Would it be very naughty if I didn't take my iron tablets?

[VirginBirth]

My doctor has just called to say my iron levels are low and he wants to prescribe a course of tablets. I am 36 weeks.

The level is the same as it was at my 28 week check when the midwife said it was lower than she'd like it to be, but not dangerously so. She just said to eat well and they'd keep an eye on it.

I really don't want to take them.

I've heard they give you constipation and nausea. I can't bear either, especially the nausea as I had really bad MS for the first half of my pregnancy and just can't stand the thought of going back to that now.

So, what would happen if I didn't take them? Could I harm the baby? Could I harm myself? I have no anaemic symptoms at all, no excess tiredness, paleness, breathlessness etc.

WWYD?

mostly likely you will harm yourself. the way our body works all the nutrients go first to the baby (and your milk when breastfeeding), then to you. if there is nothing left to go to you, thats that. nature is wise.

im taking iron tablets and yes, i am having bad constipation. but ultimately i llike my health better, so im solving this problem in other ways.

lack of iron makes you lethargic, i cant stand that.

its up to you!

what is your level?

Different people get different side-effects, and those who have bad side-effects are much more vocal than those who have none.

Why not take them for a little bit and see how you feel, and then decide if you'd prefer to be anaemic?

You should take them. But if you're not going to, then I'd take floradix or spatone instead which won't give you any constipation etc but will still be getting smaller amounts of iron into you.

Take a pregnacare everday too. They have 17mg of iron in (about half the dose of one ferrous gluconate tablet) but don't usually cause any problems.

take them, and if you get awful side-effects stop and re-evaluate

I spent a totally unecessary and wildly unpleasant night in hospital after dd was born as they were worried about my slighty-but-not-dangerously-low iron - I'd have taken almost anything, up to and including a live frog, to be able to go home.

have just been prescribed iron this time round (am 37wks) and am taking it religiously every day with a bowl of prunes - not gettign caught that way twice.

They are pretty grim. I'm taking 3 a day, have been for 4 weeks but no sign of improvement, still lethargic, breathless, palpitations....fed up of it really.

They make your poo black too, which is pretty horrible.

Not naughty, but a bit... what's the word? Silly?

You may have low iron stores (ferritin) and not be anaemic which is why you have no symptoms.

Most people have no problems with taking iron (as it happens, including myself) so do not fret about sideeffects you are likely to not get. Take iron tablets with fresh orange juice as Vitamin C helps absorption of iron and therefore gives you even less bowel sideeffects.

If you were prescribed Ferrous Sulphate and it does constipate you, ask for Ferrous Fumerate, a slightly different iron salt that a lot of people tolerate better.

Or: try Spatone, an iron rich mineral water that seems to have no sideeffects - at least none reported on MN !

If you remain iron deficient long enough, you are likely to become anaemic. You are soon to give birth which involves a degree of bloodloss whichever way you deliver, so I would suggest to make sure your iron is ok before your baby arrives.

Good luck!

"Then decide if you'd prefer to be anaemic" that has cheered me up.

My level was 30 at my 28 weeks check and I think he said 27 on the phone today. So I'm still in the safe limit just right at the low end.

I don't feel lethargic. Well, no more than I imagine is fairly normal at this stage. Certainly it's not problematic. The annoying thing is I've been taking Sanatogen vitamins throughout which are supposed to give you 100% of your RDA of iron.

Good to know it doesn't harm baby. I just feel I've come this far without any hitches, it's a right PITA to have this come up now.

Guess if I take the tablets, I'll have a genuine PITA to deal with

Have you seen the size of the those iron injections???!!! If you had, you'd take the tablets without a murmur. My bum was black for weeks!

oh yes, i forgot about that! they almost kept me in the hospital a little longer after my daughter was born because of low iron levels... i cant remember how i ended up not staying.

I'm taking iron tablets as a preventative measure due to anaemia in my last pregnancy (where I did get v tired, breathless etc). No nausea, no constipation. Poo a bit black at times (sorry TMI ) but nothing bad.

I'd take them and see TBH. You may be borderline now but with blood loss during delivery you may find yourself feeling a lot worse which you could obviously do without.

