How can you be iron deficient and take iron supplements?

[writergal]

B12 and iron go hand in hand. I have low B12 levels and get shots once a month. When I first went to see the Dr and she did a bunch of blood tests she told me that my levels were so low that my iron level was beginning to be affected which means I could have become anemic.

 

Get iron shots and ask her about the B12 too. The pills aren't enough to bring your levels back up to normal and also, if you have an iron defiency like I have a B12 defiency , shots are a forever thing. Though its no big deal. I feel great after them.

 

Wow I would love to get my energy back if all it took was one shot every so often. If the iron pills plus food won't work to bring my levels back up, then B12 shots will do the trick, plus what TaraMere suggested with her condition of taking more Folic Acid? This is so great that you and others are posting here. I really appreciate all the info. I feel like I'll be more prepared for my dr. visit next week.

[Eternal Sunshine]

I have had a problem with this for years. I take iron tablets and am iron deficient. My body doesn't seem to be absorbing the iron from tablets.

 

I found a liquid form of iron supplement that is easier to absorb and is the only thing that seems to work in my case. Google spatone.

[TaraMaiden]

Sorry I wish I knew how to multiquote in one thread.

Let's say you want to quote 2 people.

 

look at the bottom right hand box of the 1st person's post.

There's 'Alert us', 'quote', then a funny sheet of paper, on a blue background, with speechmarks on it, and a plus sign.

Go to the post of the first person you wish to quote. click on that symbol.

the 'plus' sign turns to a 'minus'. the background goes orange.

(if it's the wrong person, or you just decide to not bother, click on it again, and it undoes the action.)

go to the 2nd person you want to quote.

click on that symbol again.

 

No go to the bottom, and click the lower left 'button', 'Post Reply'.

A comments box will appear, with both clicked posts.

Edit, change remove whatever you do or don't want to include, and go form there.

you can split a person's quote in the usual way by using the quote button on the comment toolbar.....

 

 

 

I'm half Italian/Irish too. I've never heard of Beta Thalassemia before. How did you get diagnosed?

I'll try to keep it brief.

I had my first daughter in '83, and although the whole labour, birth delivery thing was absolutely perfect and as ideal textbook as you would ever want, the morning after I'd had her, i was extremely pale, felt very weak, and ready to faint. I looked, and felt awful.

They had my full medical history and origin, but at that moment, all they were interested in was how on earth this had happened.

They took a blood test, and immediately put me onto iron.

Four hours later, I felt even worse. I kept passing out and couldn't hold my baby for fear of dropping her. So they immediately doubled the dose of iron.

The next morning, I was almost comatose, so they immediately organised a blood transfusion. 3 pints in 6 hours.

I felt a lot better, but subsequently learnt that, that morning, I had been around 15 minutes away from complete organ failure.

Roll on 6 months, and I need a tonsillectomy, because or recurring viral infection.

During the waiting period for the op, (a couple of months), they realise i am a bit anaemic, so they put me on iron.

On being admitted, I give this sweet little trainee nurse all my medical details, origin and complete medical history, including the biazarre episode after my daughter's birth.

blow me down if the op doesn't go perfectly (it's nothing major, or rocket science, after all. It's just a tonsillectomy, and takes an hour, tops) but I go all weak and feeble again.

The doctors just can't understand it. My blood count was fine before the op, it all went well... what the hell was going on?

Rather than give me iron, they went straight for the transfusion.

and then, the little trainee nurse asks for a word with the specialist, because she's put 2 and 2 together...

Half-Italian, anaemia, apparent immunity to iron... fainting for no reason... could it possibly be Betathalassaemia?

They run tests.

Miss trainee nurse got it spot on.

And to his credit, when the specialist comes to tell me the test results, he's pushing trainee nurse forward and giving her the credit for the discovery.

 

 

How long did you suffer before you were diagnosed?

I must have had it all my life, but had never had any serious medical intervention requiring supplements....

