Ferrous Fumerate

[Booblet]

Hi,

For as long as I can remember I have always had very low and 'anemia' iron levels. I then take ferrous fumerate (prescribed from GP).........However. having seen Dr P he recommended that I keep taking ferrrous fumerate to 'maintain' my levels..........

The problem is that I cannotget hold of ferrous fumerate........on prescription.......Lloyds chemist have stated that 'they?' no longer make this brand????

I know I can purchase it from Amazon ect........but does anybody else have this problem???

I also, like many others suffer with constipation whilst taking this even though I do take it with 2000 mg Vit C.......Can anybody reccomend an alternative?? My last reading was low; 4.9 range = 4.6 to 18.....I also take B12 (self medicating as well as x 8 wkly injections, NDT (underactive thyroid), and NAX due to andrenal problems........

Thank-you all of you lovely people.........

[humanbean]

Go to a Tesco Pharmacy. I managed to buy Ferrous Fumarate 210mg, box of 84, fairly recently. It wasn't the standard Mercury Pharma ones that doctors supply on prescription, it came from India, so the packaging was different. It also didn't have a patient information leaflet included. But beggars can't be choosers. I can't get a prescription for the stuff from my doctor anyway, and haven't managed to do so since 2013, so I get what I can.

Mercury Pharma Ferrous Fumarate has been in short supply, or completely unobtainable, for most of this year. But, slowly, alternatives are appearing. I've been taking the Indian ones I got from Tesco for a while, and I have done okay with them. I'm like you - I have to stay on iron pretty much all the time. If I stop my levels drop like a stone.

[humanbean in reply to humanbean]

By the way... I don't know if you pay for your prescriptions or not, but if you do pay you really need to find out if it is cheaper to buy without the prescription rather than with it. It really depends on how many you get prescribed each time. Ferrous Fumarate 210mg is not classified as a prescription-only medicine, so it is perfectly legal for pharmacies to sell it without one if they want to. However, Boots will only supply with a prescription. Tesco, Lloyds (when they supplied it) and independent pharmacies will usually sell it without one.

[Hidden]

I get mine from ebay, quite reasonably priced too

[helvella Administrator]

Try buying and taking haem (also spelled heme) or ferritin supplements. They are absorbed by a different mechanism and can be used (if really needed) togther or with standard iron supplements like ferrous sulphate and ferrous fumarate. They are often reported not to cause constipation.

Such supplements are available from Amazon, iHerb and many other internet sources - though you might not find them so easily in ordinary shops.

[Angel_of_the_North]

These guys may have it:

waltonpharmacy.co.uk/produc...

Otherwise, I get it from Tescos pharmacy. There was a warning from NHS that it was in short supply but should be available from JUne, but, as with T3, mercury Pharma do what they like, so I'd go for any brand I could get at the correct strength.