iron levels - 10.5 any alternatives to pregaday?

[surfmama]

had a little check up today and my iron levels are 10.5 have been told have to take pregaday, they were 10.7 a few weeks ago and I have been taking 2 x spatone sachets every eve with apple juice but they say still too low... so is there something wrong with me as i really don't want to take a high iron supplement. are there any dieticians out there that can tell me if this would be similar as it is food state and surely better absorbed, but also don't want to piss my mw off by not taking advice!

www.cytoplan.co.uk/Iron-Molybdenum-4070/

??? any ideas or should i just stop being a hippy and take pregaday?

I don't know about pregaday but I was told to take Floradix when I needed extra iron in my last pregnancy, and I bought it from the hippy shop, and it was made from natural essences of melted hippies, or something.
Also it worked, wasn't too minging, and didn't upset my insides. So check it out! :)

Are you taking your spatone after eating? I take mine first thing because it says take on empty stomach

How much caffeine are you drinking? You probably know this but as it can inhibit absorption best to avoid near to taking the supplement.

FWIW my levels dropped to 10.something with DS and midwife said it was low but fairly standard for pregnancy and to just take some spatone to stop them going lower.

My iron levels are low so I'm on 2 x Spatone a day, but also on prescribed iron pills.

My MW said to eat lots of steak, mince (burgers!) spinach and brocolli. Said upping these will make a real difference. My DH thinks its wonderful - steak on tap!

furry really? Coffee stops iron absorption, could explain my levels of 10.1 post pregnancy! Sleep deprivation and anaemia= lots of coffee.

Second floradix, iron tablets didn't help at all, you might want to invest in some dulcolax or some other laxative that's safe during pregnancy at the same time

Also drinking milk with iron containing foods prevents some of the iron getting absorbed, that goes for anything with a load of calcium in it - cheese etc so avoid dairy when you're eating (and for a couple of hours after eating) meat/iron rich foods

Drinking a glass of organce juice (or anything with vitamin C) will help you absorb the iron more readily

I've heard it's best to try and get the extra iron you need from your diet rather than supplements if you're only borderline low

Dried apricots are bursting full of iron apparently - I ate bags of the bloody things despite the texture reminding me of a furry bum, but it seemed they did the trick, iron levels stayed fairly consistent before and after birth.

Xx

It's tanin that stops absorption. So avoid tea when taking them. So decaffinated tea will still stop absorption. Couple of sachets of Spatone in some orange juice straight away when you get up, and then don't eat breakfast for a bit after works for me.

I totally understand why anyone's reluctant to take iron supplements, but it's always worth remembering why they advise you to take them in the first place. It's not because they want you to be uncomfortable with the side effects, it's because they think you need them. Yes they are always more cautious with this kind of advice, but that's because they're working on the worst case scenario. I have a friend who was borderline low iron and decided against taking supplements. She had a bleed during birth and the anaemia got much worse. She was really unwell with extreme fatigue and anaemia for & weeks with a new baby and her body was so run down that she had to give up breast feeding. As I say, that may well not happen, but it's easy to forget why they're giving you this advice when you feel ok and like you don't really need the supplements!

I've tried both Floradix (sp?) and Floraglobin. Both liquid iron, both veggie, available at Holland and Barrett and Boots respectively. No side effects of the tablets. Recommended!

I've just been told to take iron tabs too and really don't like the effect they're having on my digestive system!

I looked at spatone instead, but each sachet has only 5mg iron. I'm already taking pregnancy multivits which have 17mg/tablet, so if it's not high enough on these, I can't see how spatone is going to do the job? The iron tabs I've been prescribed have (according to pharmacist) 68mg iron in and it's supposed to be three per day. So I suspect if you need to get your iron levels up properly you need into the hundreds of mg. But not sure about this as pharmacist was a bit vague, and tablets have no info/eaflet. Anyone got any idea?

The shite the dr gives you has so much iron because it's in a form that your body finds hard to absorb. Hence the black poo. That's the iron coming back out. Spatone contains iron that is easily absorbed hence why you need less and don't get the dude effects

The high doses are because the gps prescribe ferrous sulphate which is harder to absorb, so they give you more.

