Two weeks liquid iron and Haemoglobin goes down?

[Footygirl]

Hiya chaps.

An update on my struggle to get diagnosed.

Tomorrow I have a biopsy looking for Coeliacs, you will remember.

I continue to poison myself with wheat products for tomorrow and was told by Endoscopy that taking the liquid iron would not skew results. So two weeks on swallowing the disgusting stuff, one 5ml a day first week, two the second until last Friday when it made me so nauseous I could not eat for the rest of the day.

The new GP had noted that I had had a reaction to iron in 2008 but gave it to me in increasing steps. Having had my routine bloods on Wednesday, I find that my haemoglobin has dropped further. Am I right that that is odd? Does it prove I cannot be absorbing it via my gut? Does it strengthen my case for Vit B12 deficiency/PA.

I have been self injecting B12 alternate days since 7th and am feeling an inner strength restoring to a level where I can potter about for a while not lie in my chair just breathing and feeling so very ill. I am continuing until neuropathy in feet has gone and am hoping that though some of the brain fog has cleared, that my memory will be restored to full acuity soon.

As regards my full blood test I shall write it below with the previous months results. Any observations, advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks. You are all stars

⚽🎅🏼

Blood. 16/11/2016. 14/12/2016 Range

Haem 115.0 113.0 115 - 165

MCV 83.5 83.0 78.2 - 101.0

WBC 5.0 6.4 3.9 - 11.0

Plate 374 355 150 - 450

Neut 3.3 4.9 1.8 - 7.5

Lymphoc 1.1 0.9 1.0 - 4.0

Eosin 0.1 0.1 0.0 - 0.4

ESR 26 32

Creat 65 61 53 - 97

ALT 27 35 0 - 49

ALP 58 58 No range

Biliru 5 5 0 - 20

Sodium 137 135 133 - 146

Potass 5.1 4.6 3.5 - 146

Urea 3.2 4.1 2.8 - 7.8

Alb 43 41 35 - 50

[magSLE]

Hi Footygirl, hope your biopsy comes back negative & that your symptoms ease up. I live with 10 health conditions incl. Lupus SLE & when the symptoms are triggered, it's difficult to know which one is active as there are similarities. If your haemoglobin levels have dropped to a dangerously low level, have you asked your GP or Rheumy for iron infusions? Last yr I had Anaemia for 6mths as my body wasn't digesting iron naturally or in tablet form. My iron levels were low & I couldn't function but I was refused the iron infusions as the Med pros believed that increasing my Ferrous Fumerate would improve my levels which was true after 6 months of over-sleeping, low on energy & nearly crawling to get anywhere.

What lead you to self inject B12?

[Footygirl in reply to magSLE]

Thanks MagSLE. I have gone downhill since Feb. Thought I was on my last breaths during Sept Oct. getting nowhere educating GPs, just deaf to all my symptoms and feeling so ill. Decided had enough of talking to walls and feeling so poorly. Best thing I have done, both taking charge of my own health, and feeling stronger. Long way to go. Will ask for iron injections. Not hanging around another 6/7/8 months messing about with tablets that I cannot absorb or the aptly called bleuggh liquid.

Thanks for your support. So pleased I am no longer crawling everywhere.

Merry Christmas

🎅🏼⚽

[pugdogs10]

Well done for getting your SI underway and so glad to hear that you are feeling a bit better,

Have you tried Solgar Gentle iron...these are very well tolerated and easier to absorb. I had to take 4 of these a day for 2 months to get my ferritin up from the bottom of range to mid range. I did also find a big improvement in how I felt.

[Footygirl in reply to pugdogs10]

Thanks pd. your support means a lot.

Not heard of Solgar Gentle Iron. If it is a reduced dose needing years of treatment, its not for me. Wasted enough of my grandsons short life unable to push cars on a carpet. Sharp action for me. Thanks for the idea though.

Merry Christmas

⚽🎅🏼

[pugdogs10 in reply to Footygirl]

It is the best and most tolerable iron supplement I have found but everyone is different and we all have to do what works for us...

Merry Christmas to you too...hope you are climbing those stairs soon.

[Fennella02]

I'm a bit of an 'expert' in iron deficiency as I am always always anemic. The drop in your HB is tiny so don't worry about it. Sometimes your iron stores have to build up first before it can be transferred to your HB - at that point your HB will rise and your iron stores will fall a bit and so on. I don't fully understand the relationship between iron absorption and B12 but I know that I have issues with both. I am hypersensitive to iron aswell but am doing ok currently on Ferrous Fumarate and Ondansetron (anti emetic). My iron stores are almost zero so I really need to swallow those pills if I'm to avoid hospital (HB 74). Have you tried Ferrous Fumarate? The liquid iron is bleuggh 😝😝😝 - mine went down the sink.

[Footygirl in reply to Fennella02]

Thanks Clare

Im grateful for your input but very short on my time whilst GPs think and ponder and have no idea. I do understand that stores take time to build, hence part of my hurry, but I take onboard your advice on Ferrous Fumerate. Is that a tablet? Again if Im not absorbing vitamins etc I will gain little from taking oral preparations, so on with the persuasion for injections which bipass the stomach and get into the blood stream quickly. Its not their lives being spent lying in a chair barely ably to raise a hand.

Had the OT woman here. My stairs too narrow and steep for stairlift. Typical. Hey ho.

If I get some iron in me, I may be able to tackle the stairs myself once more!

Best wishes for Christmas

🎅🏼⚽