Hi, gp's and hospital Dr's have stated iron injections are no longer available in the UK. Wondered if this is true for private?
I believe i may need them as i have previously been diagnosed as iron deficient. However ferritin levels high at the time of diagnoses.
I suffered brain fog, exhaustion and was diagnosed with female balding. I believe this was due to iron not female balding.
I have tried to have fresh iron blood taken.
The DR only tested ferritin which was 210 range 0 to 315
Paid to have full iron studies taken privately but there has been a test error when taken by finger prick. Tried again and couldn't get any blood out. So paid to have it done by a nurse who had to abandon the test after four tries as couldn't draw blood and the vein blistered. So will have to try again when arms heal.
Also having very light periods for a few years. Bleed for a day.
Scalp hair is terrible.
If anyone can advise i'd be grateful.I was wondering if iron deficiency without being anemic can cause light periods.
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Karen154
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There was a major change in the warnings about iron injections seven years ago:
MHRA/CHM advice: Serious hypersensitivity reactions with intravenous iron (August 2013)
Serious hypersensitivity reactions, including life-threatening and fatal anaphylactic reactions, have been reported in patients receiving intravenous iron. These reactions can occur even when a previous administration has been tolerated (including a negative test dose). Test doses are no longer recommended and caution is needed with every dose of intravenous iron.
Intravenous iron products should only be administered when appropriately trained staff and resuscitation facilities are immediately available; patients should be closely monitored for signs of hypersensitivity during and for at least 30 minutes after every administration. In the event of a hypersensitivity reaction, treatment should be stopped immediately and appropriate management initiated.
The risk of hypersensitivity is increased in patients with known allergies, immune or inflammatory conditions, or those with a history of severe asthma, eczema, or other atopic allergy; in these patients, intravenous iron should only be used if the benefits outweigh the risks.
Intravenous iron should be avoided in the first trimester of pregnancy and used in the second or third trimesters only if the benefit outweighs the potential risks for both mother and fetus.
The Patient Information Leaflet for CosmoFer (one injectable iron product) has a substantial side effects section. Whether we get shown that, or given the whole PIL, is another question. I think the serious side effects are truly rare but they don't exactly downplay them.
4. Possible side effects
Like all medicines CosmoFer can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. The following side effects may happen with this medicine:
Allergic reactions
Tell your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following signs and symptoms that may indicate a serious allergic reaction: shortness of breath, nettle rash or hives, flushing, rashes, itching, nausea and shivering, and chest pain which can be a sign of a potentially serious allergic reaction called Kounis syndrome.
More serious allergic reactions, may happen in the first few minutes of having CosmoFer (affecting less than 1 in 10,000 people). The signs may include:
• sudden onset of difficulty breathing (respiratory difficulty)
• serious problems with your heart and circulation (cardiovascular collapse)
• fatalities have been reported.
Also, there have been reports of delayed allergic reactions, that may happen a few hours or up to four days after being given CosmoFer. The signs may include:
• pain in your joints or muscles
• sometimes a high temperature (fever).
Please contact your doctor if you have any of these signs.
Other side effects include
Uncommon (affecting less than 1 in 100 people):
• pain in and around the stomach (abdominal pain), being sick (vomiting)
• blurred vision
• feeling hot
• cramps
• numbness.
Rare (affecting less than 1 in 1,000 people):
• loss of consciousness
• altered mental status
• seizure (fits)
• dizziness, restlessness, fatigue
• low blood pressure
• angioedema, a type of severe allergic reaction, signs may include swelling
• uneven (irregular) heartbeat, high pulse rate, chest pain
• diarrhoea, sweating and tremor.
Very rare (affecting less than 1 in 10,000 people):
• lower red blood cells than usual (this would show up in some blood tests)
• headache
• unusual feeling on the surface of your body
• raised blood pressure
• temporary deafness
• palpitations
• in pregnancy, the baby’s heart rate may slow.
Not known
• Flu-like illness may occur a few hours to several days after injection and is typically characterised by symptoms such as high temperature, and aches and pains in muscles and joints.
Some other side effects have been reported.
People with ‘rheumatoid’ arthritis may have worsening of joint pain.
Possible side effects after an injection into your vein
If you have CosmoFer into a vein, there may be reactions, such as soreness and swelling (inflammation) around the vein. There have also been reports of inflammation of the vein.
Possible side effects after an injection into your muscle
If you have CosmoFer into a muscle, there may be reactions, such as staining of the skin, bleeding, formation of boils, tissue damage (necrosis or atrophy) and pain.
If any of the side effects gets serious or if you notice any side effects not listed in this leaflet, please tell your doctor or nurse.
I believe i may need them as i have previously been diagnosed as iron deficient. However ferritin levels high at the time of diagnoses.
The DR only tested ferritin which was 210 range 0 to 315
I think you may be barking up the wrong tree in thinking you are iron deficient, and I'm curious exactly which test result the doctor was looking at when you were diagnosed as being deficient.
There are several different ways in which people can become anaemic. For example low folate can cause anaemia as can low vitamin B12. See this link for more details :
There is a condition called Anaemia of Chronic Disease (ACD) which shows up with low haemoglobin and high ferritin. ACD is a protective condition in which the body stores iron in ferritin in order to prevent access to free iron so that infections, viruses, parasites and cancers can't make use of your iron to proliferate.
For anyone suffering from ACD the last thing they need is more iron as those last two links explain.
