Anemia

yinyang124 · September 2012

I'm taking the maximum amt of iron supplement, plus I believe I eat a decent amount in my meals. I'm still feeling anemic though- exhaustion, light-headed and extremely pale. I see my OB on Friday and will ask, but I don't know what else I could possibly do to help. Anyone else experience this?

KayJayDee · September 2012

Make sure you're not eating calcium within an hour of taking your supplement as it interferes with absorption. I've also heard that taking it with orange juice with vitamin D can help with absorption. Could be that you're taking enough, but it's not all going in.

yinyang124 · September 2012

KayJayDee:
Make sure you're not eating calcium within an hour of taking your supplement as it interferes with absorption. I've also heard that taking it with orange juice with vitamin D can help with absorption. Could be that you're taking enough, but it's not all going in.

Thank you! I will try this.

Rynleigh · September 2012

Also, how has your blood pressure been? Has any PTL treatment or anything they've given you been a BP reducer? Are you eating low-sugar? You can get a lot of those similar anemic symptoms just from having low blood pressure or low blood sugar, too!

yinyang124 · September 2012

Rynleigh:
Also, how has your blood pressure been? Has any PTL treatment or anything they've given you been a BP reducer? Are you eating low-sugar? You can get a lot of those similar anemic symptoms just from having low blood pressure or low blood sugar, too!

My BP has been normal. I was on procardia, but I stopped taking it because it wasn't helping stop or even slow down contractions. I am eating low sugar though because I have GD. It's worse in the morning, so maybe I'm getting double whammied.

How are you feeling, by the way?

Rynleigh · September 2012

I got my staples out yesterday (yay) so I don't have so much soreness - I just itch like CRAZY. We go in for our AS tomorrow, so I'm hoping everything will be renewed reassurance with that. Baby A is poking me with his little bony feet throughout the day, but I don't feel B much due to anterior placenta, so knowing he's still growing and developing will be comforting.

I hope the anemic symptoms clear up for you soon It is possible to get the blood sugar drops even with the GD, but it would really suck if that's the case. Hopefully those little ones are just eating up all of your red blood cells faster than you can absorb/produce lol

yinyang124 · September 2012

Rynleigh:
I got my staples out yesterday (yay) so I don't have so much soreness - I just itch like CRAZY. We go in for our AS tomorrow, so I'm hoping everything will be renewed reassurance with that. Baby A is poking me with his little bony feet throughout the day, but I don't feel B much due to anterior placenta, so knowing he's still growing and developing will be comforting.
I hope the anemic symptoms clear up for you soon It is possible to get the blood sugar drops even with the GD, but it would really suck if that's the case. Hopefully those little ones are just eating up all of your red blood cells faster than you can absorb/produce lol

Aw, that's great. I was hoping that no updates from you meant that everything was going smoothly. I have an anterior placenta also, so I know how you feel about needing that extra reassurance sometimes. Well, not so much anymore because even the placenta isn't cushioning some of these kicks.

I hope they do too because it is rather frustrating. Hopefully my OB will be able to clear up some of the symptoms. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just these boys draining every bit of energy out of me lol.

Good luck at your appointment, sweetie!

Reilly626 · September 2012

I am anemic post pregnancy. I'm taking iron and trying to eat iron rich foods. It's hard bc I have constipation issues and iron doesn't help. I'm pale also and exhausted anyway with twins so anemia doesn't help.

reillyroowho · September 2012

The iron supplements didn't really work for me. Instead, I got iron infusions. It was given intravenously and hurt like hell but it was so worth it. I felt so great after my treatments. Also, I didn't need to worry about getting a transfusion during my c/s

yinyang124 · September 2012

Reilly626:
I am anemic post pregnancy. I'm taking iron and trying to eat iron rich foods. It's hard bc I have constipation issues and iron doesn't help. I'm pale also and exhausted anyway with twins so anemia doesn't help.

I also haveBM issues because of a back injury, so all of this extra iron is really rough on my body. I take colace 3x a day, but it doesn't help very much.

yinyang124 · September 2012

reillyroowho:
The iron supplements didn't really work for me. Instead, I got iron infusions. It was given intravenously and hurt like hell but it was so worth it. I felt so great after my treatments. Also, I didn't need to worry about getting a transfusion during my c/s

Interesting. I'm going to request bloodwork at my appt and ask about this.

Reilly626 · September 2012

yinyang124:
Reilly626:
I am anemic post pregnancy. I'm taking iron and trying to eat iron rich foods. It's hard bc I have constipation issues and iron doesn't help. I'm pale also and exhausted anyway with twins so anemia doesn't help.
I also haveBM issues because of a back injury, so all of this extra iron is really rough on my body. I take colace 3x a day, but it doesn't help very much.

Yes me too- Metamucil, prunes and stool softeners here! Ugh!

AmyJoy728 · September 2012

I wound up on iron at the end of my preg, blood transfusions after c/s and iron after delivery. Make sure you aren't taking your prenatal at the same time as that will block some of the iron or something.

yinyang124 · September 2012

AmyJoy728:
I wound up on iron at the end of my preg, blood transfusions after c/s and iron after delivery. Make sure you aren't taking your prenatal at the same time as that will block some of the iron or something.

It's so interesting that I haven't been told that calcium blocks iron and that the nurses in the hospital always gave me my prenatal and iron together. I'm sure out of convenience for them, but it is truly silly. I've been taking it with a little OJ since yesterday though, and it seems to be helping.

Thank you for all of the input, ladies.

Rynleigh · September 2012

Bleh. I feel awful for everyone having to be on iron sups I'm luckily getting enough - they did the level two iron test to check my absorption because my red blood cells were small, but the count was high - turned out I was getting/absorbing plenty of iron, I just happen to have alpha thalassemia type trait. I was always given iron sups during my first two pregnancies because my doctors always assumed I was just anemic - never checked for ATT because I don't have known African/Asian heritage. So glad not to have the extra gunk buildup.

I hope everything gets better for those of you having to deal with the sups and deficiencies right now!!

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