Question:
IV iron How long did it take after the first treatment to see results?
I had a series of 3 treatments in 1 week at the end of Sept/04. The specialist said I had to wait 3 months to let the Venofer work then get my blood checked. I did the blood work last week and will be seeing the specialist next week for the results. Physically I feel like the treatments did NOTHING. Still very tired and run down, too tired to do any meaningful exercise and am therefore a slow loser. My September feratin test was 1 and reticulocytes(baby red blood cells) were dangerously low. Bone marrow not producing enough, don't know if it is directly related to low feratin or something separate. Will find out next week. My question then is this---if you have had iron IV, and your feratin was similar to mine, how long and how many treatments did you have to get to "normal"? open rny, 150 cm bypass, aug/03, -105 lbs, 40 more to go. — mary ann T. (posted on January 4, 2005)
January 4, 2005
Mary Ann, I do not know what my ferritin was before iron transfusions, but
my hemoglobin was 10.6. I actually was feeling fine but my internist was
not comfortable with it staying in that lower range, since it had been
there for about 5 months. I had tried iron pills but could not stick with
them because of the severe constipation it gave me. It also turns out that
I was taking ferrous sulfate which we do not absorb well or at all. So it
was all for nothing. I had iron infusions 4 days in a row in early Sept.
and when I had blood drawn for my Nov. PS, in mid October, I was at 12.6,
so it definitely worked for me. However, with donating a unit of blood for
surgery and then the blood loss from surgery I am back down to 10.3.
However, I decided I wanted to see if I cannot bring it back up with iron
pills, so this time I am taking ferrous fumarate along with vitamin C each
time. Fortunately this combo helped solve the constipation problems. This
should hopefully give me the best chance of absorbing it too. When I am
checked again in early March, we will see where things are. If it is still
not up to normal then I will agree to the infusions. They are just time
consuming and very expensive. My hope is that once it is up in the normal
range that I can at least maintain it as long as I can avoid any more
bloody type surgeries and since I'm out of money there won't be any PS in
my future any too soon. I hope things turn out good for you.
— zoedogcbr
January 4, 2005
I had 2 a week for 3 wks. Started Sept 14, last on was Sept 29. Labs
checked Oct 11. All labs were exactly mid normal. First time since surgery!
My ferritin started at only 5. I complained about the same thing. It seemed
like I was tired for a long time after. I can say now, it is very slow and
gradual. You will eventually notice that you have more energy. This of
course depends if the iron took. Good luck!
— ZZ S.
January 4, 2005
Mary Ann,
I would have thought that you would have felt some improvement since
September. Last year I was on low dose iron infusions(InFed) for 36 days
straight. I began feeling better within the first week. In the first two
weeks my hemoglobin went from an 8.0 to a 10.2 and my ferritin went from
single digits to over 200. It took about 4 months for ALL of my levels to
be in the normal range. My hemoglobin even went to 15.0 and that was after
plastic surgery. Best wishes. Hope you are feeling better soon.
— Pamela B.
January 4, 2005
Maryanne, i wold try taken chloraphyll 3x a day you can get it in pill or
liquid form at any heath food store. you will notic a great improvment in a
week and be able to see your lab work improving in less then 2 weeks.i had
to have 2 units after surgery and the chloraphly keeps my iron levels up
alot quicker and better then a transfussion. All the Best! Tracey
— traceybubbles
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