Spatone doesnt seem to have worked any advise????

[no1putsbabyinthecorner]

I am 37 weeks and had bloods taken last week as 28 week bloods showed I needed Iron tabs, Got a call saying I needed another prescription of Iron tabs as still low.
However have been taking Spatone instead since I was 20 weeks, two a day.
Will admit that was a bit hit and miss with them at first but have been religious for last 3 month at least.
Taken with orange juice first thing on an empty stomache.
God knows how many boxes I have bought, really dont wont to take the tabs just wondered if anyone had any experience with this.

Had Home birth visit the other day and MW didnt seem too concerned that last result was 10 so long as I dont drop below.

Hi, I'm 36 weeks and trying to get mine up too, can't stomach the ferrous sulphate tablets so I've been taking floradix on and off.

It does work quickly with me, but also my levels fall quite quickly too if I stop taking it.

Its not too unpleasant to take either, a bit like benylin!

Good luck with the birth

Solgar Gentle Iron are fabulous.

They are easily absorbed,
They DONT cause constipation or upset the stomach,
decent strength (20mg) per capsule,
vegetarian,
dont taste bad (loads of people dont like the smell or taste of floradox/spatone)
and are not expensive...?10 for 3 month supply (I'm in Ireland),
You can get them online or in any good health store (probably not in holland and barrett)

hope that helps

Thanks I will give them a try.

I would agree, floradix if you can take the taste, but solgar gentle iron is very good also. I ''prescribed'' this to most of my pregnant clients in place of the elemental iron (ferrous sulphate) that GP's give out.

do you mind if I ask what you do for a living?

even floradix ripped my stomach to shreds.

spatone did the same.

couldn't take it and just gave up and wound up giving birth with Hb levels circling the bowl.

might give solgar a try.

I had falling iron levels, I took spatone twice a day, then I lost nearly a litre of blood on the operating table and five days later my iron levels had remained the same as my last bloods three weeks before. I think as long as your not really weak and lolling about its ok. I would never take those evil iron pills.

I agree they are evil.
Will take anything other than them.

pinkpurple, I have a basic herbalist qualification that enables me to practice but I was not satisfied with that so I am nearing the end of a full medical degree in herbalism. I also had my own business/shop with my ex who got that when we split and I had to leave
I have been in the natural health trade for 5 years but have been studying natural health for around 8 years, (slightly longer than the training a doctor gets

why the ferrous sulphate pills the GP goves you don't really work or why you don't like them is that the iron is what we call elemental iro. in this ferrous sulphate state the body has great difficulty digesting it (from a standard 15mg pill from the GP you may absorb 1mg of it) the rest is dumped into the lower intestines. it is this 14mg of iron that causes constipation. with iron citrate like in floradix and gentle iron, the iron is bound to a citrate molecule which the body wants so it allows the citrate and therefore the iron molecule to go through the gut wall into the blood. in a standard dose of floradix you get 7-9mg of iron which is virtually all absorbed, so less is really more in this case!!

i'm not convinced, misi, unfortunately.

both floradix and spatone gave me terrible diarrhea.

those tablets from the GP were so bad i literally couldn't take them because in addition to causing diarrhea and painful abdominal cramps, they also caused me to vomit.

i'm pretty sure i'm anaemic again.

don't know what i'll do.

i can't take that diarrhea again and this baby is still making me vomit.

ahh thsts why much of your advice echos what I think! I've been in the natural health trade for about 8yrs and I love it. and as for training...its almost never ending really, not a day goes past that I dont learn something new in this business

expat, I have come across this before, iron does cause constipation in the majority of people but in some it is opposite for a reason, have you any other health probs?

no, none that i know of.

last time i was denied a homebirth because my Hb levels were too low. they also made me stay in hospital after the delivery in case of pph.

but i just can't deal with that diarrhea and those horrible cramps because this baby is so high up as it is he's still causing vomitting and i'm on zantac for heartburn.

I know what you mean pinkpurple, as soon as you finish one thing something new comes up, more courses to go on. I am glad I am not ''in practice'' at the moment. too stressed with other things and one too many cancer clients (paliative care of course!!) that have been given bad news and has knocked me a bit. (the not getting attached or involved part of my study I got low grades for )
what do you do in the trade?

You can get ferrous fumarate tabs on prescription and these do not make you constipated in the way that ferrous sulphate does. They didn't give me a sore tummy either. Can't say they wouldn't give expat one, as I only had it from fs not floradex but might be worth a try.

They will boost your iron levels more and more quickly than spatone and floradex if you really need it.

i think i might ask them to test me for B12, too.

i didn't get anything like that in my first pregnancy, but definitely in my second and this one.

dont really want to go into detail Misi....most people in my town know me/know of me and its so refreshing to be annonymous on mumsnet

and sorry for hijacking this thread a bit

ah, right, a few personal things for you to do. get someone to check the inside of your mouth for red or white spots or generalised redness ( a mirror is ok but someone actually looking is much better). check your ''bits'' for redness and your bum too (someone else good here too ) look at your poo for any signs of blood, not worried so much about fresh blood but any noticable dried blood.
just realised you are pregnant,
on your next blood test, you will have an U+E's test I am sure but make sure to ask if that is normal.

I need to look up something but if you are going to the doc soon again, ask them if they can test your blood for immflamatory markers as well as your U+E's and standard other pg bloods.

is there any history of bowel probs in your family too?

no history of bowel problems at all in my family.

had Hb level of 6 when DD2 was born.

no problems with the delivery at all.

ok, no worries pinkpurple.

thingone, I personally don't like fumerates. if you have impaired kidney or liver function it can cause problems and some people can be allergic to it as the basic structure used in drugs is derived from mushrooms. (I have an immediate allergic reaction to mushrooms so I always steer clear of anything like this even if it is now chemically synthesised)

ok expat, do the other things then if you can and see what comes up? also, not sure if every doc does a ''full bloods'' test when pg, if not ask for one of these too?

Expat that is why I worried as dont want my levels to affect my Home Birth.