I had an iron infusion 10 days ago .I'm taking 1800mg gabapentin over 3 doses and taking fumarate oral iron x 2 x 325 mg .
My symptoms have reduced and my energy and mood is improving significantly over the week.
My body was not absorbing the oral iron at all so the infusion was advised by neurology.
That is fantastic news. I'm delighted for you.
You are a medical mystery. You were 100% RLS free for around four weeks with oral iron and Gabapentin…taken at the right time. After the infusion you had a few sleepless nights despite taking Gabapentin and iron still. When you say “improving” does that mean you’re back to 7 to 8 hours of sleep as you were before the infusion?
For 4 weeks then symptoms reappeared ,post iron infusion, as stated things work then stop ,so I'm hoping the iron has been the driver and the infusion helps...I still have to continue with the fumarate and be retested in 4 weeks , the infusion has restored a sense of wellness and I managed to get through this months menstrual cycle with ease, previously I'd be floored .
That sense of wellness is so glorious. I think I gave you an article or two about clinical research into iron for depression. How many hours of sleep a night do you think you are getting these days?
The bisglycinate at night thing, along with the Gabapentin, should have continued to work for you despite your declining ferritin. I’m inclined to blame the 5htp.
Here is a woman with ferritin of 17 who started on ferrous fumarate with same immediate results. It seemed liked a year or two later her ferritin was still low, but she didn’t seem to care as long as she was sleeping. She was actually taking it twice a day. She came back on here not that long ago complaining that the iron was pooping out too early in the morning (5am?) and we all recommended she combine the two doses. That seemed to do the trick. I think by this point her ferritin was up? When your ferritin is up you can no longer do a two dose regimen. That night time dose will not be well-absorbed and it will poop out early, if it works at all.
Very pleased for you.
That’s great to hear and thank you for feeding back to the forum. Hopefully the improvement will be sustained and you are getting enough sleep.
Can you share what your ferritin and iron numbers were?
Nice results! You can try using a probiotic LP299v (it helps with absorption) - or use a transdermal patch (Ferrous Bisglycinate Chelate, from PatchMD).
My iron dropped using the bisglycinate only so I've gone back to the fumarate, although I'm sure the bisglycinate helped with sleep ,I'm now not taking this at night just the gabapentin and oral fumarate ....im very complex and it remains to be seen if this is long term or if the cycle repeats itself in 6 weeks ?.
My severe RLS was mostly cured with oral iron supplements (ferrous bisglycinate chelate). I discovered the iron connection after months of researching (and suffering with severe RLS - 3 hrs. sleep) - mostly from the Johns Hopkins University Neurology website. My docs knew nothing. I was leery of iron iron supplements due to possible iron overload (a caution for men and post menopausal women). My first go around was finding a "home remedy for RLS" taking black strap molasses (it does contain a small amount of iron). It totally cut into my RLS and I then switched to the Ferrous Bisglycinate - RLS gone in a week (but not sleep disturbances). This was now years ago - my ferritin was 49 at the time, % saturation just under 20%. The question for me remains why was I iron deficient then and not now - usually test at 100+ now?
This is the question my gp is asking ...I've just dropped a stool sample for a fit test , they will review me in 4 weeks to see how my irons going ...im keeping a log of my meds until.then, but slept so hard last night I've felt almost drugged all day so will try to reduce my gabapentin tonight as thinking maybe I don't need such a heavy dose if the iron is now reducing my symptoms....Good job we are all learning how to be our own best medic isn't it !!!!!
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