I would also suggest that with a ferritin level of 210 (0 - 315) which is 2/3rd of the way through the range you don't need the massive amount of iron that you would get from iron infusions or injections.
Another point... The reference range for ferritin that you've been given is utter nonsense. No reference range for ferritin should start at 0. It is not healthy to have zero ferritin!
I'm not suggesting that there isn't a connection between your hair loss and other symptoms and your nutrient levels. But I do think you are looking in the wrong direction by pinning your hopes on increasing your iron levels.
Thanks for the reply. It was a dermotologist who did full iron tests over two years ago.
Iron and ferritin are not the same thing and shouldn't be considered as one in the same by just testing ferritin. You can be iron deficient without being anemic. There are many causes for this.ie liver disease and gastric bleeding.
I'm trying to find a cause for iron deficiency not anemia.
I was precribed liquid iron. I don't remember exact test results as long time ago. But iron and serum transferrin were abnormally low and i had heavy hair fall and struggled to function.
Liquid iron had been withdrawn twice with same effects.
I know iron and ferritin aren't the same thing, but the body moves iron from the blood stream into ferritin and from ferritin into iron 24 hours a day as and when necessary.
One molecule of ferritin contains up to 4500 atoms of iron. Ferritin is the body's iron store.
If you have a lot of ferritin and very little serum iron then your body is holding iron in ferritin for a reason, and that reason is often ACD, as I said, although I doubt it is the only reason.
I know people can be iron deficient without being anaemic. But people can also be anaemic without being iron deficient - they might be folate deficient or vitamin B12 deficient and have plenty of iron.
Anyone with plenty of ferritin but low levels of iron in the blood stream is likely to find that iron infusions or injections continue to have low levels of iron in the blood but have sky high ferritin.
Your ferritin level doesn't tell you anything about the amount of free iron in your bloodstream. You would need a specific test to tell you. If you were to supplement iron with very low iron and good levels of ferritin then you might be making yourself very sick indeed.
I become iron deficient while ferritin remains high.
And this is what you would expect in someone who has ACD. Your body is protecting you by reducing the iron in your blood stream and storing it in ferritin to keep it away from bacteria, viruses, cancers, parasites or any other nasties you may have. Iron helps all those things to reproduce, and your body is protecting you from that to the best of its ability.
I can't think of any other way of explaining this, so I won't reply again.
For the record.I'm not deficent in any vitamin or mineral and i can't confirm i'm deficent in iron yet until the bloods are done. But my symptoms are the same as when they have been.
So perhaps you need an appt with gastroenterology and/or haematology to find out why your iron drops so fast. Have you had a colonoscopy and endoscopy or the barium equivalents?
Well this is the frustrating thing as i asked for this but the haemoglubin construstant turned me away.
Now the nhs testing properly.
My gp actually told me."your not anemic we are not obligued to test your iron levels any more. It's up to you if you want to continue to take liquid iron.
I wouldn't accept this as we had nothing to go out without the test so she just tested ferritin.
I can't believe she could not draw blood from you. Can you use a different phlemotomist next time? I have always had trouble with getting my blood drawn and one time I had to have blood drawn using a canula which seemed to work.
It seems so extreme. Well ferritin was fine and my hemoglobin was ok but on the high side and blood was sticky.
I wasn't dehyrated as i drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day.
So paid to have the full iron study tests done private with a finger prick. I couldn't get any blood out. It didn't seem to very liquid like if you know what i mean.
So tried again, private test at nhs hospital and the nurse made a real mess of my arm but no blood. I've placed a complaint with the hospital and the private lab.
I've now paid for a nurse to come to my home to take the blood. But my arm will have to heal first.
It seems you have all the answers to your iron questions so I'm just chipping in with a tip on how to do a successful blood draw! You must ensure that you are extremely well hydrated and have eaten beforehand. For this reason I try and get mine done in the afternoon after numerous cups of tea, lots of water and a big breakfast
I have tried that myself but I have small veins and I have recently ended up with a bruised arm with a swelling where the blood was drawn. It is now a horrible yellow color so I am glad it is winter so I am not wearing a short sleeved dress.
Just chiming in here, FTIW. My mother had hard-to-find veins in her arms. I finally convinced her medical team to draw blood from a clearly visible vein on the back of her hand. Problem solved.
Whenever someone insisted in probing her inner elbow, she ended up looking like she had been thrashed.
Well, it isn't always a problem just the last few tries. Also the nurse was a nightmare. Didn't even feel like the needle was in the vein. She was wriggling the needle round under my skin trying to get the vein. She was dreadful.
When the vein blistered up and she carried on. I started screaming, oh my god!
So sorry you had to go through this. Don't let anyone do it to you ever again. If someone can't hit the vein on the first try, ask for a different nurse/phlebotomist.
Seems to me that while stuff might be available on NHS you still probably have to jump through hoops to get it or be on deaths door.
My iron was low and I was desperate to get started on T3 so paid for an iron infusion at the iron clinic in London. Was in and out in an hour or so and the treatment itself took about 15 minutes. Super expensive but my iron is over 200 now so I can tick that off my list lol.
It didn’t make me feel any different unfortunately but I reminded myself I was just trying to get optimal for T3.
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Why won't the NHS give me an iron infusion?
Trying 3 Arrows Iron - UK Test Guide?
Is it worth having a private iron panel done when the NHS results can be so different?
