Anaemia and Ferrinject Infusion in Pregnancy

[SimoMa]

Hello Mums,

I need some words of advice/reassurance as I'm feeling very worried.

I was diagnosed of anaemia on my 9th week of pregnancy and, since then, I was given Ferrous Sulfate tablets to take every other day. Weeks passed and my blood count was not checked on my 12th and 20th weeks scan (I'm currently 22 weeks). As I kept feeling worse I ended up in A&E twice because of dizziness, palpitations and extreme tiredness. My Hb went down to 97 (from 120) and I was given an iron infusion about two weeks ago, which I was told, it might take up to 4/6 weeks to show some effects. I'm still feel so rough I ca no longer go to work, spending most of my time in bed and my next blood test is scheduled in a month time even if I'm not sure if I can spend another month feeling this way. Maybe I'm just being over anxious and worrying too much but I'd love to hear similar experiences and not feeling so alone. Thank you!

[Cheekymonkey85]

It’s standard that bloods are done at your booking in, 28 weeks and 34 (I think it’s 34 anyway). If your feeling anxious I’d speak to your midwife and gp and push for another set of bloods. Id be tempted to up the dosage. I’ve had low iron in 2 of my pregnancies and the dosage was 3 tablets a day- I only ever took 1 though. Make sure you take them with orange juice, avoid drinking tea or milk around the time of taking them as they stop you absorbing them properly- vitamin c helps it work better x

[Pasaeoco01]

Hi there, I also had low iron levels and had an infusion. Rather than taking the iron tablets (they can take ages to be absorbed by your body) I was recommended to drink liquid iron supplements...I used Spatone which you can just buy off the shelf in Boots or other chemists. These are absorbed far quicker - just a small sachet of apple flavoured juice.

[NaomiGreenwood]

I've often been a little anemic and was quite low in both my pregnancies. I never got on with ferrous sulphate (it irritates my stomach and made me sick), so I always take ferrous gluconate instead. It's sometimes difficult to know what are symptoms of the iron tablets and what is the anemia. It might be worth discussing other options to boost your levels.

My lo is now 18m and my levels are still all over the place (currently 106 at the last test) so it can take some time to get sorted. I hope feel a bit less rotten soon though.