Iron supplements

[ilovetosleep]

Hi everyone

I've been advised to take iron tablets (200mg ferrous sulphate) and I'm really in two minds about what to do.

My hb levels have been falling throughout pregnancy from 14 at booking, 12 at 28 weeks and now 10.5 at 36 weeks. Despite taking 2x spatone a day since around 28 weeks.

I feel the symptoms of anaemia (dizzy and tired and weak after doing small things, even just eating) despite hb results not being under the cut off of 10.

BUT iron tablets make me feel hideous. Not only constipated after taking just one yesterday, but within an hour of taking it I felt nauseous, even more dizzy, weak, generally really unwell and had to go to bed.

MW said they're not overly worried about my levels so stop if they make me feel worse, but tbh if levels keep falling in nest 4 weeks I'd rather do something about it as I feel so pathetic at the moment.

Anyone managed to rapidly raise their iron levels without taking the tablets? Is there anything else I can do/request? I'm definitely going to up my red meat intake and lots of pulses etc, not a huge fan on spinach and you need to eat bags and bags to get anywhere anyway from what I've heard.

Thanks in advance

spatone! I got mine up from 8.something to 10.1 in three weeks in late pregnancy, taking two sachets a day with orange juice and eating loads of dried apricots.

It's not the cheapest, but I didn't get all the normal icky feelings that I do with tablets

I take floradix to keep my iron up in pregnancy as I'm a veggie. You can get it from health food shops (not sure where else) but its a liquid supine by made of fruit and veg extracts so much easier to digest and doesn't cause constipation. It might be worth a go.

I also had a bad reaction to my prescribed iron tablets. I have been taking floradix for the last few weeks and am feeling great. my latest blood test results haven't come back yet but I have loads of energy and none of the side effects- I can't recommend them too highly.

Are you taking the spatone with orange juice? That apparently helps the absorbtion.

I've been taking 2x spatone a day in OJ since 28 weeks. Iron levels still dropping. Actually thats a lie - I took one a day until around 30-32 weeks, then 2 a day since then. But hb dropped from 12 to 10.5 since 28 weeks.

I might try Floradix but isn't it the same strength as spatone? I mean if spatone doesn't work for me, would the floradix? I'm a bit scared tbh that they won't increase over the next 4 weeks.

I am taking FerroGrad-C, on the recommendation of my midwife. Having no issues at all- they are great! The Vit C that is included means you're less likely to get constipated thankfully. It also helps with the iron absorption of course.

When told my iron was low I wanted to fix with diet so DH and I researched iron rich food only to find I was already eating a lot! He's a beef farmer and we eat a lot of lean red meat and kale/spinach etc. So I reluctantly started on the iron tabs. I was petrified of constipation and so take prune juice once a day (about 150ml) and OJ with every iron tab after 4 weeks I'm feeling LOADS better and although not had blood tested I see no reason why they aren't working! MW explained that diet alone/spa tone doesn't work for everyone. Some people just need to take really high dose of iron

My Iron levels were 11 at my 12 week bloods and then dropped to 9 by the time I was 28 weeks.

I was prescribed Ferrous Fumerate (which apparently is easier to absorb than ferrous sulphate) and was prescribed two tablets a day. I was very anxious about constipation/piles etc so was quite naughty and only took one tablet a day but occasionally had a Spatone sachet too. My bloods were checked a week later and my levels had risen to 10.7. Because I hadn't had any problems on the tablets I decided to just bite the bullet and take the two a day I was supposed to be having and my latest blood results (received 2 days ago) showed my iron levels are now 11.5.

As the above poster said, sometimes dietary changes and Spatone just aren't enough to make any significant improvements and high dose supplements are the only answer.

ps) I meant to say that after being prescribed the iron my levels were checked one month later, not one week later.