Anemic .. breathing

[xJust_Sarahx]

Hi
I'm 30 weeks pregnant and had blood count took last week and doctor rang me yesterday saying im anemic (spelling sorry) and that i need iron tablets etc. I always am out of breathe and short of breathe and everyday its hard to breathe, i cant walk far and im very tired and getting up stairs etc its hard work. im sick of been breathless and struggling.

I feel like im dying all the time so i dont go out the house. Anyway all i have had done is my peak flow took and this blood count. So aparantly anemia can cause breathing problems?

I just wondering how does it? i mean is it dangerous? will i never catch my breathe etc, will it come to a stage where i will need to call 999 like i feel like at the time, and will i need to call someone for help with my breathing? will i need like an inhaler or something? Or will it calm down etc? I just cant get it out my head that its just down to low iron and i will catch my breathe etc and im not having an asthma attack or anything like that :(

[purplehippo]

hi ya
im pregnant too and very breathless ,im not anaemic but apparently my iron stores are low(ferritin) mcv level or somthing??? it was only borderline but i was put on iron tablets (which turn your no.2 black like we need anything else to worry about!) my pulse also goes really high which i was told can be linked to it.
hopefully your iron tabs will start working soon,has your HA been worse during the pregnancy? my relapse coincided with it unfortunatly .
I think the aches and pains of pregnancy have had me convinced ive all manor of diseseases such fun isnt it!

[potato11]

Hiya Sarah and Purplehippo

I have come to your assistance as I am a student Midwife! :D

Anaemia is very common in pregnancy. You might have already read, but your 'haemaglobin' (aka iron in the blood) is what the oxygen binds to on your red blood cells. Therefore the lower it is, the harder your body has to work to get oxygen. This explains shortness of breath (your body compensating by drawing in oxygen more frequently) aswell in pregnancy, your baby starts to get in the way of things so your lungs physically can't expand as much either.

The good news is that you won't get to a point where it becomes a 'crisis'..... what I mean by that is its not like an asthma attack or something, it's a gradual thing. Aswell, I'm assuming your levels are around 10 to 11g/dl (we recommend iron supplements to anyone with a level below 11.5) and you can actually survive with a HB of 6 or 7.... if it was that low you'd have more treatment like a blood transfusion but that very rarely happens EVEN with ladies that have lost a bit of blood at the birth.

One last thing I would recommend, is a liquid iron supplement called Spatone -
http://www.nelsonsnaturalworld.com/en-gb/uk/our-brands/spatone/

It definitely trumps ferrous sulphate !! there are no side effects (no black poo or stomach upsets) and you actually absorb 40% of the iron content compared to just absorbing 10% of the iron from ferrous sulphate tablets.

The reason the NHS don't hand Spatone out instead I believe boils down to cost. Ferrous costs pennies whereas spatone is dearer (not by much to us but it is when u consume masses like the NHS) anyway its £7.99 for a 28 day supply, can get it from most pharmacists, I get mine from Boots but you can get it online i.e. from Amazon too. Recommended by many Midwives and women that have tried it :)

Hope that helps and all the best with the little ones!

[purplehippo]

Thanks potatoe great having a student midwife here:)

ive tried spatone but find it aggrevates my ibs making me really loose(gosh nice info there) where as iron tabs make me constipated but i worry about that less than the other option! i read spatone is gentler on the tummy too and works quicker i got some 3 for 2 at boots but cant use it now,still worth a go for sarah maybe :)
do you know anything about the differance between hb and mcv? as my hb was like 12.2 but mcv was a tad low?
sorry to hijack your post sarahxxx

