is it dangerous to take iron tablets when your only borderline anemic?

[michelle89]

hey
i had blood taken at 27weeks pregnant and found out i was borderline anemic, my midwife said there would be a perscription of iron tablets ready for me at docs the nxt day. iv been feeling tired for ages, at least 6months, even going upstairs would make me out of breath, im always sleeping and tired, the docs just put it down to my asthma, i was feeling proper drained yesterday so i got some iron water suppliments from boots to take until i got the tablets, the iron water is only 32mg of iron, this made me feel better, reading the iron tablets the midwife gave me, they are double amount (64mg of iron) seeing as thought im only borderline anemic, would the tablets be giving me too much iron in my diet? im worried about the risk of constipation as high iron intake causes this..

thnx

Well...try it. If you get bunged up, then cut the dosage - it's not like constipation is life threatening!

Personally I didn't have any truck with iron pills, and regularly take Spatone instead, regardless of blood test results. I take one sachet a week mixed with orange juice, and if I'm feeling particularly tired, then I'll take another one.

I don't know whether it's dangerous or not to take iron tablets if you're only borderline - you'd need to speak to your midwife/doctor about that.

However my levels were lowish at 16 weeks so my midwife told me to take Spartone which is a natural iron supplement that you add to water/juice. When your body has had all it needs, it simply passes the rest through your urine. She said it was preferable to taking iron tablets which can leave you constipated.

You can buy Spartone in Holland and Barrett or I heard somewhere that you can get it on perscription if you ask your doctor nicely.

Hope this helps.

TAke them, and increase your fruit intake. If you are still bunged up I can recommend taking a spoonful of linseed in your cereal. Or fybogel is good (but gross). And you can also ask the doctor for different type of iron tablets. Some people actually get diaoreahh (sp?) with iron.

If you hemorrage after birth and if you want to breastfeed it is better to have as high iron levels as you can. And who wants to be tired all the time?

My GP put me on iron tablets even though I wasn't anaemic, just at the lower end of the normal range of iron levels. (I don't know what the amount of iron in them was, mind you). I didn't have any problems with constipation, although I do eat a high fibre diet normally.

Try eating wholemeal carbs when you can - wholemeal bread, pasta, brown rice, jacket potatoes etc, as well as lots of fruit and veg. Lentils & pulses (eg any types of beans, peas, sweetcorn) are also good for increasing your fibre levels. Make sure you drink plenty of water, though, as you need both high fibre + water to flush things through your system.

And on a positive note, going onto supplements changed me from a weepy exhausted depressive to a normal person again. I hope you'll see an similar improvement in your tiredness levels, michelle.

Iron is absorbed into the liver and when the liver is "full up" the extra will be excreted in the bile . This is the stuff that makes your poo brown, however too much iron in the bile will turn your poo black (sorry if tmi).
Take your low iron tabs and see what "happens" Iyswim after a couple of days, if you don't see any changes then I would guess your body needs all that extra iron and more possibly.
It's worth asking what type of iron gp has prescribed. I avoid iron sulphate which is commonly given as it's cheap. It gives me terrible stomach cramps and diahorrea so I used to ask for ferrous folate which gentler on the stomach. Also it gets absorbed better if you make sure you have plenty of vitamin c I don't know if it's an old wives tale but always used to take mine with orange juice.

I got my blood tested as i was always tired, no matter how much rest i had. Got a prescription offered for pregaday but decided to take spatone instead, as i was just borderline and didnt want to risk any side effects. Got enough troubles already! Plus, I am already taking pregnacare and didnt want to mix the two. Got the spatone on prescription, taking two sachets a day and started feeling much better after 8 days! Try it!

NB: I was 27 weeks at the time as well!