 

Which type of doctor did you see?

Well, the disgnosis happened in hospital, but your own doctor could run tests for Beta-thalassemia if you ask him to.

 

Feel free to PM me with your lengthy story. It may help me as I try to figure out why I'm anemic.

given that you're half Italian, i think it may be a likelihood....but by no means certain. however, my mother has the condition, as does my eldest daughter.

 

I could mention this condition to my endocrinologist next week at my appointment with him to see what he thinks.

Good thinking. i suspect he will be of the opinion that it's a good thing you thought of that....!

I've already had a CBC but that doesn't include testing for vitamin deficiencies.

you wouldn't be testing for vitamin defficiency, you'd be testing for poor red blood cell presence. if you're taking iron, i would stop.

That might mask any results.

 

I probably should start a multivitamin but don't know if I can take B12 and B6 and Folic Acid separately

folic acid 5mg is only available on prescription here in the UK. but in my case, it's an habitual repeat prescription.

B6/B12 is available commercially from a health food store, but ask your doc or endocrinologist about dosage.

 

from that plus an Iron supplement plus my thyroid medication.

 

if you are Betathalassemic, Iron will definitely be off the cards, in tablet form.

Argh! I forsee a lot of pills in my near future pending my doctor appointment next week for clarification.

Not really. once you know what the issue is, the remedy is fairly straightforward.

I sometimes forget to take my folic acid, but I'm usually ok. If I had to go to hospital for anything, I'd be a lot more mindful.

Incidentally, I was taking folic acid and vitamin B6/12 during my second pregnancy.

I had a home birth with absolutely no complications at all.

Edited June 9, 2012 by TaraMaiden

[d'Arthez]

Yikes, that is a horrible experience TM. Glad you are still among us.

[TaraMaiden]

Why, thank you d'Arthez, that's most kind of you!

I admit, it wasn't one of the nicest episodes, but yeah, got through it in the end!

 

The transfusion should have taken between 1-2 hours per pint, but such was the urgency of the matter, they did rather pump it into me....

However, such a physical upheaval had side-effects.

As a result, I suffered a severe hormone imbalance which went undiagnosed and untreated for nearly 5 years, and caused so much emotional see-sawing (teeter-tottering) that I actually thought at one point i might have been going insane.

(*waits for the wisecracks....!* )

i saw all manner of 'experts' and most of the medical ones had no idea what to do, so it was easier to put it all down to birth-control-pill incompatibility, and usher me out the door with "a new variety to try this time.... see you in 3 months!"

 

In the end, after seeing several doctors, a psychotherapist, hypnotist and finally, someone who knew what he was talking about - I had to have HRT, and managed to conceive my youngest daughter around 6 months later.

 

I have great faith in the medical fraternity - but I still do my homework and check all the facts.....Put it this way, I take nothing for granted as de facto - until it actually works for me, on a regular basis.

[writergal]

Why, thank you d'Arthez, that's most kind of you!

I admit, it wasn't one of the nicest episodes, but yeah, got through it in the end!

 

The transfusion should have taken between 1-2 hours per pint, but such was the urgency of the matter, they did rather pump it into me....

However, such a physical upheaval had side-effects.

As a result, I suffered a severe hormone imbalance which went undiagnosed and untreated for nearly 5 years, and caused so much emotional see-sawing (teeter-tottering) that I actually thought at one point i might have been going insane.

(*waits for the wisecracks....!* )

i saw all manner of 'experts' and most of the medical ones had no idea what to do, so it was easier to put it all down to birth-control-pill incompatibility, and usher me out the door with "a new variety to try this time.... see you in 3 months!"

 

In the end, after seeing several doctors, a psychotherapist, hypnotist and finally, someone who knew what he was talking about - I had to have HRT, and managed to conceive my youngest daughter around 6 months later.

 

I have great faith in the medical fraternity - but I still do my homework and check all the facts.....Put it this way, I take nothing for granted as de facto - until it actually works for me, on a regular basis.