They're really not that bad. Make sure you eat plenty of fruit. ASk the doctor to also prescribe you fybogel (yuk but v. effective) and drink plenty of water. It will give you energy and more to the point it will give you the stores you need to recover after birth and to breastfeed if you want to. I assure you, you will be KNACKERED after birth and worse if you have low iron.

It's really not that big a deal - I have been taking them for a few weeks.

Thanks for these sensible and reassuring posts ladies. I feel I have been very nicely and very gently spanked . I'll take them and see how it goes.

Definitely preferable to eating a live frog Mrs B! Can't believe they made you do that...

i dont want to sound negative, but just realistic... i hate iron tablets and i dreaded when i was told i had to take them. the constipation they cause me is a real pain. but it is worth it!

Please try taking Spatone (in orange juice), it isn't cheap, but usually on 3 for 2 at Boots. I started taking this when I was pregnant with dd2 and I couldn't believe how much better i felt when I took it. It didn't cause me constipation, which the iron tablets had.

If you do go ahead with the iron tablets, eat loads of prunes and drink tons of water.

Good luck

I had low iron levels at 36 weeks too so took iron tabs - horrible!
Then had cs and lost alot of blood and was breastfeeding and badly anaemic (pale, faint etc. Iron levels at 9.8!) but couldn't face iron tabs again so made sure I took my pregnancy supplements and ate broccoli, red meat etc everyday and got iron levels back up to normalish (12) in a week.

I am suffering with breathlessness with this pg and the doc thought I may be anaemic. My level at 12 weeks was 12.5 (must be a different measurment system to you) and is now 11.7. Normal range is 11.5-16.5 so I'm definitely only just within the normal range. BUT they won't give my iron tablet until I'm under the range .

Have been eating loads of lamb and beef - still breathless!

I'd second the votes for spatone (two sachets daily in juice), I felt shattered all the time and found my iron levels were low at 28wk blood test - they sent me for another test to check ferritin, rather than waiting for results and tablets I started taking spatone, felt much better after about a week and baby arrived before the blood results - no problems showed up with my blood tests when he was born.

thats is a good option WayItGhouls, but hard to maintain as the iron levels will drop again if you are not following the diet rigorously.

Mine was also low when pregnant and dropped to 8 when I had ds1. I was fine (you actually have less chance of bleeding lots when your levels are low as your body knows you need it more) and I never took iron tablets. I did take the natural supplements though called fluordix but there's another one too. They don't have the side effects that iron tablets do. Failing that you could always up the iron in your diet to deal with it naturally.

I was tired etc but most women at the end of pregnancy are! Every pregnancy I've had low iron levels from early on but that was the least of my worries with them tbh sadly.

I'm on iron tablets and have recently been changed from ferrous sulphate to pregaday ones which are much less constipating. I also had very bad MS for the 1st half of pregnancy but the iron hasn't caused any nausea (i'm always careful to take with food). My levels were low at 16 weeks and I was prescribed nothing. I took pregnacare all the way through. Then at 29 weeks I was really quite ill with anaemia despite the vitamins and an iron rich diet. Have felt a lot better being on iron tablets. I was told the baby was demanding a lot more iron and some people don't absorb enough so even though I was consuming enough I couldn't keep up with demand.

Low iron levels leads to low haemoglobin which can lead to haemmorages. I have low iron and I just put up with the unpleasant side effects as I'd rather have constipation than PPH.
For the record, I think you're beng very silly

Worth a read if you're interested www.radmid.demon.co.uk/anaemia.htm

Agree with Fib and all the others. If you take it with a meal and without caffeine or alcohol then you'll be fine. No nausea. I have a very high fibre muesli for breakfast and try to eat lots of fruit and drink lots of water etc

Spatone and flurodix will only give you about 20mg as opposed to 200mg.

Final thought from moi is that you will lose blood when you give birth so picture the tiredness of a newborn coupled with anaemia which will be giving you symptoms. Something I definitely want to avoid.

Being anaemic makes me tired and antsy and I don't want to be dealing with that as well as a hormonal crash thanks

oh and really don't want a PPH either!

ANyway thanks for posting cos nearly forgot to take mine just now!

From what I remember (correct me if I'm wrong) vitamin C helps with iron absorption so drink some fresh orange with meals too.