OTC iron supplements

[birdybirdbird]

My 28 week blood tests showed that my iron was a little on the low side. Not massively but I have a had some anaemia symptoms - bit of breathlessness, feeling a bit faint. It's proving to be a bit of a pain to actually speak to my GP regarding the best course of action so thought I'd go for an over the counter option (midwife did say that this could also be fine)
She mentioned Florix and Spatone (spelling?!) and wondered if anyone had tried either? Is one nicer, easier to take etc? Thanks!

I took spatone from 12 weeks on with DS and I still ended up with low iron at 30 weeks. I think they were the main cause of my diarrhea and clearly didn't work. Not pregnant I have taken the Floradix tablet form - the liquid is hard to take. And it improved my iron levels and wasn't sore on my tummy.

I'm taking spatone at the moment. Find it fine, no effect on stomach, unlike ferrous sulphate from the GP!

Floradix plus Pregnacare - you can take both together, I called the company that make Floradix and checked.
I had 2 ridiculously healthy pregnancies and 3 ridiculously healthy sons. I put at least a chunk of that down to decent iron levels, especially with the twins. Floradix is especially good because it's gentle on the stomach and very bio-available.

Whether a particular iron supplement makes you constipated or gives you the runs is down to luck. You just have to try them out.

Hi OP, in a similar boat here. I was told at 31 week midwife appointment that my 28 weeks blood tests showed 25% drop in haemoglobin! I was so shocked that I forgot to be furious that no one had bothered to call me to let me know the results. I had put the tiredness, faintness etc down to the heat. ...

Anyway, I find ferrous sulphate tablets (which doctors usually prescribe) are quite literally a cork for me, so hideously constipating, and don't work fast enough. I tend to be on the anaemic side in general, so have experimented. Nor can I stomach Spatone.

A friend recommended Ferroglobin to me (Holland & Barrett sell it), safe in pregnancy, like Floradix but stronger. I have been on it for 10 days and definitely feel the difference. I am taking the liquid.

As others have said, it is a case of try it and see how your body responds.

With iron, you need to be aware that the absorption of the iron is really impacted by what you eat with the supplement - vitamin C helps iron absorption, dairy products hinder. I have found that if I take the iron supplement as soon as I wake up and then don't eat for 2 hours that it works faster. But that is me.

Hope that helps! Good luck.

Feroglobin works for me - you can get it in liquid or tablets. Prescription iron tablets go right through me

Thanks for all advice. I’d like to try and avoid prescription iron tablets and their side effects is st all possible. I grabbed some spantone in my local boots today so will give that a go first, but good to know there’s other stuff I can try if that doesn’t work for me.

i took spatone for 2 days and had horrendous diarrhea so gave in and used the ferrous sulphate prescribed. though i know it makes me constipated id rather that than diarrhea. i live at the top of a hill and cant even face walking up it at the mo i have such a lack of energy and get so breathless. 😢

Spatone doesn't have enough iron in it for pregnant ladies, my midwife said you'd need at least 4 sachets a day to have any effect.
I'm taking 2 sachets along side prescribed liquid iron and blood transfusions but my levels still aren't coming up

OP there are at least 3 iron compounds you can be prescribed so it's not a case of avoiding prescription iron tablets.

The ones most frequently prescribed are ferrous sulphate or ferrous fumerate. Some people have the runs/constipation on one or but are fine on the other, while others have problems on both. The last they can prescribe is ferrous gluconate but most doctors refuse to prescribe it as it costs about 4-5 times as much as one of the other two. Most people are normally ok with this one. (The refusal is probably due to the fact that iron deficiency is fairly common and unless you end up as an emergency due to it, they decide you can manage like everyone else with an upset stomach/bowels.)

You can buy all of them off prescription behind the pharmacy counter but if you are clearly pregnant the pharmacist is likely to refuse to give them to you without a prescription. (The first two are actually cheaper to buy off prescription in England.) Alternatively you can buy them all from an online pharmacy without a prescription or Amazon.

The problem with spatone, feroglobin etc is that they don't contain enough iron for a iron deficient person, let alone a pregnant woman, to restore her iron stores. If they did then they would be only be sold behind the counter or online.

I raised my HB from 96 to 110 with Spatone in a few weeks when I found out I was anaemic in my third trimester. So it can work. I took three a day and was also very diligent re. Iron absorption aiding foods, and not having tea, coffee or dairy close to taking the spatone.