Iv Iron

[October3]

My son's GI is apparently considering giving him Intravenous Iron Sucrose if his labs have not improved by the next check. Anyone been through this? Just wondering what is involved. How long does the treatment last and how often is it prescribed usually?

[October3]

Alright, I've done a little reading up and now I'm freaking out a bit. Sounds very scarey and something to be avoided at all costs. Actually, my thought is "Oh hell no, my baby is not going to do that!"

I'll listen to reason. Maybe the stories are just the bad experiences and most of the time is actually works out well?

In the mean time I'm off to the store to get green smoothie mixings.....

[hexon]

Alright, I've done a little reading up and now I'm freaking out a bit. Sounds very scarey and something to be avoided at all costs. Actually, my thought is "Oh hell no, my baby is not going to do that!"

I'll listen to reason. Maybe the stories are just the bad experiences and most of the time is actually works out well?

In the mean time I'm off to the store to get green smoothie mixings.....

In addition to the green stuff you may want to makes some clam chowder, turkey, or beef too. Clams are high in iron. Beans also have more iron than your leafy greens. Open Original Shared Link

[samie]

I've had iron iv before. I went to a hematologist at a cancer clinic to get it done. I think there are two different types I think. The first type is a one day it takes a couple hours I can't have it cause I had an allergic reaction. They will probably have the first twenty minutes watching for signs of a reaction. The other type I ended up getting I went in and it was about 3 days a week for a couple of Weeks. They will probably recheck his blood work a couple Weeks later once he's done.

[October3]

In addition to the green stuff you may want to makes some clam chowder, turkey, or beef too. Clams are high in iron. Beans also have more iron than your leafy greens. Open Original Shared Link

Thanks Hexon.

[October3]

I've had iron iv before. I went to a hematologist at a cancer clinic to get it done. I think there are two different types I think. The first type is a one day it takes a couple hours I can't have it cause I had an allergic reaction. They will probably have the first twenty minutes watching for signs of a reaction. The other type I ended up getting I went in and it was about 3 days a week for a couple of Weeks. They will probably recheck his blood work a couple Weeks later once he's done.

Its the allergic reaction part that scares me Samie. It seems like more people than not who I've run across who have had the treatment have had a reaction. I'm not sure which one they are thinking of for my son - they just said Iron Sucrose injection. Beyond the reaction piece it sounds like its pretty time consuming as well.

Thanks for sharing your story.

[Jestgar]

Alright, I've done a little reading up and now I'm freaking out a bit. Sounds very scarey and something to be avoided at all costs. Actually, my thought is "Oh hell no, my baby is not going to do that!"

I'll listen to reason. Maybe the stories are just the bad experiences and most of the time is actually works out well?

In the mean time I'm off to the store to get green smoothie mixings.....

Is he taking supplemental iron? I used SlowFe with no trouble.

[kareng]

Is he taking any iron supplements? Is he taking them properly? On an empty stomach and no food for an hour after. If he really needs something, he can have fruit or a piece of meat with it. Never dairy with the iron. Dairy keeps it from absorbing. Also, vitamin C and B12 everyday to help use the iron to make healthy blood cells.

[October3]

Is he taking any iron supplements? Is he taking them properly? On an empty stomach and no food for an hour after. If he really needs something, he can have fruit or a piece of meat with it. Never dairy with the iron. Dairy keeps it from absorbing. Also, vitamin C and B12 everyday to help use the iron to make healthy blood cells.

Yes, he's taking iron supplements but finding the right way to do it has been tricky. He's only 7 and can't swallow the huge pill our old GI prescribed which had C and B12 included. We tried cutting it up but that damaged the coating and made it harder to swallow. So we switched to liquid iron which tastes horrible and gives him stomach aches if its on an empty stomach. We give that mixed in Vit C rich juice along with vit D. We used to also do a B mix along with it but he's not tolerating the liquid B recently so we've dropped that. We generally don't wait the whole hour because we don't have time and because it will upset his stomach. He has to take this 3 times a day and there just isn't time to wait an hour with trying to get off to school in the mornings and then fitting snacks and dinner around it all. He tends to be hypoglycemic too and so the timing of snacks is important.

We did 6 weeks of the 3 times a day, B/ D/ iron mixed in juice religiously and his Hemoglobin and Hematocrit were good but his total iron stores were still a bit low. Then we slacked off for a month and gave it only once or twice a day and he dropped down to anemic again. That was when we started working with the new GI, so he maybe doesn't understand that my son's levels will improve with the right combo. Its just really hard to keep that up long term. Lots of tears and stress and negotiating going on. But he just went gluten-free this week so hopefully that will help too.

[October3]

Is he taking supplemental iron? I used SlowFe with no trouble.

Thanks Jestgar. Will have to check into SlowFe. I don't know if he could swallow a smaller pill but might be worth seeing.

[kareng]

Sounds like you know how to make the supplements work. I never had a doc explain it to me so I thought I would make sure.

There is no reason he couldn't eat something with it, just not dairy. If you are giving him a citrus juice on an empty stomah that can be irritating (lots of acid). Ther are foods that have a lot of iron if he would eat them. I remember raisens, dried apricots, egg yolks, blueberries besides the stuff we all associate with iron like spinach, beef & bison.

I don't know how long he has been gluten-free, but after a few months, I was healed enough not to need the massive doses of iron.

Edited:

Just thought of this. Could he drink a Vitamin water? They have full sugar and artificial sugar versions. They have B12, C, etc in them. I'm not sure they are the best way to get B12 but desparate times call for desparate measures.

Also, The only way I can eat raisens & dried apricots are mixed with salty peanuts. I cut the apricots with my kitchen scissors into little pieces.