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Iron infusion or not
Posted by bartalos_szilvia on February 23, 2023 at 10:19 amHello!I’ low on iron / ferretin and the doctor advised I do iron infusion rather than taking supplements for 6 months. I think I get low constantly sine I put copper coil. So I have to probably just change that.
However my question is regards to the infusion, 1) if it is advised at all and 2) any way I can get my body prepared for it… anything to consider.Thank you
bartalos_szilvia replied 1 year, 4 months ago 4 Members · 21 Replies -
21 Replies
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Hi Szilvia,
Earlier this month, i was told the same.
I was admitted into hospital on Tuesday for a colonscopy and endoscopy.
During my stay, they repeated my blood test and noticed today I noticed my haemoglobin, iron and other iron related markers have cropped up.
I think it’s related to having beetroot and drinking nettle tea.
However, please check with B. and Daniel re your situation.
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Hey ,
I can imagine that you feel a bit worried.
Blood transfusions can be recommended when haemoglobin is very low. But having a low iron/ferritin status is usually insufficient for a doctor to reach such a conclusion. I believe there should have been measured more lab values. Would you like to share them with us?
With anemia it can take a while before your body has produced enough red blood cells and hemoglobin. Are you experiencing heavy blood loss because of your copper coil? If you do, supplements might not do the trick until you have addressed the blood loss.
If you would like a more detailed response, it would be helpful to know what kind of symptoms you are dealing with. For example:
• Are you feeling fatigued?
• Do you have problems with focus? Dizziness?
• Are you fainting?
• Are experiencing palpitations?
• Are you short of breath?
• Are you feeling cold? And if so, is it in the hands and feet? Or is your whole body feeling cold?
• Are you losing hair?
• How is your gut? Do you feel bloated? Constipated? Diarrhoea? Gas?
• Are you experiencing heartburn/GERD? -
Thank you Daniel and also for your post Naveed.
So I was doing my annual health check up and I asked the doc to check because I had low iron n the last 3-4 years and been on supplements on and off.
I definitely have heavy period after the copper coil (doubled compared to before) but I don’t really want to use hormones.. so could not yet work out what could be a better more natural contraceptive option for me that is also effective (as I do not plan for more children).I have mild symptoms now (before I was as low as 4 on ferretin when I had panic attacks). I just did a month of detox and I think that immensely helped with my gut. I have parasites too to get rid off so I’m now on parasite cleaning with renew life.
I do feel tired still sometimes, maybe I noticed some more hair loss in the last weeks, feeling cold on my feet and hands a lot and generally if it get a little cold . Thankfully palpitations and heartburn stopped by reducing stress. Sometimes I’m on more of the constipation side, specifically during my periods.Im in a limbo if I should go for the iron infusion or just take supplements.. but definitely I have to look into what to use instead of my coil.
Thank you for any advise.
Szilvia -
Let me also attach more of my heath markers. Hemoglobin low but the doctor said it would go up after the infusion.
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Hey ,
I understand your feeling of being in a limbo. I can only help you with making educated choices. I think understanding why your doctor gave you this option is key here.
Right now your lab results show evidence of a clinically mildly lowered hemoglobin. Ferritin is low (which is a storage form of iron) and your serum blood levels of iron are low. What this means is that:
• Once serum iron is low, it will become hard to build hemoglobin for red blood cells. This will create smaller red blood cells since they contain lesser hemoglobin.
• Once you start supplementing with iron, you will probably feel better in a few weeks. It will take about 3 months to replace all red blood cells with normal healthy hemoglobin rich new cells.With a blood infusion, you can feel better much more quickly. But it isn’t going to fix your blood loss or other possible reasons why you became anemic.
Right now I am just taking a quick piek at your labs. I’ll respond in more detail later.
I would however ask your doctor to evaluate your B vitamins as well. I am talking about vitamin B12, B6 and folate. Deficiencies in those vitamins can contribute to another type of anemia which isn’t ruled out by these labs.
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I agree with Daniel’s reply below that this isn’t a typical situation that would warrant an infusion especially with mild symptoms and limited testing. I would personally work on the root cause by looking at alternative forms of birth control since this is causing heavy blood loss for you, and focus on food therapy and supplementation to help bring up iron levels over time.
Dr. Jolene Brigthen has an excellent contraception guide with several options to consider.
And as Daniel mentioned, checking your B vitamins is also encouraged. I would also include zinc and copper levels, together with ceruloplasmin, since you have a copper coil.
The pattern of macrocytic anemia is probable (low B12, B9, B6) given that your MCV is >90, and your GGT and ALT are on the lower end of the functional ranges. This could also be contributing to lower hemoglobin – and not necessarily be due to iron. This is why ruling out these other possibilities is important before jumping to the conclusion that an infusion is needed.
Also, did your doctor say anything about the clinically high Total Bilirubin, Direct & Indirect Bilirubin?
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thank you. So I have had this high bilirubin for years since I started doing annual health checks and they have always been slightly high. We have done other liver tests and all ok so I was told I have Gilbert syndrome. No need for any treatment. I did a detox in Jan and I thought maybe tgat will help but I didn’t change anything .
Thank you for the advise, I’ll ask for some further tests on Bs and I’ll opts for supplementing for now I think.
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Thank you so much Daniel!! I’ll ask for more of these tests..
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, I see Bernadette gave you a nice detailed response! I would like to give you a simple but important tip before you talk to your doctor: write your questions down.
I have noticed with my anemic clients that memory and focus often is a little more challenging from time to time.
Definitely ask your doctors opinion about causes for the elevations of bilirubin.
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Hey ,
I was wondering how things went with your doctor! What did you decide to do?
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hello!
So I opted for supplements, the doc said he would see me in 2 months and we re-check. I think I’ll change the practitioner though because he wasn’t keen to check on vitamin Bs just insisted that my low hemoglobin is due to my low iron.. I also had a mild UTI (never had it before) so I had to take some antibiotics unfortunately. So I’m now on probiotics and iron supplements.I’m still keen on checking on my vitamin Bs just to make sure they are at a good level but I’m generally feeling good :).
Thank you for checking in.
Sz
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Hi
and
,I need to order new batch of Iron supplements as my insurance renewed and previously it only approved one box of Iron supplements. That time the doc advised on Sideral Forte. So I just wanted to evaluate whether I should take the same or if there is any better option for me.
Looking at also these but what would be the difference? Ferrasorb or Bisglicynate..
Or I saw liposomal version as well..I’m a bit confused on what is the difference and how i could find out what works best for me.
Besides I did a B12 blood test at the end and it was normal.
Thank you in advance
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have you seen the video on correcting iron deficiency in the Mineral Balance course? I discuss the different types, and I actually share the Thorne Ferrasorb and Bysglicinate forms. The main difference is that Ferrasorb has a higher dosage of iron and includes cofactors like vitamin C for better absorption. If you don’t need vitamin C and other B vitamins, that’s when the iron bysglycinate becomes an option.
The Sideral seems to be a patented formula of “sucrosomial” iron. I’m not familiar with its effectiveness but it does claim to be gentle, non-constipating and easy to absorb. It does seem to have traces of dairy however, so this might not be a good option for those avoiding dairy.
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Thank you so much! I’ll check out the video and it all makes sense. I’m not sure if I need Vitamin C but I’m good on B12 right now.
Thank you again!
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