Low Iron - suggestions please!
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Topic: Low Iron - suggestions please!
Posted By: emmaohara
Subject: Low Iron - suggestions please!
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 7:36am
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I have just got my 28 week bloods back and yet again as I was with Ben I have low iron (12). I have been on 60mg of iron for months and this is making no difference.
The mw suggested nothing, just to "keep an eye on it" ( very helpful) but I am feeling knackered and falling asleep at 1 when Ben has his nap. So has anyone else had this and did you find anything helped, natural remedies etc, I can't take any more iron tablets my body is just not absorbing the iron I guess and yes I take the tablets with orange juice in the morning as I've been told the vitamin c helps absorb it!? Thanks ladies I can't handle th next 2 months being this tired!!!  ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: Snickerdoodle
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 7:52am
Hi Emma 
My 28 week bloods showed an iron level of 5 for me. I was taking Elevit so I thought I'd be ok. But I stopped those and took FerrogradC (has vit.C in it). After a week I was feeling marginally better, but my mw told me that as they are just a supplement to eat more leafy greens and red meat. It seems to have helped. As for natural remedies, I'm not sure, sorry. ------------- 
http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 7:53am
| You can get iron injections.. but I've never tried that. I had really low iron when I was preggers (got as low as 4). Liquid iron is absorbed faster and better than pills so maybe try that. You can get higher doses too. The liquid one I have is 80mg, and you take that twice a day. So that's a fair bit higher than your 60mg. And liquid is less likely to make you constipated too. |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 9:25am
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I had iron jabs a few months ago and they made the world of difference. You may have to ask your dr about them. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 11:01am
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yeah my ferrograd C has 105mg per tablet..has really helped me(i had level of 8 ) and i eat a lot of red meat..so i think i may try eating more veges(i eat a lot of fruit an dont so much veges) for me it seems to have helped having ferrograd C. (made me much less tired) ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 11:24am
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How often do you eat meat? See if you can get something with a lot of iron in it at each main meal of the day. -------------  |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 12:04pm
| The other thing that effects your tiredness etc is B12. You don't have to eat tons of red meat to maintain good levels of iron (I haven't eaten meat of any kind since I was a toddler). But pregnancy also lowers your B12 reserves a lot. You can get B12 "dots" from health shops that have 500mcg of B12 in them and its about $20, and after taking them for about 5 days it really increases your alertness and wakefulness alot. So that maybe something you wanna try as well. B12 is something you can only get from meat which sucks for me so I'm permanently on B12 supplements. |
Posted By: Lisha
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 12:11pm
I had liquid Iron called Floradix, you can buy it from the supermarket, cost about $19.95? you have 10mls twice a day, has lots of other nutrients in it also, give that a go!  ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 12:41pm
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I'm taking Ferrogradumet a prescription from the Pharmacy. Taking with OJ has definitely helped for me I think.
My midwife said if I found them too harsh to switch to a the Healtheries Iron/Vit C one as 2 of those contain the same amount as 1 of the prescription. I'm still taking Elevit as well as I figured both me and the bubbies needed the extra energy boost
Other than that I would say having red meat every day might help a lot also. |
Posted By: bub
Date Posted: 28 December 2007 at 4:01pm
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with brianna i had floradix coz of low iron and found it work everyone is diff but it may help. ------------- mother to Brianna, Amelia & Mathew. http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: Smartmum
Date Posted: 29 December 2007 at 12:30pm
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Black Liquorice!! Also when you have dinner if you have your lean meat, have capsicum or brocolli with it, which are the veges that have the highest amount of vit c, this will help you absorb the iron!
Stop drinking tea if you can, especially with meals as it wastes the iron away! Good luck! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 29 December 2007 at 12:39pm
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doesnt liquorice have high amounts of salt in it? ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: Smartmum
Date Posted: 29 December 2007 at 6:42pm
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Yeah it does, what damage could that do though, sugar is the biggest enemy, she only wants some energy. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 29 December 2007 at 7:10pm
| Too much salt is bad for blood pressure though. |
Posted By: MumsyMoo
Date Posted: 29 December 2007 at 7:54pm
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Yeah, I've been taking Floradix formula as well as my Ferrograd-Folic which was prescribed to me...
You'd think that with all that I'd have perfect iron... Well, no such luck there... I've been taking Floradix from Day One, and the Ferrograd for the last 3 months... And my iron levels just keep dropping. So sorry I can't be of much help... But all this advise from others is good! ------------- My wee girl is the love and light of my life!
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Posted By: Mazzy
Date Posted: 29 December 2007 at 8:25pm
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Try to avoid eating or drinking anything with calcium in it (milk, dairy, some veges I think?) close to when you take your iron supplements, or when you each iron rich foods,as calcium hinders or blocks iron absorption.
Eggs and dried apricots are good sources of iron. Avoid tea. Sounds like you know about the vitamin c helping iron absorption...I think that's all I know! I've had pretty good iron levels, have no idea why, but these were all things told to me by my midwife, so maybe something worked. Some people have a harder time keeping up their iron than others during pregnancy, one of those unexplained things. Good luck! ------------- Mum to two gorgeous girls! |
Posted By: emmaohara
Date Posted: 31 December 2007 at 12:07pm
Thanks ladies very helpful suggestions   ------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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