Anyone else on ferrous sulphate?

[Willow82]

So.....I'm anaemic and the doctor has prescribed me ferrous sulphate 3 times a day. The instructions on the box says take 3 times a day and refer to the additional information before taking. There is no additional info though which is I assume a mistake by the pharmacy. I've looked it up online and some people say take it with food and other people to take 1 hour before a meal. Anyone know?

I've also been put off by the side effects people have reported which seem to be really common and include constipation or loose motions, vomiting, stomach cramps etc. oh and did I mention the black poo? Eurgh, I really really don't want to take them

 

[jstarr]

It's common to be prescribed iron tablets, they do effect the digestive system but in my own experience it's nothing terrible. I think optimum timing is either an hour before or an hour after food, taking them with orange juice helps your body absorb the iron and tea and coffee slightly hinder your absorption. If they really disagree with you something with natural folate like floradix or spatone might suit you better

 

[Hopespring]

I'm on them too. Advice as above but don't take with dairy products, you need to leave an hour or two between the tablet and dairy as it pretty much stops absorption of iron.

 

[2have4kids]

<-What she said. Always take with OJ, never ever have dairy product before or after for at least 2-3 hours, don't take with alot of carb foods, veg & fruits will help it pass through and absorb. It's too bad doctors don't prescribe liquid iron or spatone, something that's super easy to absorb and way easier on the digestive system. I'd do some comparing to see what the dose is in your tablet compared to a liquid form iron that you can get from most health stores.
Doctors are rightfully worried about anemia in pregnancy as it's directly linked to ADD, ADHD, and cognitive developmental issues with your child. You don't want them having problems in school, school is tough enough! So it's up to you to ensure you get enough iron while pregnant. But tablets are the ultimate worst form to take iron

 

[wildflower79]

I was on 3 a day when pregnant with dd1. I can't really remember the advice for when best to take them, etc, but I didn't find I had any bad side effects from them (apart from the black poo, which you just get used to!)

 

[Lil_Gem_1989]

Im currently taking ferrous sulphate and have been for a week now, the only side effect ive had is black poo haha

 

[littlesteph]

I take them, my doctor told me to take with food, there are few you can't take it with as it reduces how of the iron the body takes in, and that's milk and eggs.
I've had no side effects from these other then the black poo but you'd get that with pretty much all iron tablets. other iron tablet I've been on in the past I was pretty ill with, they gave me the worse stomach pains and really messed up with my ibs. but these have been great. I still get dizzy and lightheaded now and then but no where near as much as I did when I wasn't taken them.

 

[bitethebullet]

I'm on 2 a day and I've also been taking spatone. As others have said, best taken on empty stomach and with orange juice (or a vitamin c tablet). Plus avoid dairy. I find it annoying as inwant to have cereal with milk in the morning but need to leave a big enough gap so end up having toast instead

 

[highhopes19]

I'm on them 3 a day..... Up until 2 weeks ago despite taking them my levels still kept dropping rapidly so I had an iron infusion drip.

They recommend taking them with orange juice but I just take them with water at meal times as I have GD and orange spikes my numbers xx

 

[Briss]

my ferritin levels are very low and my nutritionist prescribed ferrous gluconate 300 mg twice a day: first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I cant do first thing in the morning as I take thyroid medication at that time and iron interferes with its absorption so she changed it to one before lunch and one before going to bed. still, 600 mg a day seems quite a lot? How many mg do you take a day?

I was previously on this iron formula: Solgar Gentle Iron plus a pinch of Lamberts vitamin C powder in water plus one Solgar L-Lysine 1000mg first thing in the morning and last thing at night. but somehow it did not help and my ferritin only got lower so I am now trying ferrous gluconate but have not had my bloods yet to check if it's working.

 

[Willow82]

Thanks all. I've taken my first one so i will see how I go on them. I'm going to nip to the shop in a bit and stock up on iron rich food, orange juice and fibrogel.

I think my tablets are 200mg Briss so if I have to take them 3 times a day, it's 600mg in total.

Is everyone continuing to take a pre-natal vitamin? I wasn't sure if I should but the pharmacist said that i could as the iron level is only 17mg in them.

 

[Leann83]

Same as all the other ladies have said, if you take it with food/vit C, not at the same time as dairy/tea etc to help with absorption. I'm on galfer since 26 weeks due to low iron, I wasn't a fan of it on DS1, gave me tummy aches and also the dreaded black poo buuuut I'm determined to take them this time as my iron dropped so low after having DS1 that they were considering keeping me in until it started to raise, couldn't stand for more than a minute or two without feeling weak and dizzy and couldn't walk far... wasn't a nice feeling at all so trying to avoid it if possible this time around!

 

[2have4kids]

Same as all the other ladies have said, if you take it with food/vit C, not at the same time as dairy/tea etc to help with absorption. I'm on galfer since 26 weeks due to low iron, I wasn't a fan of it on DS1, gave me tummy aches and also the dreaded black poo buuuut I'm determined to take them this time as my iron dropped so low after having DS1 that they were considering keeping me in until it started to raise, couldn't stand for more than a minute or two without feeling weak and dizzy and couldn't walk far... wasn't a nice feeling at all so trying to avoid it if possible this time around!

Anemia after birth can also contribute to post partum.

I got rid of my prenatals and got liquid vits for most of what's in the prenatals. The iron was giving me major indigestion & constipation.