30 weeks breathless and nauseous - iron?

[Mummytoed]

I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience at this stage. I've been feeling great the whole pregnancy even in the first trimester but for the last 2 days i have been feeling terrible and can't put my finger on it. Really short of breath, even just reading a story to DS sometimes, nauseous and tired. Sometimes tiredness just comes over me and if I shut my eyes I'm gone within a second!
Had a call from my midwife on Friday to say iron came back borderline at my last blood test (108) so GP could advise supplements but as it's borderline midwifes typically wouldn't recommend anything at this stage.
I was going to wait and see but if you've had low iron in pregnancy before, did you have similar symptoms?
Or is it just normal to feel crap in pregnancy at this stage and I was just lucky the first time?

Are you carrying quite high up? Could the baby be squashing your lungs and stomach? Maybe try standing up and sort of wriggling a bit when you feel breathless and see if you can feel any relief.

Breathlessness around 24-35 weeks happened in all three of my pregnancies, even though my iron levels were fine. I think it’s a combination of higher blood volume + lungs being pushed up by your growing uterus. Once the baby “dropped” breathing got easier. But until then, it was pretty extreme - trouble getting up the stairs despite being reasonably fit, trouble speaking on the phone for more than 5 minutes… not fun!

The nausea though - can’t help you there I’m afraid! Though it isn’t uncommon for morning sickness to last through until delivery. If it’s gone away and come back though, I’d mention it to the midwives and/or GP.

@Bandaidsandbitterness thank you, yes I carry really high up it's ridiculous! My bump goes upwards before it goes down and have almost no bump below belly button. I have had days of feeling a bit breathless before which didn't last and put it down to baby's position that day. Maybe it's the same this time but a bit worse as baby is bigger.
The nausea is pretty refluxy so could also just be pressure on stomach.
The baby is also moving soooo much constantly maybe it's wrecking my insides!!

The phone call about iron just put doubt in mind I guess as to whether there is more to it. I hate not being able to be as active!

Thank you @UpToMyElbowsInDiapers that's really reassuring (sorry you felt as bad too!) I do get quite anxious and over focused on things, I'll see how I am Monday and talk to the Gp if I'm still struggling.

In my experience lack of iron has caused what I can only describe as exhaustion, more so than “normal”tiredness from pregnancy- feeling spaced out and no energy to do much other than stay on the sofa- loads of naps too. Almost like your whole body is aching from tiredness.

Breathlessness I have had when it feels the baby is sitting high up, or legs are high- I didn’t associate it with low iron.

Nausea And vomiting I’ve had since the day I knew I was pregnant- now at nearly 36 weeks I’m still vomiting at least once a day. I do find iron tablets make me feel quite sick though...

Hope you feel better, sounds very unpleasant x

I felt absolutely drained in both of my pregnancies and had borderline low iron too. My midwives recommended me taking it and it definitely helped so I would take it anyway. My midwife recommended spatone if you can't get it prescribed

I'm 28 weeks and have been feeling the level of exhaustion @Inmypjsagain describes for past few weeks. Have always gotten tired throughout the entire pregancy but this is other level. Have just had anemia confirmed which explains it. My only word of warning is that iron tablets often make you feel really sick so if you feel nauseous anyway and bloods are borderline then maybe try dietary changes to increase iron first?

I have very low iron (73) and the tiredness isn't just tiredness it's like feeling vacant, not being able to string a sentence together. Also have leg cramps, insomnia, dizziness, and shortness of breath.

That can all be related to just being pregnant though too.

If you're borderline it wouldn't do any harm to take a supplement. My midwife recommended spatone which is an iron water which I mixed with a bit of citrus juice which helps you absorb the iron better.

Hope you feel better soon.

I had this in my second pregnancy. Breathlessness really bad and I assumed it was normal at a modwife appointment and they sent me to a&e to be checked just incase. It was happening out of nowhere, even when doing normal things like sitting or driving - just feeling breathless, then struggling to catch my breath.

It was down to iron in the end and once I started taking supplements it went away.

I had really low iron post birth with my son 2 years ago, iron meds prescribed by the drs but I was still struggling especially with breathlessness, my midwife sent my OH to the pharmacy to buy some spa tone iron supplements (liquid form to add to a little juice) and they literally worked straight away and could feel a difference in energy levels/breathlessness within 30/40 mins. It’s safe to take in pregnancy and I’ve been taking it this time around when I feel lethargic and breathless and it’s worked every time 😊

Thank you so much all! It is so reassuring to know it isn't that unusual.

I think the tiredness is definitely the iron as it just started a couple of weeks before the blood test with the borderline result. Luckily as it is not that low, it's manageable with naps. (@Amichelle84, so sorry you are having to cope with a level of 73, it must be so tough!). My energy levels in general are OK it's just occasionnally I get overcome by an all-body exhaustion and just need to sleep. I have about 2 or 3 catnaps through the day and then I am OK again.

The breathlessness may be just one of those pregnancy things but interesting to see a couple of you experienced it because of the low iron.

@Summernamechange2021 what was your iron level when you were experiencing this? It sounds so similar to me, especially the way it comes out of nowhere.

@Blooms210 so interesting to hear it did cause breathlessness for you as if it was post natal the bump definitely wasn't to blame! Do you know what your level was?

Thank you all for recommending Spatone, sounds like a popular option so will definitely be asking for that from my GP if this continues.

Hope you all feel better!

I really can’t remember what my specific levels were but I lost quite a bit of blood during/after delivery and they wanted me to have a blood transfusion so I assume they were pretty low. Managed to scrape by without one as I was in hospital for 3 days after (for different reasons) so was able to have continuous monitoring. I didn’t start actually feeling better though until my community midwife who id seen at home once discharge told me about the spatone so really hope it helps you if you get it! You can get it over the counter also 😊