Iron supplements, is this bad?

[Dazedandconfused170]

Hi everyone,
I’m currently around 7 weeks pregnant (I was pregnant last year but had an early miscarriage and surgical management) so I’m still fairly new to everything
I had my bloods done last week and have received a message from my GP to say they’ve sent me a prescription for iron supplements.
I just want to know basically is this anything to worry about? I’m not entirely surprised as I’ve been deficient in B12 before and I don’t eat meat but I’m wondering is there anything else I should be doing?

Just to be given tablets but no explanation is making me overthink a little so I wondered what this meant and is it ok?

Any advice appreciated :)

I also just wanted to add Ive not been able to eat very well for the past few weeks as the sickness has been intense! Beige foods only - I really hope this eases soon!

I think it's fairly common as your body is making more blood to get oxygen to the little life growing inside you but if you're worried phone and ask to speak to your GP - they should be happy to talk to you about anything they've prescribed. I got told I was iron deficient at 28 weeks - I can manage through diet but that's harder if you're veggie so supplements will help. You can try eating more iron-rich foods (green leafy veg etc) but if you're doing that already you might need a little bit more than your diet alone can provide. It is important to treat this for you and for baby so good that you found out early.

Iron supplements can have some interesting digestive side effects so just be aware of that!

No, I think it's quite normal. I had them as I was anaemic during pregnancy, and then my iron levels returned to normal very soon after giving birth so was allowed to stop taking them. Your bloods should be taken at each midwife appointment now, and if they think that your iron level has come up sufficiently, you'll be able to discontinue them. I was told to take them with a glass of orange juice to maximise absorption.

I’ve heard of this being quite common :)

I had them as well, also a non meat eater.

Not too easy on my stomach but no lasting effects. I thinks it’s quite common.

So normal! And it's good to have been picked up now, because the tablets take a while to kick in and bring your levels back up to normal. So they'll be at a good level well before you give birth, which is what you want

I felt like absolute shite before I went on the iron tablets, they were like magic.

Anaemia is quite common during pregnancy and with women in general.
It's not a big deal as it's been noticed and can be addressed with supplements.

A good tip... don't consume iron tablets within a couple of hours of calcium rich foods as they reduce the absorption rate.

Thank you everyone! That’s reassured me :)
Hopefully they go easy on my stomach :S x

@Dazedandconfused170

Thank you everyone! That’s reassured me :) Hopefully they go easy on my stomach :S x

Fingers crossed you won't have any issues, but I'm sure I saw somewhere (probably here!) that there are alternative tablets which are much more gentle on your stomach. They're just not regularly prescribed because they're more expensive.

@Dazedandconfused170

Don't worry about it. I took them on top of my multivitamin throughout my twin pregnancy and it didn't cause any stomach issues. You may see some dark bowel movements though so make sure you get plenty of fibre in your diet.

Nothing to worry about, but can cause constipation. From experience I recommend a prune juice chaser! Small glass. Not nice, but the vit c helps with iron absorption and prune juice makes sure no constipation.