavy periods which may be behind it. It should be 11 hb but is 4 now which is one of the lowest I have had it. What i wondered is has anyone else suffered with this and should the doctor be looking into it, they seem to just give me iron tablets every time. I tried some stuff for heavy periods but not suitable as didn't suit me. Not want to try mirena as have had 2 m/c this year and don't want long term contraception yet in case decide to try again. Any advice welcomed x

It is very hard for your body to absorb the iron from the tablets. I too have low iron levels, often dropping to around 7 or 8 which makes me extremely faint and fatigued. An iron level of 4 I would imagine is very serious indeed and I would want further medical help.

Meanwhile are you using any natural supplements like Spatone or Floradix and eating plenty of iron-rich food? You must get plenty of vitamin C too in order for your body to absorb the iron.

My Mum was hospitalised and transfused with an iron level of 6 btw and was pretty poorly because of very heavy periods. She ended up having a hysterectomy to curb the problem. Not suggesting this to you obviously but she had higher iron levels and was treated more seriously than you appear to be.

Thanks for your reply. Sorry you have it too. I am not trying natural supplements but am willing to try, so do I take these instead of the ferrous sulphate? I am eating iron rich foods and trying to avoid tea and milk etc. My mum and nan had hysterectomies as they had heavy periods too, think they were about 40 when had it done (I am early 30's). The doctors don't seem bothered, all they did was give me a script for iron, maybe I should go back, they just said have a blood test in 6 wks.

jellybeans

Your GP should take your symptoms more seriously. You are being poorly served here. Giving you prescriptions for iron tablets is not addressing the underlying cause.

I would ask your GP to refer you to a gynae and do not take no for an answer!. Fibroids are one possibility here re the heavy bleeding hence the suggestion to see a gynaecologist.

I agree that a hb of 4 is worryingly low. Do you have any idea what your other blood panel looked like (ferritin, mcv), and have you ever had a blood smear? If not, these really should be checked.

If you have had long standing anemia, your body would have acclimatised to this, and it is less worrying than if it is a change from a normal panel in the past.

Iron pills are awful (I know as I have had to take them), and constipating.

Are you a vegatarian? If not, one of the best sources for easily bioavailable iron is red meat, particular liver. Try increaseing your intake of things that make absorbtion of iron easier (a great way is a steak and red wine meal), particularly folic acid and vit c.

Yes it was fibroids that caused my Mum's heavy periods.

They do need to rule out any reason why you are having such heavy periods and look at ways of stopping or managing them.

Spatone is fantastic but a tad expensive. It's a liquid and you just add it into some orange juice to mask the taste. I wouldn't like to recommend that you don't take the ferrous sulphate as you are clearly very anaemic but I always refuse to take the tablets (bad constipation) and use the natural supplements and watch my diet carefully. I can usually get back up to 11 on my own but it's a constant battle to stay there as since having a cs 5 months ago and losing quite a bit of blood I've struggled more with it. Demands of exclusively bf huge 5 month old does not help.

Do go back and ask for more help. I usually don't realise how pants I feel until I start taking supplements and sort myself out. I do take a supplement daily (Sanatogen Pronatal) as I'm bf and this seems to help enormously.

Your GP needs to be doing some investigation as to what is causing your anaemia

I had it for years, finally discovered that I don't absorb B12
I also had heavy periods which were always assumed to be the problem before

Thanks for your replies everyone, will be taking your advice on board. I have not had a blood screen or smear yet but maybe I will ask for it. I had a test for b12 last year which was OK. Only other tests I had are lupus antibodies which I have (but not full lupus) and thyroid which I am on tablets. I felt so ill a few weeks ago that i felt was in a dream and very down with terrible headaches. I'm just so fed up of the fatigue x

Jelly - it might be worth having your B12 checked again

Thanks, i will request it with my next blood test xx

Fantastic source of iron which is easily absorbed and doesn't have any side effects (to me anyway) is carob. After 2nd d/c I got down to a 4 level (lost 1.5l in op) - they expected me to take 3 weeks to get back to OK levels but got there in one. Carob can be eaten in bars, a bit like chocolate (but don't expect it to taste like it), but in good healthshops or wholefood shops it should be available as a bag of carob flour (ie ground up with nothing added). In this form you can add a teaspoon to breakfast cereal, yoghurt, make hot drinks with it etc. Its not expensive, its completely natural (suitable for vegetarians) and easily absorbed. If you're struggling, please have a go and see if it helps as it might really help you keeping up to a better level - clearly you need to find out what is at the bottom of the low levels and I hope that you get it sorted soon.

Thankyou mt I am going past my health food shop tomorrow and will see if i can get some. thanks again xx