 

Thanks TM for sharing your story here. I'm second D'A's thoughts - glad you're still with us here on earth and in LS. You're one of my favorite people here. And thanks for the tips on how to multi-quote, too.

 

I figure I'll go to my appointment this next week with a list of questions based on what everyone's shared on this thread (including my own) and see what the doctor says. Although anemia seems like a simple problem to fix on the surface, as your story and others have demonstrated, that's not always the case, which is why I want to make sure my endocrinologist follows up with some of my worries by ordering tests to rule each worry out.

 

To bring up my dad again. He was always athletic - played hockey, soccer, tennis, cross country and downhill skied with nary a problem. In his 39th year he complained of feeling weak and had a blood test done that showed his red blood cell count was really low and that he was severely anemic. So while he had more tests pending, he took my sister and I out cross country skiing and while out, fell and cracked his tailbone. I think had he not gone in for an x-ray the doctors would have viewed his anemia as common, because the x-ray of his tailbone revealed a lot of tumors in his tailbone. That led to more tests until he learned at age 40 he had multiple myeloma, which is cancer of the plasma cells and commonly referred to as "bone marrow" cancer. Throughout his treatment he remained anemic too, which is the kicker. He lived for another 11 years and went into remission but his interferon treatment gave him leukemia and killed him - not the cancer he was diagnosed with.

 

Anemia seems like a common problem but it really isn't for a lot of people. It can be a symptom of a condition or disease that many general practioner doctors like in TM's story, didn't even think of. Her nurse thought of it. Thank god for TM's nurse.

 

I wouldn't have posted about being diagnosed with anemia if I wasn't worried about it and wanted to hear other people's experiences with it. So I'm glad I could do that here.

[TaraMaiden]

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. That sucks, big time.

 

Being armed with questions is good,

but if they're going to take time to go through, maybe advise the receptionist/doctor that you feel the appointment may over-run, because you have questions, and you're not leaving without answers!

 

I did this with a doctor i had an appointment with - they ended up moving my appointment back a day, but they appreciated my thoughfulness, and i got all the answers I wanted!

 

Keep us posted, I almost feel i now have a vested interest!

[d'Arthez]

Sorry to hear about your father writergal. Hope your fears prove ungrounded and a simple change in diet / medication you are taking will do the trick.

[writergal]

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. That sucks, big time.

 

Being armed with questions is good,

but if they're going to take time to go through, maybe advise the receptionist/doctor that you feel the appointment may over-run, because you have questions, and you're not leaving without answers!

 

I did this with a doctor i had an appointment with - they ended up moving my appointment back a day, but they appreciated my thoughfulness, and i got all the answers I wanted!

 

Keep us posted, I almost feel i now have a vested interest!

 

Great minds think alike TM. :D I already emaile my endo yesterday and booked a 2nd appointment with him two weeks from tomorrow. In my email I told him that I wanted this week's appointment to focus on the anemia issue only, and that two weeks from now we could talk about my thyroid issues which are pretty run of the mill discussions anyway. I'll keep you posted about what happens. I have no qualms about going to another doctor if my endo is close minded, considering my father's anemia/cancer issue.

[writergal]

Sorry to hear about your father writergal. Hope your fears prove ungrounded and a simple change in diet / medication you are taking will do the trick.

 

Thanks D'A. He was one of the healthiest people I ever knew; didn't drink or smoke, very fit and athletic, great cook (always used organic food, never boxed). Just goes to show that even the healthiest people aren't immune to diseases.

 

I'm hoping my anemia issue has a common fix and isn't a red flag to something scary like cancer or a condition that requires life long treatment. If I hadn't had my brain bashed in 12 years ago, I'd not be so hypervigilant about my health too. Supposedly one you had a serious head injury you are prone to alzheimers and dementia and other not-so-fun conditions.

Edited June 9, 2012 by writergal