Iron supplement making me want to throw up

[seekingsomeadvice]

Hi all! I'm 29 weeks pregnant and had a text from my GP earlier this week to say I'm becoming anaemic. I was prescribed 2 x ferrous fumarate tablets to take a day before eating to aid absorption. Took one a couple of days ago before breakfast and about an hour later I almost threw up 😫and had pretty bad stomach issues for the rest of the day (opposite to constipation!). It was bad enough I took the day off work.

I impulse bought some Spatone as I was determined not to have that experience again, but having now examined the iron levels in Spatone they don't really scratch the surface of the Ferrous Furmate.

Spatone = 36% of NRV (x 2 a day = 72% NRV)
Ferrous Fumarate = 486% of NRV (x 2 a day = 972% NRV)

I also take Pregnacare supplements every day which have 121% of Iron NRV and am trying to include more iron naturally in my diet, but wary that if I avoid the Ferrous Fumarate I'm nowhere close to what the GP prescribed.

Contacted the midwife last week for advice but she's yet to respond.

TBF I have been feeling like cr*p recently - very tired - so know the iron will help, but I don't know if I can bear to take another Ferrous Fumarate tablet.

Has anyone else had similar issues with Ferrous Fumarate? Are there any alternatives you'd recommend? Or an alternative way to take it? E.g. will the effects be minimised if I take it with some food at first and then build up to taking it without food?

Sorry for the long post! Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks again everyone for the advice - I am so pleased to have had so many helpful responses. When I first posted this morning I was hoping for just one or two comments so to have so many of you respond with advice and your experiences is more than I expected, thank you again.

Just to keep you updated, I've had a pretty good day after taking the FF tablet with food. I might try and push my luck and take a second one just before I go to bed tonight, just because I'm probably not absorbing as much if I take it with food and I might be asleep while the nausea/tummy aches kick in. Fingers crossed all goes well and I'll continue taking FF with food for the next week or so and then see if my stomach can handle it just with juice before food!

If that doesn't work out for me I'm certainly armed with a lot of knowledge now to take to my GP. If there's one thing that pregnancy has taught me is just how much we have to give to growing new life - I'm so grateful I get to experience it but I'm also looking forward to getting back to some sort of normal in a few months!

@Willdoitlater - thanks for the note about Sytron! Glad you mentioned that before I spent even more money!

@DangerouslyBored - I'm really glad your obstetrician said it wasn't related to your diet... I do love my veggie food and was feeling a bit guilty that I was making things harder for myself and the baby, but it sounds like it might just be something some people are unlucky enough to develop!

I second asking for Ferrograd. I also get sick with the normal iron tablets (even over the counter ones from boots) but ferrograd I’m ok with. Much gentler on the stomach. Midwife may be funny because it is slightly lower dosage but from my experience it absorbs well. My iron levels crashed in third trimester but on ferrograd they got up to a healthy level quickly and they stayed high even with a minor PPH!

If you felt that bad after one tablet are you sure it wasn’t a bug?
they’re absorbed better on an empty stomach but I’d say first thing after you’ve fasted overnight will be the most likely time to cause nausea. Perhaps try them an hour before lunch and dinner. Or just take them with food if not. Make sure you have vitamin c at the same time as mentioned.

Don’t take one before bed. Your GI tract slows down overnight, it will sit in your stomach for ages causing more irritation!

Not rtft but wanted to say when I took an iron tablet first thing on an empty stomach, it made me sick soon after. Make sure you have something to eat with it. The spatone liquid is good, I put it in orange juice when I was pregnant and low on iron. Hope you feel better soon.

I also because anaemic during one of my pregnancies. The tablets didn't agree with me either but I persevered for a while. My iron levels didn't improve so I was able to receive an iron infusion via drip. It involved a fairly quick visit to hospital but I felt better almost immediately. Maybe you could ask your midwife if this option would be available to you?

Hope you feel better soon!