thread: Low in iron! Help

  1. #1
    Registered User

    Dec 2007
    Sydney
    185

    Low in iron! Help

    Hey Ladies!
    I have just been diagnosed as being borderline anaemic. I knew something was wrong after feeling "foggy" and dizzy and tired for months and figured since bub was sleeping through, I should be feeling great! I am taking Fero-Grad C daily and also having two blackmores preg/bf multivits. I'm still breastfeeding and have just got my periods back so what iron I am putting in is quickly being lost. My question is this... does anyone have any ideas of how I can boost my levels quicker? I can't stand feeling like this any longer and feel it is affecting my mothering as I'm just exhausted all the time. I eat meat, do all the right things but seem to be getting nowhere?

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Follow Pandora On Twitter

    Jan 2005
    cowtown
    8,276

    have you had your levels checked since you've been on the ferro-grad C?

    Thats what I took when my BT came back with next to no stored iron, and after one container of them it was back to normal.

    Having vitamin c at the same time as the iron (hence the C in the name) increases your body's absorbtion of iron too.

    If you are doing all of this and still not able to keep iron levels, maybe there is a different underlying cause. There are more causes for anaemia than just not comsuming enough iron trough diet/supplements so they may do further investiagtion.

  3. #3
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Feb 2006
    South Eastern Suburbs, Vic
    6,054

    I'd get your levels tested again too. Just to see how effective the supplements have been.
    It's no fun is it.

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Add boobaloo on Facebook

    May 2006
    Brisbane, Australia
    1,024

    if the tablets aren't working, ask your doctor to put you on ferrosig injections, they are straight iron. i know exactly how you feel, 3 months after matilda was born i was extremely exhausted, very depressed and anxious, blood tests found my iron level to be 8 (lowest it can be is 50). get on to this as soon as you can, it has really ruined the past few months with my babies, as my level is still very low, i have no energy and am quite depressed. the injmections are pretty good, but as someone else said, take vitamin c as it helps to absorb it. good luck!

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Jan 2008
    In a land of bubbles and trouble
    1,479

    Yes get retested.

    I was on ferrograd C 4 days after birth - I was 89. I was retested at 6 weeks and 112, so an improve. But my iron stores are still low so doc recommended a couple more months - I don't know whether I am getting a bit more sleep plus the tablets, but am feeling more human again now!

  6. #6
    Registered User

    Oct 2008
    Thirroul, NSW, Originally Cornwall, UK
    249

    If you have the iron injections wont you become like wolverine from xmen and the metal guy will be able to move your body?

  7. #7
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Feb 2006
    South Eastern Suburbs, Vic
    6,054

    Haha, well, we have all sorts of metals in our body Brunette, so...

  8. #8
    Registered User

    May 2006
    Burwood, Victoria
    21

    Try having foods that are naturally high in copper. Sometimes iron levels can be low in our body but not in our diet. Copper is vital to us taking up the iron in our system.

    Australian soil usually has low copper levels - not iron, so it is common for the food grown on these soils to be low in copper.

    Having foods that are naturally high in copper, such as berries, nuts, rosehip tea or hips, lugumes, organ meat might be an idea.

    Oh and good quality cocoa is high in copper and magnesium - must be why I crave chocolate

  9. #9
    Registered User

    Nov 2008
    NSW Mid North Coast
    681

    Hi All,
    I am also anemic and the doctor has put me on 4000mg with my iron tablets to help with absorption and to help with constipation. I can definatly relate to feeling fuzzy and anxious and have to remind myself that it's just the iron deficancy. I was also taking the blackmores multvitamins and 2 extra iron tabs during pregnancy but I would get retested. Have you concidered a naturapath? Might be worth a try. My husbands great grandmother made me lots of spinach dishes after DD was born and I ate lots of raw beetroot and beetroot juice which I think also helped.