Iron infusion drip

[Cosmogirl86]

I was wondering if anyone has had this done? I'm carrying twins and have had persistent aneamia the whole pregnancy. I've been on iron tablets since week 14 and I'm now 24 weeks. My consultant stated if I'm still aneamic when they take my bloods this week I'll be given an any infusion. What exactly does this entail? Did you feel better afterwards?

Have you tried increasing iron in diet? And squeezing lemon on top of foods? This helps absorb the iron. I once read about a lady who was very deffiecient in iron and then she started to squeeze lemon on all her veggies and her iron levels became normal.

I take vitamin c as part of pregnacare and plenty of fresh fruit and veg - unfortunately with two babies demanding my supply it doesn't seem iron supplements or diet is going to fix this issue

I had two of these during my last pregnancy. I felt better immediately. It was great!

Is it painful? Is it a short procedure or should I schedule whole day off work?

I’ve not had it myself but DH has had several. He says it’s fine, just a bit boring really! You’re usually on the drip for a couple of hours, so good to take some snacks and reading material, charged phone etc. No adverse feeling after, just a slightly sore arm (in the sense of bruised, not really painful) from having the cannula in. Takes a few days for him to feel the impact in terms of increased energy, but he does then feel a bit better.

It also depends on how anaemic you are. Typically he has to have a blood test a week or two later and often then has to have another to top up, as it’s not quite enough, but obviously that will vary from person to person.

Would also say a day off work is probably best, but I would hope this counts as paid leave under antenatal appointments?

It’s not usually immediate when you arrive, they get you in, maybe take a blood test first, get you a seat (usually they’re nice comfy recliners), sort out the infusion stuff etc, so it can take 30-60mins at least from arriving to actually getting hooked up.

It should definitely count on as an ante natal appointment, and my work has been very good at being flexible with my time.

It's not certain I'll need one just yet, but I would do anything to feel better!

I couldn't stomach tablets and had an infusion when 7 months pregnant. Took 8 hours or so. I remember it being great as I had to lie on a bed all day and do nothing
My 1st daughter was only one so I was knackered! Felt much better after too.

I have iron infusions every 6-8 months due to a variety of health issues meaning I’m constantly anaemic. I always feel so much better within 2-3 days of having one. I go to my local hospital and it normally takes 3-4 hours from arrival to leaving.

I also have enormous orangey brown patches all over my arms from when veins have collapsed and it’s permanently stained my skin. It’s a fairly uncommon side effect apparently but it’s happened to me on 3 separate occasions. I’ve never heard it mentioned by nurses so it’s something to just be aware of.

Best thing ever. I was utterly wiped out with anaemia in my twin pregnancy. Infusion took about twenty minutes, form-filling took longer. It cost about the equivalent of 400 pounds but was miraculous.

My worst iron stain

Oh wow @rocketsurgery I didn't know that was possible! To be honest, it really doesn't look too bad but lm glad you made me aware!

@villainousbroodmare luckily mine will be on the NHS if it's necessary. I'm just fed up with feeling like crap!

cosmo you’ll feel so much better for it. I find when I’m really anaemic I get really emotional too. So if you’ve been feeling a bit delicate emotionally (I’m guessing likely if you’re pregnant with twins) you might find the infusion helps with that too.

I had one after DD1 due to large PPH, not sure if it helped me as needed a blood transfusion too. But have friends that have had them and they’ve helped them massively.

I had two during my twin pregnancy. For sone reason they missed iron level check (they are meant to do extra bloods with twins) and it had dropped so low i was getting heart palpitations - only after doing heart monitoring and an echo did they think to check it . I think it took about an hour each time, just done via a drip, and it did make me feel alot better.

The first (and maybe only one you need) infusion itself should only take 20 minutes or so, that's the time we give Ferrinject (that's the name of the Iron infusion).