[sickandtired]

i have been aneamic on and off for years (through 3 pregnancies) and because of heavy periods ,which thankfully is sorted now...(blood count went to 6 after birth of my 1st daughter.....and as low as 8 after years of heavy periods)
i felt absolutely dreadful and was constantly dizzy,tired and even chest pains.
But,if you keep your iron levels up by taking the ferrus sulphate then you should start feeling better.....continue even after the birth until your hg level is normal.
after years of taking ferrus sulphate i began having severe diarrea so opted for the Spatone which,in my opinion worked quicker than tablet form......my hg level went up in 2 weeks....whereas with the ferrus sulphate it took a month to go from 8 to 9
but everyone is different...
even the spatone started disagreeing with me....so Im now taking the mini pill and havent had a period for over 6 months.....my iron count is now 13.6!!!! at last

[potato11]

ahh that's unfortunate purplehippo! some further tips for optimising iron levels are: lots of green veg, broccoli sprouts peas! and the leafy variety. Also, drinking orange juice at the same time helps the absorption of iron (due to vitamin C)

also if you drink tea, try to drink it 45min before/after meals as the tannin in tea hinders iron absorption.

I'm not fully clued up on MCVs, basically it stands for Mean Corposcular Volume and is to do with the size of your red blood cells, they are often small when you are anaemic, I can only guess this is due to the lack of iron available for your body to produce them? Again it's another adjustment made by your body due to the conditions, it's not permanent

Hope that helps :)

[xJust_Sarahx]

Hi
thanks all for your replies and its nice to have a student midwife replying aswell etc. So im not going to keel over and die type thing? All im doing to cope with it is not go out to be honest and walk really slowly and when i get to the top of the stairs sit down and rest type thing. Im not over weight or anything and i dont smoke. Just i really do find it hard to breathe. So i shouldnt get to a point where i need to call 999 etc? and i wont need an inhaler? Just take medication and it shld all take place?

Also i will look into what you suggested because i dont care if i have to pay for it, if it makes me and baby feel better then bring it on.

Also should i have no breathing side affects with the ferrus iron tablets? because i worry.
Thanks so much.

[sickandtired]

the only thing i had with tablets was dark green/black poo ....not nice but is any colour? ,lol
most people get constipated with it,but i would have to be different :wacko:
just check with your midwife about the Spatone
and take it with fresh orange (the vit C helps the iron absorb) as its absolutely rank on its own.....just tastes like liquid metal
Spatone is produced in Trefriw North Wales.....where my ancestors are from,lol just a bit of useless info for you!
try getting it online as I think its slightly cheaper than Holland and Barrat and you might get free p&p

[potato11]

Sarah

No anaemia is not a sudden killer, just a pain in the bum! What you're describing is perfectly normal (with anaemia and pregnancy) with anxiety thrown in to the mix. You will naturally slow down as the pregnancy progresses due the excess weight and extra energy used. Don't set high expectations of yourself, just use the time to potter around and know that is is normal.

Mosts Docs re-test your iron levels at 36 weeks, so if you hurry (I mean, have a nice gentle walk!) to the pharmacy, or order online, and drink the Spatone up you will probably be able to notice a difference even just in these 6 weeks :)

As far as I know, iron tablets don't have any detrimental side effects apart from the gastrointestinal ones i.e. making you constipated. I certainly have never seen, heard or been warned about ferrous sulphate reactions in 4 years of working at a maternity unit

Pregnancy can be a worrying time without anxiety due to all the changes going on in your body that you aren't used to, but pregnancy is also one of the times in your life where you are closely monitored health-wise so anything that really is amiss will be picked up xx

[purplehippo]

i keep trying to tell myself that about the extra monitoring being a good thing,i have obstetric cholestasis so have had six billion other bloods done aswell to rule out other causes of my raised BA and lfts ,and upper abdo ultrasound so i guess that should pacify me but still it doesnt! i had the BA and LFTs done earlier in the pregnancy aswell as i had the same with my previous pregnancys and earlier they were normal .
i have to have bloods done twice weekly !!!!

[sherylee xx]

when pregnant i had an iron transfusion and had no side affects at all they give it to you by drip and it only takes about 15 mins my iron levels were under 9 though xx