Anemia Help

[nighten]

Okay so despite having been a vegetarian for nearly 15 years, I've never been anemic until recently, so I am pretty clueless about how to deal with it.

And honestly it still blows me away that I *am* anemic, because I started eating meat again at the end of the first trimester this pg. I would think I'm loaded up with iron but anyway....

So Floradix was tasty but utterly ineffective for me (I'm not trying to poohpooh it -- it might work great for others, but my blood count was actually lower after I'd been on it for several weeks and it's expensive stuff), so I got a chelated iron supplement with 25mgs from the HFS.

I now take two of those with food in the morning, plus my prenatal which has 29mgs, and I'm eating more meat and iron-rich foods, and cooking in my cast iron skillets more often, but it doesn't seem to be working at all.

And I know that right now the baby needs lots of iron for her own stores -- building up enough for like 4 months, right?

So if I am anemic then is the baby anemic too?

Or is the baby getting what she needs -- but that's why my own levels are decreased?

And regardless, do I keep taking iron while breastfeeding and if so, does that affect her stores after she's born? Or would it just be helping me at that point?

These might be stupid questions, but I don't see the m/w 'til Tuesday and I hate to call her at home if someone here might know.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[KKmama]

If Floradix doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you. It works for me, but yeah, it *is* expensive.

Did you know you aren't supposed to take iron with food? There are many foods which hinder its absorption. The calcium and other minerals in your prenatals can hinder absorption, too, so don't take it with them, either. The best way to take an iron supplement is an hour or so before (or after) a meal, with a vitamin C source (like orange juice); the vitamin C *helps* absorption.

I don't know about the baby stuff.

As far as taking it while bf'ing... if you're low now, you'll probably be lower pp, and taking it for a while pp could help you get back to normal.

[duckat]

I don't have any additional advice on getting your iron up, except for blackstrap molasses. The nurse at my m/w's office swore by it.
Anyway, about BF and iron. Iron does not pass well through BM, so your iron can be fine, but the baby's low. Keeping your iron up post-partum will help with healing and your energy level, but will do very little to keep baby's iron up. My ds was still exclusively BF at 6 months, and an iron supp was recommended because he was a little low, but it wasn't mentioned before then.
Oh, and from what my caregivers have said, this pg and last, the baby is leeching your iron now. Her levels are probably fine. She's just using yours.

[nighten]

Thanks! I didn't know about the no-food thing -- the iron caps bottle says to take with food and my doctor (not the m/w but the regular doctor who put me on the prenatals back when we were ttc) told me to take the prenatals with food too else they'd upset my tummy.

So I've been taking both immediately after breakfast (which is usually egg, fake bacon, toast or bagels w/cream chs and fruit), with a glass of apple juice because OJ tears up my heartburn.

I can eat an orange though and be fine so I'll see if I can't eat an orange early, take the meds, then eat breakast after.

Haven't tried the molasses. Despite Rynna's suggestion about diluting it in water, the thought of eating it at all makes me want to vomit. I've never been a big fan of it to begin with and now...ugh. Maybe I'll try baking some cookies with it?

But thanks for the info

[Eli's_mommy]

I just found out I'm anemic also and I am still a vegetarian. I talked my midwife's ear off, and my understanding is the baby gets what he/she needs and it's you that suffers in the long run. The main issue is blood loss during labor. I think with such low iron and so much blood loss during labor, the baby would be fine, but you would probably faint...
And it's true about calcium hindering iron absorption. Apparenty- just fyi in case you didn't know because I didn't- RRL tea has calcium in it, so don't take your pills with RRL or any other kind of calcium. I am also on 1000 mg of Vitamin C with every 100 mg of Iron I take. It's supposed to help your body absorb it. Good luck!!!

[eilonwy]

Iron's a funny, funny thing. Taking more iron into your system won't necessarily have a direct correlation with either your own iron levels or those of the baby, either during pregnancy or lactation. If you're iron deficient, of course there will be less to pull from you, but with breastmilk, for example, your body will never put more than X mg/dL of iron into it (I think it's around 4%).

If after taking Floradix w/vitamin C rich foods your hemoglobin went down... well, have you considered looking for other causes for your anemia? Not all anemia is caused by iron deficiency (though iron deficiency never helps). My son is G-6-PD deficient; when he becomes anemic, it's more likely to be caused by hemolysis than iron deficiency. I've got a niece with microcytic anemia (Thalassemia minor, actually); she's perpetually anemic, and all the iron in the world won't get her hemoglobin levels up, because her red blood cells just aren't big enough to hold more hemoglobin. I spent my entire childhood sufferring from anemia, and while having more iron in my diet does help me, I'm still anemic enough that I tend to be deferred from giving blood, because my red blood cells are temperamental like that.

I guess what I'm saying is, have you considered asking for a hemoglobin assay?

Oh, and I have to say, I was grossed out by the idea of putting molasses in water, too, because I don't like the taste of the stuff... but it's surprisingly yummy, and lovely for heartburn.

[nighten]

Pretty sure mine is iron deficiency -- I've since heard that Floradix is an all or nothing type remedy for most folks -- works great or doesn't do squat. I was a squatter apparently.

I've been feeling better since I upped the amount of iron and started taking it with Vit C, prior to eating. (And I've been very careful about folic acid intake, etc., and my symptoms seemed more in line with typical iron-deficient anemia.)

As for the molasses -- I know I'm just being stubborn, but seriously, I freaking hate molasses. If it were corn syrup then maybe on a biscuit... (yeah, it's bad I know but it tastes a helluva lot better than molasses).

ETA: Plus, I'd imagine that my anemia isn't caused by some blood cell deformity or something, given that I was a vegetarian for nearly 15 years and never had anemia -- got it for the first time ever recently (and I've been eating meat again nearly the whle pregnancy).

[Wittyone]

Originally Posted by nighten

I've since heard that Floradix is an all or nothing type remedy for most folks -- works great or doesn't do squat. I was a squatter apparently.

Me too! I've always heard such rave reviews but after 7 weeks on the stuff my hemoglobin went from 10.8 to 10.6 : The cutoff for delivering at the birth center is 10.5, so technically I'm still ok, but I don't want to go into birth that low! So, I bought a chelated iron and take it 2-3 times per day in addition to what I was doing before (increased iron-rich foods, using the cast iron skillet, etc). I was just so bummed that I'd been working so hard (and spending so much $!!) and my hgb actually went down!! Hopefully the new routine will work :

[nighten]

Originally Posted by Wittyone

Me too! I've always heard such rave reviews but after 7 weeks on the stuff my hemoglobin went from 10.8 to 10.6 : The cutoff for delivering at the birth center is 10.5, so technically I'm still ok, but I don't want to go into birth that low! So, I bought a chelated iron and take it 2-3 times per day in addition to what I was doing before (increased iron-rich foods, using the cast iron skillet, etc). I was just so bummed that I'd been working so hard (and spending so much $!!) and my hgb actually went down!! Hopefully the new routine will work :

We're in the same boat -- and it's a serious bummer because Floradix is SO expensive too! The chelated stuff's been fine on my tum though and seems to be helping.

Good luck!