All the advice above is sound. Iron requirements go up in pregnancy as a growing baby will take everything it can to grow, produce its own blood and oxygenate its body. Your body will prioritise the foetal growth. Anaemia can lead to all sorts of issues at birth (prematurity or need for transfusion at birth)and as was mentioned, the crippling fatigue afterwards.

Load up on the red meat where possible as it is the best source of iron. Green leafy veg are an excellent source of non-haem iron (body doesn't absorb as much from this type). squeeze on some lemon juice. The vit c increases the absorption of iron.

Apricots, lentils, pulses (red kidney beans, chick peas, Lima beans, split peas), broccoli, pumpkin, ans sesame seeds are also good veggie sources.

A therapeutic dose of Iron is about 200mg daily. Ferrous sulphate tablets, which are prescribable from the Dr, contain 65mg iron each. The recomended amount of Iron in pregnancy is about 15mg - the body increases absorption during pregnancy to cope with the extra requirements for making more blood.

Haem Iron (animal sources) is absorbed better than vegetable (non-haem) Iron. So it would seem that Spatone (made from spring water) isn't such a good option if you're anaemic.

Good sources of iron in the diet are: red meats, fortified breakfast cereal & bread, eggs, pulses, dried fruits. But meat sources are a far more concentrated sources of Iron than vegetable sources. However, food alone cannot equate with a therapeutic dose of Iron.

Vitamin C aids iron absorption so should be eaten alongside eg fruit juice with cereal.

Tannins & phytates do reduce absorption.

Hope that answers things, OP

I had the same with both my pregnancies and I used Floradix and it worked.

How many weeks pregnant are you? Iron levels fall naturally towards the end of pregnancy because of haemodilution (increasing blood volume). This totally normal physiological event of pregnancy seems to be largely unheard of amongst GPs and community midwives .

There is a pretty good summary of the issues here.

If you are genuinely anaemic then it's important that this is addressed. The first question is whether or not your iron status is genuinely a concern.

I'm really surprised everyone's been recommended or prescribed other iron supplements. With DD my iron levels went up to 10 ish by the time I was 16 weeks and stayed thereabouts for most of the pregnancy. They were usually around 7-8 pre-pregnancy so I thought I'd done really well getting levels that high.

So should I be concerned about my iron levels this time? I'm only 10 weeks and haven't had any blood tests yet.

Normal Iron levels for women are 11.5-15.5 - so a pre-pregnancy level of 7-8 is pretty anaemic & would require supplementation.

I don't get given supplements anymore because they don't usually work well. They've got me up to maybe 9.5 maximum in the past, but with all the horrible side effects and costing me a fortune in prescriptions! But in my last pregnancy they went much higher more easily. I was amazed when they told me I was 10.something - I don't think I've ever had iron levels that high before.

I have been taking a multivitamin with iron since my BFP. Maybe I'll mention it to the MW when I have my booking in appt next week.

hi everyone thanks so much for replies. some great advice, i am munching on apricots eating red meat (hadn't bothered as couldn't have it running around but now just making myself eat it incinerated) going to get some black strap molasses and am taking 2 x spatone with oj and not having tea or milk.

I also went to see homeopath yesterday who has given me something to aid absorption of iron so will see how this works, all very interesting.

agree tablets are shite, who wants plastic iron ha ha... am also wondering about floridax or whatever it is as well as spa tone, might have a wander and get some today.

My level was 10.5 but i have good colour and no real symptoms, am tired but then wake up every 2 hours with some kind of ache or pain so can't say it is aneamia tiredness really!

itsmy get some of the iron rich foods in your face and maybe so spa tone to see if this helps before you get tested again?

blusing that is shit isn't it all you want is to feel well to look after and enjoy new bubba. but I do think that the excess iron is stored in our bodies and that doesn't seem a good thing so am definately going to do my best to boost it up with natural things.

I am also trying to switch mainly to rooibosh tea as it has lower tannins I think. also i think darjeeling does too so may indulge in some of this (with a big slice of cake)......

My iron was 9.7 a few weeks back, now its 11.7 from taking 2 ferrous fumerate a day from gp