Iron tablets

[Rnm62]

Hi everyone,

I was prescribed iron tablets, ferrous fumarate 210mg, 3 a day after my 28 week blood tests showed an iron level of 106. Midwife said ideally should be 115.

I’ve been taking them for 2 weeks so far, usually with a glass of orange juice to help absorption. However, today I’ve started getting ready bad stomach pains & black(!!!!) diarrhoea. Prior to today, it was constipation. I’ve had no real nausea/sickness though so far which I’m happy about.

Has anyone else taken or currently taking these and also experienced these side effects? Any tips to make taking them more bearable? I’ve taken some paracetamol for the stomach pains which I’m hoping ease soon! It’s awful but I know how important taking them are.

Thank you! Xx

I had better luck with Iiquid iron instead of the tablets!

I had the same so I cut it down to one tablet a day (morning) and took a dose of floradix in the afternoon and it definitely improved the cramps. I think three tablets right from the off is too much and I think its better to build it up slowly ...now I have 2 tablets and a floradix and don't have the nasty cramping so its worked for me and iron level has come up.

Yea, I’ve been prescribed the same dose as my iron stores were, apparently, half of the minimum they should be 🤦🏼‍♀️ My side effects haven’t been quite so bad but have noticed some changes in my bowel movements and definitely noticed the change in colour!!
Maybe try going back to your midwife and see if she has any advice. These symptoms seem to be terribly common, so she should have come across this before.

I can't tolerate iron tablets at all - they make me really quite ill. Used spatone liquid iron in my last pregnancy - couldn't get it on prescription unfortunately so was more expensive but at least avoided the side effects. Will be using again this time round if required!

I had to swap to a brand called active iron because I was having stomach trouble. They did the trick!

I didn't get on with iron tablets, so went to Boots and got some Spatone. I take 2 sachets a day, about half an hour before lunch and dinner and my iron levels have improved

I’m only on one tablet a day so not too bad. Drink loads of extra water to reduce the impact of them on your digestion. My consultant said if I get constipation etc then just to take every other day, as it will still help. Three tablets a day is a lot so I would definitely try reducing for a few days until you feel a bit better. But if they are still giving you loads of side effects, call your gp or midwife for advice x

@Rnm62 I agree with what others have said - I got on much better with Spatone. It’s not the cheapest unfortunately but definitely gave me less side effects! 2 sachets a day with orange juice 👍🏻

Spatoneciscgoodcbut it has a fraction of the accessible iron that prescription iron tablets would have. I’d ask Gp if there is anything they can do to help with side effects personally.

Yeah I did too - i cut back to 2 a day 🙈 sometimes all I could stomach was 1! And then I topped up with a spa tone sachet if I couldn’t stomach a tablet

There is a vast difference between taking a maintenance dose of iron daily, as opposed to when you are correcting a deficiency.

The issue with all the other suggestions spatone and floradix for example, are that these are maintenance doses (hence not in script). 5mg and 14mg each, whereas your current tablets are 210mg 3x a day, so over 600mg a day. 5mg from a spatone sachet is barely worth it!

Drinking the orange juice is great, but it could be cause of the diarrhoea too. Anything high in Vit c will help absorb iron from your tablets and food. Peppers and many other foods are also high in in. Tannins, found in tea, coffee, many berries, grapes etc with decreased your iron absorption, so cut down or avoid these all together.

Speak to your midwife about the diarrohoea. Making dietary changes and cutting your tannins, might mean you can cut back the iron tablets to twice a day instead. It does take 3mths for the body to replicate red blood cells, but the levels should start rising after a month.

Spirulina is a blue/green algae, available in tablet and powder form. It might be an option to add to your diet and enable you to cut back on the regular iron tablets. Do check with your midwife of Dr though. Black stools is normal when taking iron tablets though.

The black stools is normal with iron, although I agree a bit shocking to see at first.

I was prescribed x3 ferrous sulphate tablets a day but couldn't deal with the constipation. My MW advised to cut down to one or two. I am usually just taking one at bedtime with my multivitamin. I'm still quite constipated which is miserable but hoping the iron will improve my fatigue and breathlessness.