from anaemia to... piles!

[MissChief]

34 weeks pg and as mildly anaemic GP put me onto iron tablets - 2 x a day, quite strong it seems.
I eat loads of fruit but still have ended up "stopped up" as it were (sorry if TMI) and now have piles! Remembering the agonies of having this to contend with after the birth last time, along with everything else, have decided to cut down on tablets now to try and get rid of them, taking only 1 x a day and trying to have lots of red meat etc..
anyone else experienced this, if so how are you dealing with it??

Oh bless you! My friend had a very similar expereience recently, but now her dd is 3 months she is fine. Its staggering all we have to go through in preganacy and labour. Babies are fantastic - but in my next life I want to be a man!

Helenx

IKWYM - in my horrible hormonal moments have self-pityingly declared to dh "it's not fair, you wanted this baby and you don't have to suffer for it"!
I just look forward to getting to the 6 week post-birth milestone!

Oh you have my sympathy.Im 18 weeks and really low in iron and also am suffering with piles.I cant take iron tablets due to a stomach problem.I dont think theres anything worse.

Hi,
I've been there, jsut don't be tempted to do what I did, and stop them. I was pg with twins, got quite badly anaemic and so I ended up having two or three blood transfusions, and had to wait til iron levels were more normal after birth before they would let me home. I still had to take them for 6 weeks after the birth.

Had this problem and my midwife suggested Spatone - it's a gentle iron supplement and much easier on the digestive sysyem. Unfortunately you can't get it on prescription but I would really reccommend it!
You can buy it in Boots.
Really feel for you so hope this helps.

i take mega doses of Vit C (about 4x1000mg tablets a day) and this, along with lots of fruit and veg seems to do the trick. vit c helps your body to absorb iron and you can't take too much as your body just eliminates it - which helps with the being 'stopped up' iyswim!

floradix is good too i think

I can also recommend Spatone. My GP gave me a prescription for it, although I know that not all of her partners will do so. I find it much easier than the conventional tablets, and easier than the children's liquid iron which I had tried earlier.
I have just been upped to 3 sachets a day, with lots of orange juice (I'm 34 weeks too). My Hb was 10 at 31 weeks and the midwife wants me to take 3 day for a week before she checks my levels again. Good luck!

I was seriously anaemic during my pregnancy and stopped taking my iron as the tablets reacted quite violently with me and ended up in hospital for blood transfusions and iv treatment. My hb dropped to 4.2 and I later found out that somewhere along the line I have developed pernicious anaemia which is here for life, so I had to find a treatment that was easier for my body to deal with, so my consultant at the hospital has put me onto sytron liquid iron which is great!! No sickness...no constipation - hence no piles (which i suffered terribly with my 2nd pregnancy). Ask your gp and seriously consider trying it as i am on a VERY high dose and have no side effects what-so-ever- Hope that helps x