Iron Infusions in Northern Ireland?

[Bee911]

Hi everyone, I’m new here and currently seeking someone that can direct me in the right direction for an iron infusion in Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland??

I had one in Australia two years ago and it helped me tremendously! I was always dizzy and nauseous. Had trouble focusing and when I got the Ferrinject, I came back to life!

I’m now back in Northern Ireland and cannot seem to find anyone who is able to offer the treatment as I’m slowly feeling the need to get it again. Dizzy spells , fatigue and nausea are all coming back! I’ve been pretty good with my diet since I’ve been back and keeping an active lifestyle but it doesn’t seem to be working. I get heavy heavy periods that lasts a week.

Would love to know if anyone had success finding it here!

Thank you

Rebecca x

[TheThirdDoctor]

Good luck with that one. You might get a GP to offer you one, but so far my GP has not suggested the idea. That is based on her assessment of my blood iron, serum ferritin and TSAT numbers. but looking at them myself I suspect a neurologist might differ. One difficulty will be your eligibility for NHS treatment. If you are an Australian citizen you might have to scrabble for that. If you are a UK/Irish citizen you still might have to sort out your NHS status. We have been outside the UK for about 12 years and, because she did not respond to routine screening appointments sent to our last known UK address, my wife disappeared from the NHS system and it has taken her 6 months to get reinstated. The next problem you have to overcome is the neurology wait times in Northern Ireland. I hope that you are relatively young, because neurology in the NHS in NI is in a mess, with a waiting time of over 4 years. Yup that’s not a typo 4 years! I am lucky to be covered by a charitable trust for Anglican clergy and their families so could arrange a private consultation, but I still have to wait 3 months.

[Bee911 in reply to TheThirdDoctor]

Thank you so much for the info! I will have to get my healthcare sorted, I’m 33 and born and raised here, lived in Oz for 7 years.

4 years. Wow! That is a really long time to wait 😅

Came back last year during COVID and now I’m trying to re-register with the NHS they wiped me off the system too. I’ll have to start getting my bloods checked/taken now and get a referral from doctors, I will find a private practice myself and go from there. Honestly, I felt amazing after that’s why I’m so eager to get it again!

Ps- I don’t suffer from RLS

Thank you 🙏

[TheThirdDoctor in reply to Bee911]

If you don't have RLS then I am not sure who you need to see for an Iron infusion. It really depends upon what is causing the problem. Your best bet is to talk to the GP and get a series of blood and other tests done to identify the issue. It sounds like you may have some form of vertigo, given that you have been dizzy and sick. There are a number of causes of vertigo, some of them I guess might be neurological in nature and would maybe benefit from iron infusions, others are more to do with the vestibular system in the inner ear, usually the problem is caused by some infection, past or present, others to do with blood flow in the carotid arteries, which may be constricted by some form of arterial blockage or some kind of arthritic condition or other bone damage in the neck putting pressure on the arteries. You would need a whole battery of tests and x-rays done first before embarking on any treatment.

Even the admin drone in the HSC admitted to my wife that getting wiped off the system is a gender related issue. I have been out of good old Norn Iron just as long as my wife (amazingly she still consents to live with me) but I did not get wiped off the system. It's not responding to all those cervical smears and breast scans that does it.

Your NHS entitlement will vary depending upon what you were doing in Oz and whether you paid any NI contributions while overseas. For us it is standard practice for the agencies to pay NI contributions on our behalf as "voluntary overseas development workers" which basically mean that our levels of pay were such that we could not be fired, we had to be sold, but we were automatically entitled to NHS treatment upon return. Apart from short periods of leave we were out of the UK about 18 years, some of which was an interlude in the Republic of Ireland, more of which was in Africa. We returned late last year after 4 years in Africa and haven't been properly warm since.

[Munroist]

I've had the first negative response from a neurologist which is that the consultant is unaware of any studies showing the superiority of infusions over oral iron, and she wouldn't recommend either high dose oral iron or an infusion as my ferritin levels are "normal". For someone who doesn't have RLS that is. I'm busy drafting a constructive reply to point her towards more up to date thinking. It might take a few goes.

[Hidden in reply to Munroist]

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

See chapter 2.3 and in particular 2.3.2 for discussion on rationale for recommending IV iron over oral iron.

[Munroist in reply to Hidden]

Brilliant! That's really helpful thank you.

[NY11379]

hi there, we you ever successful in finding iron infusions?

Thanks

[Munroist in reply to NY11379]

Very delayed response, sorry. I didn’t see the question. The answer is no, I didn’t find anyone prepared to do an infusion for RLS and have accepted I’ll have to go privately at somewhere like the iron clinic but at the moment I’m living with it and experimenting with diet and weight which do seem to help.

theironclinic.com