RE: [ozmidwifery] Iron woes - longish

[Pauline Moore]

I had a very similar situation when I was pregnant first time around and ended up having an iron infusion which worked beautifully but it turned out that I actually had undiagnosed celiac disease! Might be worth a thought as it is a condition that is vastly under diagnosed and is often triggered by pregnancy. Pauline Midwifery student   From: owner-ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au [mailto:owner-ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au] On Behalf Of Kristin Beckedahl Sent: 31 October 2006 16:05 To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au Subject: [ozmidwifery] Iron woes - longish   Hi all, I have just received this query from a woman - any ideas of how to help her with this greatly appreciated! 28/40 bloods Hb 12.9, Ferritin 7 - That's the lowest it has ever been as far as I'm aware.  Dr wasn't too worried about it as he felt my body had probably aclimatised to the low iron stores. However I am concerned about this and am wanting to get my levels up as quickly as possible. The problem is  is that I have not been able to tolerate any form of oral iron. The Iron Plus were too constipating, so I became even more conscious (if that was possible) of getting as much iron from my diet as possible. However, I was becoming more and more lethargic etc and so I tried taking Clements Iron (liquid) that was recommended to me. However this had the opposite effect (diarrhoea) and my stools were very black, which made me doubt if I was absorbing any iron at all. As well as the black stools, I was becoming increasingly symptomatic of iron deficiency and anaemia. My bloods last week showed my Hb 11.0 Ferritin 7 (However a fingerprick sample for my Hb 2 days earlier was 10.0 g/dL) I became quite dizzy when standing, my BP dropped to 90 / 44, very short of breath, exhausted, oedema in my ankles etc. I saw a locum GP and he wanted to see what my blood results were before suggesting any treatment. I relayed all of this to my Midwives down south who consulted a Homeopath who felt that maybe I was toxic to iron and that is why my body wouldn't tolerate any supplements. (When I look back I have been on Iron on and off since I was pregnant with my little boy ~ 2.5 years ago). I was advised to stop taking any Fe supplements and do a 3 day detox on Pulsatilla 6c three times a day. I have just completed this and surprisingly, I have started to feel better, less dizzy, BP now normal 100 / 70, still SOB and tired though as could be expected. My GP is back now and he wants me to have iron injections over the next 2 weeks to see if that will restore my levels. What do you think???   Thousands of jobs, millions of opportunities at seek.com.au -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit to subscribe or unsubscribe.