Raising my iron levels

[nogutsnoglory]

My bloods show I'm at 18 for iron. 45-165 is normal. Am I dangerously low? I am dizzy and weak a lot.

How fast would an iron shot work to reverse this?

 

[kiny]

An iron IV works in a matter of hours, it's directly administered into your blood, it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to administer an iron IV, so bring a book or something.

If you lost some weight or feel weak in general you can always ask for a glucose IV on top of it too.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

How fast does the injection work? My regular doctor said he won't do them and I need a haemotologist.

 

[kiny]

The process of the injection (I'm asssuming you mean IV) is just a matter of 30 minutes to an hour, there are different iron solutions, if it's your first time it might be a bit slower since there is a tiny tiny tiny chance of a an adverse reaction, which means they slow it down a bit. (nothing to worry about, just explaining why it takes so long).

If you're asking how long it takes before you see any benefit, if the issue was your iron levels, you'll feel better a few hours after the IV or even right after the IV, it's a big kick of energy that lasts the evening, you tend to have too much energy after an iron IV, especially if they add glucose IV on top of it.

How long an iron IV lasts and keeps your iron levels up again depends on the solution, i.e. brand, there are newer brands that use a different release formula, but it's a few weeks usually. If you iron drops yet again after those few weeks, they might administer iron again and try to find the cause behind the iron shortage.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

No I am talking about an actual iron shot not IV.

 

[kiny]

Oh sorry, maybe someone else can chime in, injections aren't use here for iron really, rather uncommon I think.

 

[Tyler_89]

when i need iron, i was giving a iron infusion which was direct IV into blood stream, took 45 minutes to complete once IV was attached, iron booster shots...never even heard of them :s

 

[Hope345]

Nogutsnoglory,

that is low. My daughter has Crohns and bleeds daily so her iron level is low also. Your doctor should recommend a daily iron tablet.

We just finished our daughters 3rd iron infusion, but I can tell she is still not up to par. It was explained to me, that it does take awhile because you are waiting for the newest red cells to develop and grow, that will have the iron. She felt so much better after each infusion, but it will take 30-60 days to really feel good.

When she was first diagnosed her iron level was extra low. At that time the doctor had us give her daily iron tablets and eat lean red meat 5 times a week. That worked too after about a month or two.

Our goal is to maintain her iron level by continuing the iron tablets daily without stopping. It was wrong of the doctor to have us discontinue them. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way

The cost of an iron infusion $1,200 times 3 vs. .20 a day for an iron tablet.

Some people with Crohns are not able to absorb the iron tablet, so it might not work for everyone. Or the amount of iron lost in the blood might not be able to replaced by a tablet, so we will see.

Hope this helps.

 

[CrohnsChicago]

What did your doctor explain to you about iron deficiency and treatment? Or did he just tell you to find a hematologist and push you out the door for the next patient?

Did your doctor recommend you try to take any sort of supplements or foods or lifestyle adjustment until you can track down a hematologist? How soon do you think you can get one? That sounds like a dangerously low level to be walking around with untreated.

There are B12 booster shots, never heard of Iron booster shots personally either, just the IV. I am surprised if your doctor didn't recommend anything to you for the time being. If you find yourself feeling tremendously ill during the period of trying to acquire a hematologist, I would recommend taking a trip to the ER and seeing if someone there can administer the IV to you provided that you disclose your Iron level report and your symptoms.

As someone who has lived with anemia most of her life, I will tell you one booster shot isn't going to do it. It will require regular treatment to rebuild iron storage. It took me about 10 years to go from an iron deficient child to borderline as a young adult...I have spent the last 8 years as a borderline never being able to get the levels back up.

You may want to get your b12 levels checked too as b12 plays a factor in producing iron. If you are deficient in b12, it might be causing some of your iron deficiency as well.

 

[Ozboz]

I had the same problem till last week i was having iron booster injections and they did nothing then had an an iron infusion in an IV now i feel great headaches are gone more energy and no more dizziness and i was having lots of brain fog and confusion that seems gone as well took mine a few says to kick in but i definitely feel a difference well worth the money

 

[nogutsnoglory]

If I got an iron infusion how much can I expect it will up me by 1 infusion?

How often are they needed to maintain proper levels?

 

[kiny]

It's highly dependent on the type of IV (really hope you mean IV this time), newers ones are slow release iron which last longer, but very few clinics have them yet.

Basically after an iron IV you are good for a few weeks. They should look into the cause though.

 

[Ozboz]

As long as you don't bleed or have any other issues with blood you should be good for a while.

I don't know how they do it in the USA but here in australia they mix up the infusion to your weight I'm not sure how they do it the nurse was explaining it to me but I wasn't paying attention and is meant to give you an iron boost in the one time so you only need it once.

My last infusion lasted for a year till I started bleeding again but since the infusion I have had a bit bleeding so I hope it lasts a while

 

[Catherine]

Oxboz what hospital did you have the infusion at.

 

[Ozboz]

I did it at cabrini in malvern I paid for it from my own pocket cause the alfred were supposed to do it then stuffed me around I was really low in iron so they wanted to do an I ron infusion the next day but I couldn't make it then they turned around and said I wasn't eligible the reason is they want me to have my bowel out and thats the only treatment they are offering me so I went to a private GI for another opinion I'm very pissed at the alfred for this as it's meant to be a public hospital and not discriminant with treatment I'm thinking of filling a complaint with the medical ombudsman or relevant authority

 

[Catherine]

We use a private GI in Dandenong. Dangenong won't do Sarah as under 18. Currently look at children or Monash. Why are they wanting to do surgery?

 

[Ozboz]

Cause there lazy and don't want to treat me furthere and I didn't respond to a few meds they gave me it's like they gace up on me I'm very happy with my new gi he's a bit expensive but good and that's all that matters

 

[stefan]

For my fellow Aussies here, a new 15-minute iron infusion called Ferinject is being rolled out to both public and private hospitals at the moment, and is intended to replace the existing 6-8 hour infusions, with several other advantages too, eg no need for premeds (typically hydrocortisone & Phenergan) due to reduced reaction risks.

I'd be interested to know how long this has been available elsewhere, we were told some of Europe has had this for a decade now.

I've already had my first infusion with this, and its a pleasant change, especially as I had to take the old one slowly, which often dragged out in to the evening

2

 

[kiny]

I'd be interested to know how long this has been available elsewhere, we were told some of Europe has had this for a decade now.

Germany has had this for a while, the rest of Europe has it now but there are still some clinics that don't have it, but many do.

I don't think a decade is right, I know some hospitals got the faster formulations 2 years ago, not a decade. Maybe it's been out for a decade, I don't know.