Iron tablets

[Crazytictac]

Just wondering if anybody could offer any wisdom on this:

Midwife rang on Sunday and said my iron level was 9.9 so said I should go to supermarket and get iron tablets and take them 3 times a day (in addition to pre natal vitamin). The only thing is the container says not to exceed 1 tablet a day. I assume 3 a day is fine in my circumstances but have just stuck to one for now until this is clarified. I'm knackered and look rubbish (thanks DM). I have rang MW and left couple of messages to check this but think she must be very busy or on leave as radio silence!

Thanks in advance

Are the ones you have bought only iron or are there vitamins in them too? You have to be careful about vitamin A in pregnancy which can be harmful. You'd be better going to the pharmacy counter IMO and asking for the correct 3 per day ones. Or you could try spatone which is a liquid sachet and have 2 of those per day.

I was given a prescription for my iron, doesn't cost you anything and you get the correct dosage, speak to your gp, tell them your blood results and they should give you one!!

Depends what you have bought. Can you post on here what the ingredients are? I am a pharmacist and could have a look for you. Iron by itself is ok, but other vitamins may be an issue. Also a lot of the ones on general display are quite low in iron and may not make much impact. Ferrous sulphate, ferrous gluconate, or ferrous fumarate are what you want, in doses around 200mg up to three times a day, and often they are only available behind the counter. You can buy them all and they are not too pricey, but you can also get free prescriptions so might be worth looking into a doctor visit? Let me know if I can help x

Thanks for your replies, some good advice!

snow that's very kind of you. The tablets I have are just from tesco and say : iron 14.0mg (100 percent of RDA). Ingredients: cellulose, dicalcium phosphate, ferrous fumarate, maltdodextrin, hydroxproplymethylcellulose, magnesium sterate, silicon dioxide and glycerol

Iron tablets can play havoc with your bowels so be careful. I much prefer spatone or floradix liquid.

Hi there,

I was recently told I have low iron levels too and I was given a prescription for iron tablets 3 times a day- so I agree with the above- call your GP.

Hope this helps.

Those tabs will do very little tbh, 14mg elemental iron is about 40mg fumarate salt. If you are already a bit anaemic then the RDA isn't enough. Definitely get in touch with your gp or go to a pharmacy. I found ferrous fumarate 210mg tabs, three times daily, were the kindest to me during my last pg, they weren't too constipating. Spatone is also good for that but pricey, you won't get it on a prescription either. If you take the tabs with orange juice it will be more effectively absorbed which can also help with the constipation aspect. If you want to take more of the ones you have already it is safe, at least it will be giving you some extra iron until you can speak to someone about it. Shame on that midwife sending you off like that! It's definitely worth getting it all sorted now if you can as anaemia can become more of an issue during labour and recovery. Good luck! X

Agree with others that a prescribed dose is the way to go.

Also,I'm on Ferrous Suplhate & it hasn't affected my bowels at all. I was braced for side-effects & haven't had any!!!

Go through GP and get ferrous sulphate prescribed for free. Ferrous sulphate I know you can take them three times a day and are best taken between meals with orange juice as they are difficult to absorb. Apparently they absorb better with vitamin C.

I'd also recommend Ferrous sulphate tablets but speaking to the pharmacist to make sure that dose makes sense for the actual tablets you are buying. They will be free on prescription but they are pretty cheap over the counter as well. Whatever you do - don't take them with an hour or drinking Tea it renders them useless.

Thanks so much guys. Really appreciate all the help. Called GP surgery this pm and receptionist told me to call back tomorrow and I should have a prescription. It's nice to have a bit of knowledge as was clueless this morning. to all

Just to say that if you find you get constipation problems, try Spatone - it is pricey and snowflake says, but amazing