Too much iron = morning sickness?

[Sophia1984]

Hi everyone,

I'm almost 7 weeks pregnant and have horrendous all-day nausea.
Just before I found out I was pregnant I was diagnosed with low ferritin levels and prescribed 20mg ferrous sulphate 3 x a day. I rang doctor when I got my BFP and he said it was a good idea to keep taking them.

I've just read that excess iron can contribute to morning sickness though. Does anyone have any experience of this? And do the benefits of not being anemic in the first trimester outweight feeling sick?

So far, I've tried travel bands, crystallised ginger, ginger beer, rice cakes, salt and vinegar crisps, eating constantly, ginger tea and nothing is ridding me of this disgusting feeling!

Hello, sorry you're feeling terrible.

I felt awful in my first pregnancy and wanted to avoid it as much as possible, so did a lot of research about the efficacy of the suggested treatments.

Travel bands, to my great disappointment but not much surprise, are no more effective than a placebo. However, I found lots of studies that say ginger is definitely better than a placebo, with many saying it's as effective as the dosage of vitamin B6 prescribed by doctors often as a first step in treating ms. But, you need the equivalent of 2g ginger extract - you'll get nowhere near that with bits of ginger or ginger biscuits/tea etc.

Boots own brand pregnancy multivitamin contains the equivalent of 2g ginger extract. They're a couple of quid for 30, so worth a try.

I'd definitely keep on the iron supplement, as anaemia will make you feel horrendous too (in a different way, perhaps). Although it might be worth checking the dosage with that in the multivitamin (and maybe add in some Spatone instead).

The other thing I'd recommend is taking the supplements last thing at night, rather than the morning.

Entirely coincidentally, I feel far, far better this pregnancy. It might be to do with the ginger in the multivitamin and that I've been on the occasional Spatone to avoid anaemia. But an anecdote does not equal data!

32 weeks with anemia here

Yes, taking iron can make your morning sickness worse. Make sure you're having enough fibre so you don't get bunged up as that will make the nausea worse in turn.

Anemia is fucking AWFUL and will also make you feel sick, faint, tired, shortness of breath, etc. However, I'd hope that the GP is regularly monitoring your iron levels, in case you are now tipping the scales in balance of too much iron. Definitely tell all this to your midwife at your first appointment, but they don't usually take bloods until the second appointment, so I'd get it looked at sooner.

Regarding the nausea, I take Avomine, a travel sickness drug that is available over the counter and has been a godsend. I also take Prochlorperazine on prescription which is routinely given for pregnancy nausea. Both are completely safe in pregnancy (I triple checked). Please don't suffer in silence - see your GP to get treatment for the nausea and give the meds a try.

Hope you feel better soon x

Oh, forgot to say, I swore by mint tea - buy a garden mint plant online (wrong time of year to get them at the garden centre!) and boil the leaves. Much better than mint tea bags and more effective (hopefully)

I'd definitely keep taking the iron, I'm 16 weeks and have just had my blood results back from 7 week booking in appointment and was told my iron levels were very high (which is good), I've not had any morning sickness at all.
Like Indomitable said try taking a pregnancy multivitamin with ginger in, I'm taking the seven seas ones.