Iron levels help

[saltontoast]

Hi,

Had a blood test and my postnatal check, was sent to our local children's hospital by GP as DS was very unwell with bronchillitis. We had a short stay and he's on the mend, I had little signal and dr was trying to call me and left a message saying I needed iron tablets my levels are 10 (didn't say what unit)

Is this really low?

Reason I'm asking, I have had iron tablets after each pregnancy and they constipate the life out of me. Even with eating the recommended foods to help and drinking plenty of water I still barely get any relief. I lived on lactulose and was so miserable. I did say this to the doctor she recommended taking 2 tablets per day instead of 3

I don't even know what my levels should be

Any help is greatly appreciated

Bump

The normal range is 11.4 to 17 (or there about). 10 is a little low so iron tablets should help. Take them with orange juice and folic acid to help absorption.

That’s most likely your ferritin level (iron stores). The NHS normal range is 15 - 445 ug/L. But many people feel 15 is still too low and can still lead to tiredness etc.

Do you know what form of iron you were given before? Ferrous sulphate is the worst for constipation. You can ask for ferrous fumerate to be prescribed which can be a bit better. Or buy some iron bisglycinate: www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/solgar-gentle-iron-20mg-vegi-capsules-60001402

Some on here have managed to get their levels up with spatone.

It’s also now shown to absorb better if you take it once every other day rather than every day.
(pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29032957/)

You can ask your GP’s receptionist for a copy of your blood test results, or if you have online prescription requests etc you may have access to your test results online.

I can't tolerate iron tablets but try to eat an iron rich diet (obviously with vitamin C to help absorb) but was struggling as the taste or smell of anything with a high iron content puts me off. I've tried floradix recently and find it has helped. It's quite floral so I tolerate it fine. My ferritin is in the normal range at the moment and my iron levels are really good.

Thanks everyone. I was on ferrous sulphate but this time I'm on ferrous fumerate 3 times per day

Ferrous sulphate is the worst for constipation! Take your fumerate with vitamin C, every other day and see how you go.

The issue with iron is that if it’s not absorbed then it remains in your gut and causes constipation. So you want to increase the absorption:
With vit C
Away from dairy/cereals
Every other day
Better forms: best is bisglycinate afaik