Anyone else having vitamin or mineral deficiencies? « Back to Group Discussions

[activemomma]

I recently discovered that my iron stores are VERY low and that my B12 is low too. (It's possible I'm not doing well, calcium-wise, either). I also had very low iron with my previous pregnancy. I think that the cause of these deficiencies is that I've been pregnant three times, now, in five years, and nursed for four-and-a-half (two and a half of those tandem nursing). We dabbled in veganism and vegetarianism, and in any case, I never cook with red meat (eat it maybe twice a month). I thought my daily green smoothie habit would have been more than enough. Apparently not. I'm wondering if this could be the reason that I was sick and run-down constantly after DD 2 & perhaps even contributed to my post-partum depression.

I need a plan to get my stores up! We've decided to do beef meals four days a week until the end of my pregnancy and also to supplement; I'm going to have my placenta encapsulated also.

Has anyone been through this? any tips? thanks!

[katiedidder]

I was VERY anemic when I had my first trimester labs drawn (in spite of eating a ton of iron rich foods).  I started taking Floradix (the liquid version), but took it fairly inconsistently because it tasted way too bloody for me.  I ended up switching to MegaFoods Blood Builder, which is a pill supplement.  I LOVE it--it's totally food based, there's no bad taste, I haven't had any constipation issues.  My second trimester labs were significantly better.  If you decide you need a supplement I highly recommend Blood Builder!

Edited by katiedidder - 3/10/12 at 3:36pm

[mudhugger]

I've been slightly anemic with both pregnancies, and I think I'm probably low in B12 as well (You can tell by looking at the base of your thumb nails for "moons" -- they should be bright and about 1/3 the way up the nail.  Mine are purplish and tiny.)  We bought a side of beef and I've boosted my Floradix intake, and upped my vit C too.   I also realized I was taking my Floradix in the morning after my smoothie (calcium) and that probably hindered absorption.  We do a lot of iron-rich foods, but I've been told that even awesome sources like greens, spirulina, etc aren't absorbed as easily as foods like eggs or liver, and this can often be upset even more by pregnancy... so it's pretty common.  Many close pregnancies would totally affect your deep iron stores, (The fetus takes enough iron from its mama's body to last them about a year-- crazy, right!) and I'm wondering if diet alone can fix that?  Anyone here know about that?  (deep iron stores, I mean)   I go for a 2nd iron test next week and will find out if my changes over the past month have been enough.  I have a feeling I'll need to do more, so I'd love to hear other suggestions too.

[PrincessSputnik]

I was taking a 30mg iron supplement (ferrous gluconate) and HATED it. I couldn't eat enough fibre to offset the iron.

My naturopathic doc switched me to an iron citrate, which is what i was getting from my prenatal as well, and it *seemed* to help a lot with my energy and constipation. She also suggested I take it with vitamin C (so I take it with OJ or eat an orange right after) to aid absorption. 

All that said, I'm going to ask for another iron test (my GP does not seem fussed at all about it as long as I'm taking the supplement daily), but I want to know whether this stuff is actually helping!

[becoming]

I've had iron deficiency anemia since I was 15, pregnant or not. I really don't notice it affecting me that much, probably because I've been that way for so long. I'm a little more worried about it this time around because I ended up with a hemoglobin of 7 after my last baby was born, and they wanted to transfuse me. My MIL got hepatitis from a blood transfusion, so the thought of having one terrifies me. I will probably start taking Floradix in the next month or so.

[BroodyWoodsgal]

Originally Posted by becoming 

I've had iron deficiency anemia since I was 15, pregnant or not. I really don't notice it affecting me that much, probably because I've been that way for so long. I'm a little more worried about it this time around because I ended up with a hemoglobin of 7 after my last baby was born, and they wanted to transfuse me. My MIL got hepatitis from a blood transfusion, so the thought of having one terrifies me. I will probably start taking Floradix in the next month or so.

After our terrible bout with Norovirus I puked my way down to an iron level of 10 or so....I've been taking floradix since that discovery and am feeling LOADS better than I had been!!

I was telling my mother that I'm taking the iron and herbs because my iron got so low and she was like "oh yeah, you struggled constantly as a kid with terrible anemia despite having a really great diet!

I'm like "thanks for the freakin' information, mama! Would have been nice to know that...ooooh, I don't know, ANY TIME SOONER THAN NOW!!"  - hahaha she was like "What, I don't know, I forgot...we never made a big deal out of it to you" - what?!! hahahaha

Take the floradix now, man...why wait! I can't believe what a difference it's made for me!