Just been told my Iron is a little on the low side. The midwife said it's 109 and should be around 120. So she said get an iron supplement from the chemist and take twice a day with orange juice or something.
So.....which one do I get?
And I don't want to get constipated, should I take something to prevent that too? What is ok to take in pregnancy?
You can get either Ferrograd or Ferrograd C. Ferrograd has folate in it, which is good during pregnancy, Ferrorgrad C has vitamin c in it. If you're planning on increasing your vitamin c intake, then you won't need ferrograd c.
It can cause constipation, so just beaware of that. I'm not sure what you can take during pg for constipation though.
I think any are ok, take it with orange juice or vitamin c and keep your fluid (water) up.
If you are very worried about constipation get into the prunes or pears!
A pharmacist should be able to help anyway
My midwife recommended that I take Spatone - it's an iron-rich water from Wales. It comes in little sachets, and I take one sachet a day with a small glass of orange juice. I don't know if it's better than tablet forms, but I haven't had any problems taking it.
Thanks for your post - it reminded me that I'm out and need to buy some more!
The iron tablets I am on are in a green and white bottle and they are little red ones. i take one each morning with my other tablets (vitamins and calcium). I was expecting constipation but I go more regularly now than I did before taking, but doubt that has anything to do with the tablets. Probably the pressure I am getting now doing that.
You can get a stool softner from chemist that is safe during pregnancy rather than a laxative that can be too aggressive and cause cramping.
I was also prescribed Ferrograd C, but I found it a bit hard on my tummy. So now I take the iron biocomplex by "nutri-medicine", which is available at a naturopath or health food store. It includes vitamin c (to aid absorbtion) and folate. I haven't had any problem with constipation with them at all (even while taking three times a day).
The other one I've heard people recommend is Flurodix (Sp?) which is a powder you dissolve in water and is available at the chemist - apparently its also easier on the tummy.
Remember to take your iron tablets away from tea and coffee though, because these inhibit your absorbtion.
My iron was also low and because I suffer from IBS the extra iron was giving me hell! My OB advises metamucil when taking iron supplements to avoid constipation, so therefore must be perfectly safe. But a word of warning, start off with once a day and let your body get use to it - otherwise you may have the opposite effect!!!!!
Sarah, I agree, Blooms, or any other liquid iron (there's a few out there, FerroForce is another one) is a good way to go. Liquid will be easier absorbed too. And won't constipate.
Jodi! There's 2 iron related things they measure, one is supposed to be around 15 (and 6 is still very low woman!), but are you sure your one that's supposed to be 120 is 6?
hmmm, now I'm not sure which one. My dr said the range should be between 10 and something, and it's 6. I have to have my bloods done again this month to see how they're going so I'll find out soon enough.
I'm taking the 'Fab Iron' because my doctor and specialist said that my iron levels are too low. The Health food shop said it was the best one. I'm also taking the Blackmore's pregnancy tablets twice a day (scarily this was not enough to get my iron levels up...). No probs so far with constipation. However I am not pregnant, so I don't know if this makes a difference...
Pre birth my iron levels were low and I started them.
Post birth I lost blood which depleted my iron stores - my red cell test after birth came back 89. Recently they have come back 110 after taking them for two months, which is borderline ok, but my iron stores are still very low so I need to keep taking them for a few more months again.
However, no-one has mentioned that it will change the colour of your poo to a nice dark grey colour - a shock to start with until your body gets used to it and gets back to normal.
Sure you can take metamucil etc but for me thats even too drastic. I am a IBS sufferer although its all but gone since being pregnant (thank God!). I avoid anything that make me move too quickly in that area. The stool softner worked well earlier on when I had constipation for about 3 weeks but I have been good ever since (thank God again!). I just drink lots of fluids cause that will generally soften things up.
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