Iron Infusion

[Maximus01]

I already shared that I spoke with my sleep doctor via TeleMed and I now have an appointment in August for a sleep study. It will be interesting to see what things look like after nine months of using Gabapentin. I have had some improvement in my sleep, but not much. I spoke with my insurance company and they will pay for an iron infusion, depending on what kind of medical necessity is given, and the co-pay is 20 percent. Of course, I have no idea how much an iron infusion is. However, I will do it if the doctor comes up with a good medical necessity for the insurance company to ok it. By the way, I had a very painful leg the day before yesterday; I think just over use and old age. I have an appointment for this on Monday and hope that it is something the doctor can help me with. With rest and IbuProvin it is much better today, but I am afraid to go for my long morning walk. Getting old just is not to my liking! The night that it was so painful, I hardly slept at all. Last night, I did get some sleep. You would think after being so tired and sleep deprived, one would get a good night's sleep. I still had difficulty falling asleep and woke up at 4:40! But feel much better today.

[Battleground]

I find I have one active day and then a down day before any new plans can be tried. The bad night always comes after the good day. Legs take a beating which causes the bad night. My iron count has always been good so never looked into an infusion. Once again I must reiterate, Gabapentin needs to be diagnosed at the proper level and taken on a timely schedule. I have found that Sleep Studies are only looking for recognition of Sleep Apnea and PLM in sleep. They are of long duration without much benefit. I also suggest the Mayo Clinic on line for information on what Gabapentin can help with medically.

[Randfan in reply to Battleground]

My understanding of Mayo Clinic’s work is that ferritin is an approximate measurement of the iron levels in the brain and so may not be an absolute and accurate measurement of the iron deep inside the brain.

My ferritin is around 100 but I plan to try the infusion. Has anyone tried above 100 to see if the iron infusion might work ?

[Randfan]

I hope the iron infusion can work for all if us suffering from RLS. I plan to try it out. Keep in mind that if you do wake up in the middle of the night, and I do, then best practices are to get out of bed and leave the bedroom. Stay off the computer and tv. Bed is for sleep and sex only. Make up the sleep by sleeping in or a nap.

[SueJohnson in reply to Randfan]

Before trying it out, have your ferritin checked. If it is over 100, it most likely won't help.

[Maximus01 in reply to SueJohnson]

Hi Sue, yes, I just had bloodwork done and my Ferritin is around 70+. So an infusion will be discussed with the Dr after the sleep study, which is not until August. He said it was very expensive, but I checked with my Insurance Co. and it seemed quite reasonable. (The sleep clinic seems to be terribly busy these days!). Another matter I wanted to bring up is the gentle iron. I stopped taking it about six weeks ago and going back to regular iron pills, and my digestion (elimination) is still not back to normal. Especially if I eat any kind of fruit, I have problems. I wonder how long it takes for the system to go back to normal?

[SueJohnson in reply to Maximus01]

That's great on the cost of the iron infusion as many insurances won't cover it. Why did you stop the gentle iron?

[Maximus01 in reply to SueJohnson]

I stopped the gentle iron because of diarrhea. And I went to gentle iron because of regular iron being constipating. I prefer the regular iron problem to the gentle iron problem.

[SueJohnson in reply to Maximus01]

Oh dear. You are between a rock and a hard place. For constipation: Drink lots of fluids, get plenty of exercise and get lots of fiber in your food. You can try the liquid form of iron, feosol, to see how that works. It is less constipating if you take it with a meal but you don't absorb as much.

[Maximus01 in reply to SueJohnson]

Hi Sue, however, the real question today was: why am I still having trouble with the gentle iron which is some diarrhea, especially after eating fruit. This is new for me. It has been about six weeks since I stopped the gentle iron and I would think that my system would by now have gone back to normal. Today, I don't mind taking the regular iron. Before I started the iron business, I did not have any problems at all.

[SueJohnson in reply to Maximus01]

Good question. I'm afraid I don't know the answer. But going back on ferrous Sulfate should solve that problem.

[SueJohnson in reply to Maximus01]

P.S. I assume you are taking it with 100 mg of vitamin C or with orange juice. And you only need it every other day.

[SueJohnson]

P.P.S. Forget the reference to the liquid iron feosol. However In researching it I found ferrous gluconate is less constipating for many people. The trade-off is that it replaces your iron more slowly.