Anaemia with heart failure? Any Drs or nurses available to give advice?

[hyggetyggedotorg]

Hi. So, I have had two small heart attacks (NSTEMIs) and was diagnosed with heart failure initially around 3 years ago.

I had multiple hospital admissions with chest pain/heart issues early last year & have just had a review appointment after 15 months. This was supposed to be a 3 month review. My Consultant told me I was “stable” based on the bloods from 15 months ago. I cried (I’m ashamed of this but I feel so unwell & am so breathless).

I am anaemic - HB 91, iron 5.6, ferritin 12. BNP is 445. This is a significant increase for me.

Consultant has written to GP asking them to sort. The only time I had iron tablets previously they made me vomit. Because I’m not willing to have them again, GP says Consultant needs to deal with it.

I’m stuck in the middle so exhausted I can’t lift my legs. What should I do?

Can't you take anti sickness tabs with the iron tabs?

You’ve had iron tablets once - can’t you at least try them again?

Can you afford a private infusion? The Iron Clinic in London is excellent as it is led by a respected haematologist

If your have heart failure the guidance is that intravenous iron is recommended. Can you ask?

You meet NICE guidelines for IV iron if you have heart failure with left ventricular impairment, and ideally either your cardiologist (or heart failure nurse) or GP should be able to refer you for this.

The lab values are 15 months old?! No recent blood draw? Did the cardiologist do an EKG/ECG? When was your last echocardiogram?

The worst thing is when video opens and starts making a loud noise without warning . Just woke the baby !

I agree, Iron infusion, life changing.

This is awful. I'm sure you meet the criteria for iron infusion and I cannot understand how consultant didn't you for this. I think if GP refuses to refer, I'd go to A+E. You poor thing, so worrying for you.

I've been anaemic, no heart failure that I know of but other medical conditions, and I've had several iron infusions as iron tablets don't work well for me. Agree with pp that I don't know why you haven't been referred for an infusion. Ask for one directly and keep pushing.

In the immediate term, Spatone liquid could be an alternative to tablets. Obviously check with the pharmacist first for compatibility with anything else you take. It‘s a lot more gentle than the tablets and is available over the counter.

Ask to be prescribed Ferric Maltol. It’s designed not to cause gastric side effects like nausea, stomach pain or vomiting. I was prescribed it due to failure to tolerate other types of iron tablet and it didn’t cause any issues.