Anaemia - iron tablets not working. Is spatone worth a try?

[ladymarian]

I have been feeling dizzy, faint and very tired for 3 or 4 weeks due to anaemia which was diagnosed 2 weeks ago. I've been taking iron tablets (ferrous sulphate) for 2 weeks and I'm not feeling much better. I spent most of Monday resting on the sofa as felt very light-headed and was having palpitations. I've got a doctors appointment today and am going to ask if I can take spatone instead of/as well as the iron tablets. I was signed off work last week and still don't feel well enough to go this week.

Feeling really fed up now as just want to get on with things! I'm 31 weeks and still meant to be at work for another 4 weeks.

Anyone tried spatone? Would you recommend?

TIA
x

I'm taking spatone and iron tablets, have found that ferrous fumerate seems to work a bit better than the sulphate for me so might be worth asking for these instead. you can't get spatone on prescription but its pretty cheap on amazon. Also cutting down on tea and taking your iron with fruit juice helps with absorption :)

I presume your blood pressure and everything else is all ok?

Ask the doctor to check your thyroid. Mine also asked for an iron profile - you may have trouble to absorb the iron, in this case no amount of iron will help if you can't absorb it.

Spatone worked for me. Apparently the iron in it is more easily absorbed by your body. I was also advised to drink mine in orange juice as this also aids absorption and to avoid caffeine which hinders it.

Thanks for the responses. My blood pressure is fairly low but not low enough for the doctor to be concerned about. She said this will be contributing to the faintness and dizzyness though. I haven't heard of ferrous fumerate before so will mention to the doctor - thanks piggyboo.

I'm hardly drinking any tea and coffee atm as since being pregnant I haven't wanted it! I've tried all the "tricks" like taking the tablet with orange juice on an empty stomach and have been eating a lot of cereal and more red meat and broccoli.

I had my thyroid checked when my dd was a baby (and I was breastfeeding) as I was very rundown, anaemic and was losing a lot of weight even though I was eating a lot. Thyroid function was normal and I felt much better when I stopped breastfeeding. Maybe pregnancy and breastfeeding just don't agree with me!!

I struggled to get my iron count up with the iron tablets, but ended up taking childrens vitmain C tablets to help it absorb and my iron count went up really quickly. I couldn't drink orange juice as it was giving me heartburn.

It is worth trying spatone as my mw suggested it. It is much more easily absorbed into the system.

Agree with others cut down on tea and coffee.

x posted. The low bllod pressure will be making you fell more dizzy. Make sure you stand up slowly from when you are sitting.

I would try the vitamin c tablets. My MIL also made me spinach soup.

Have you been having the cereal close to when you take the iron? My understanding is milk inhibits the absorption. I take spatone, it's great. Always on 3 for 2 at Boots. Could also try floradix/floravital. I find liquid iron much better than the constipation inducing tablets.

I brought some spatone but i couldnt face drinking it so went back to iron tablets instead, when i spoke to my midwife about it she said that spatone is great for maintaining iron count howeven not good at increasing.

May be worth going back to the Dr for a higher dose. If ur really really anemic a transfusion could be suggested

Floradix was recommended by my mw when I was not getting enough effect from the tablets. She suggested taking both.

An empty stomach and take with a dissolvable vit c tablet drink thingy and it will help you absorb it much better. Less acidic than OJ. Took me 3 weeks to feel better. Low iron levels causes me to have low bp - it is my most obvious symptom. Once your iron is up your bp will probably be fine. I spent 2 months of my pregnancy thinking I was going to pass out constantly.

Oh, is spatone not as good? I'm not pregnant, bu was prescribed iron liquid (can't do tablets) but got spatone so i didnt get constipated. Wondered why i was so drained. Have been having three a day too

Thanks for the messages. Dr prescribed ferrous fumarate and I bought a box of spatone too. Pharmacist advised taking 2x sachets of spatone and 1 iron tablet a day. Took a spatone last night and one first thing this am with OJ and I waited 2 hrs before having breakfast. Not had any tea or coffee yet either. Fingers crossed this will work. I'm going back next week to have my blood checked.

Good for you. Hope it works. Low bp and anaemia made a lot of pregnancy and post partum miserable for me. They told me to stop taking the iron once my bloods were up again and all it meant was that I had an awful iron count after delivery which resulted in another 3 weeks of low bp and misery when I had a new baby. I would keep taking it right up until delivery and afterwards.

Spatone worked really well for me.

The iron tablets from the docs didn't improve my levels and made me horribly constipated, which the Spatone doesn't.

I was a bit about buying it because it is basically just posh water that has naturally got a lot of iron in it, so it seemed a bit emperors new clothes to me, but my levels were being tested by the doc and it did work much better than the tablets.

As someone else has said, it is on 3 for 2 at boots most of the time.

I buy a pack of little cartons of orange juice, open one in the morning, pour half of it into a glass, add a spatone and drink (you can't taste it really)
Then in the evening I have the other half of the OJ carton (in fridge all day) with another sachet.

Taking it with OJ for the vit c and avoiding milk for a couple of hours is important, and unbelievably, those cardboard cartons of longlife OJ have more vit c in them than the tropicana/expensive freshly squeezed stuff.

When it got to a level that was OK, I just have one a day to maintain.

I use the ones with apple flavour and vit C, and mix one in with my berrocca in the morning, then drink one straight from the sachet at some point in the day and again before bed.

I'm not sure I avoid milk though, I would be even more drowsy without coffee. Suppose i could stick to Relentless instead.

Then of course, plenty of black puddng when we are skint, and rare steak when we aren't. Not sure if that works, but in my head, eating blood must help, surely?

Still exhausted, though. Can't even face riding my bike some days, which actually probably means more energy gets used by lugging around bags for my job and kids to and from school/nursery, but if you stop or wobble on a bike it has worse implications.

People just tell me to take it easy, but I am 27, I should be able to hold down a couple of part time jobs, look after my kids and study - my mum does 50 hours a weekof a very stressful job, cares for my nana AND studies, and she is 50. My sister leaves home at 6am, gets home 12 hours later, does her marking THEN studies for her MA, and she has a dodgy heart. I can't let the side down!