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r/Anemic•
hester_grey

Missing iron dose and having big reaction?

Hi! I recently found out I have low iron levels (I wasn't given the numbers so I can't say if it counts as anaemia or not, unfortunately). My GP (I'm in the UK) prescribed 210mg ferrous fumarate 3 times a day, which I have to take for 4 months. I've been taking it for about 2 weeks.

I'd really like to know what to expect from this treatment. I've been feeling pretty awful this year (lethargic, low mood, mental health struggles) and it seemed like last week my mood suddenly lifted and I was feeling a little better. But I missed a few doses over a very busy weekend and crashed - bad mental health and insomnia suddenly struck. Is it likely that the iron supplements are working that much already? Can missing a couple pills really have such a noticeable effect?

Posted Nov 8, 2022, 10:15 AM UTC

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SuitableGuarantee968•

Possibly but it could be something else is going on. I'm not a medical professional but due to some of the words that you use I have to ask how is your vitamin d? Have you been taking your iron with vitamin C? Magnesium can also be affected when taking iron so do a Google search on that cuz I'm not well educated on it. Perhaps you've caught in a virus?

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9tomatoes•

I have had very low iron stores and anemia on and off during childbearing and breastfeeding for a very very long time. I can say this pregnancy that if I missed some doses of my iron I definitely felt surprisingly worse. For the first time I had iron infusions (3x every 3 days to get levels up before baby arrives)...I have not taken anymore oral iron since so gosh my stomach feels way better. Energy is slowly improving but the colour in my face is the most noticeable as well as the fact that I almost instantly stopped craving ice.

It seemed to me that having no iron stores and low hemoglobin meant that those daily supplements were keeping me upright to a degree pre infusion. I still felt crummy and tired and craved ice constantly even over food, but it was markedly worse if I missed the oral supplements even though they were not impacting my bloodwork.

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hester_greyOP•

Interesting. That jives with my experience, glad I'm not crazy! I'll be more diligent about not missing pills :)

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