Iron Supplement Advice Please

[SamanthaB123]

My recent blood tests have shown that my iron levels are low (10.5). My midwife wrote to me to say that I needed to take a supplement. I am already taking pregnacare which has 17mg of iron in it. She said that I should take floradix as well. When I bought it the person in the shop didn't think I should take anything other than pregnacare as you can take too much iron. The recommended dose of floradix is 15ml a day. Would this mean that I was taking too much? Or should I take half the dose to just top me up a bit? I know it's a bit technical, I hope someone can help...

When I was pregnant I was also anaemic and I used Floradix as the iron pills prescribed by the doctor made me nauseous! I wasn't taking any other supplement

The other option of topping up is a little bit of liver (just soak in milk and remove skin and fry lightly) and dried apricots and deep green leafy veggies ...

Perhaps the thing to do is also to see what your intake of B vits (???) and Vit c which help with the absorption of iron ...

I had iron levels of 10 at my 28 week blood test,wasn't taking any other supplement apart from folic acid til 12 weeks. Doc recommended I take one pregaday tablet a day (iron+folate) and at my 35 week blood test last week my iron levels had gone back up to normal. I normally avoid iron supplements because they um clog me up (!), but in this case I have had no side effects and feel pretty good for 36 wks pregnant. I also noticed that the week before I had low iron diagnosed, I was beginning to get swollen ankles etc., and within a fortnight of the iron kicking in the swelling had gone. Don't know if it's related.

p.s. I make sure to take my tablet early each day on an empty stomach and with a glass of orange juice or ribena to help absorption. HTH.

I took spatone which really boosted my iron levels. Still do take it as it's not at all unpleasant and doesn't have any nasty side effects as it's 100% natural.

www.nelsonsnaturalworld.com/en-gb/uk/our-brands/spatone/

I took pregnacare plus floradix, but didn*t like it (made me burp all day long...)so switched to holland&barrets own brand iron tablets instead. still was not enough so got prescribed high dosed iron at 20 weeks.
was very anaemic with dc1 so had extra blood tests with dc2.

Another vote for Spatone - Floradix was ok but the iron tablets from my GP didn't agree with me at all.

Third vote for Spatone. Am still taking it now as I find that I am more energised after taking it.

Thanks for replies, Spatone doesn't have as much iron in it which is why it wasn't recommended. I have taken floridix in the past but not at the same time as any other supplements. I was jusr worried about taking too much.

Amusingly enough my doctor actually offered to prescribe me spatone as she said the iron was more easily absorbed than other supplements, dont know how true that is though!

I am taking a multi vitamin with iron and one ferrous sulphate tablet a day. The latter has 200mg in but I'm carrying twins. The consultant prescribed it and you can also buy it from chemist. I feel much better after taking them, I was always so tired before.

I've had iron levels of 10.7, 10.5 and 9.0 up til 28 weeks, now waiting for results of my 35 weeks test. I've been prescribed ferrous sulphate tablets 200mg (it says it's equivalent to 65mg of ferrous iron) to take 3 times a day. To be quite honest I tend to take one a day as they seriously constipate me. My MW has requested a prescription for a different one as my levels aren't increasing enough. She told me it's important to take it with orange juice and have plenty of fruit and veg. I'd been doing that anyway as I'm veggie and can't have gluten. I thought 600mg a day sounded lik loads considering the RDA is 14mg but some people obviously need more than others. It might be a case of trial and error to get you on the right dosage of whatever you take.