I have recently been diagosed as anemic after starting on methotrexate for my rheumatoid arthritis. My hemoglobin had been slowly dropping for over a year but took a serious nose dive as soon as I started the methotrexate in November 2004. When it went from 11.7 to 10.2 in less then two weeks the rheumatologist sent me to the family doctor who put me on Niferex 150. But the strange thing is as soon as hemoglobin dropped I started feeling great. I mean I felt GREAT. As soon as I started on the iron my energy level dropped and I was exhausted, I was taking two naps a day. I lasted on the Niferex for two days and quit taking it. Serveral days later, after talking to the pharmacist, I switched to Niferex Forte taking it with meals. That lasted five days. Went off it for four days and tried again for another four days before quiting again. I have tried over the counter iron tablets, ferrous sulphate 27 mg., it all makes me tired and I feel beat up. My hemoglobin is down to 9.55, hematocrit is 33.2. Iron is 21, saturation is 5 and ferritin is 3. I don't know what this stuff means but if I feel fine I don't understand why I need to take iron. I do take a multivitamin with 18mg of ferrous fumarate and have for the last six months. I am not normal, I have never been normal but the doctors refuse to look for zebras, insisting that there are horses back there somewhere. Has anyone else ever had this problem with iron before? Am I that abnormal? I would love some feedback. Thanks.

I have recently been diagosed as anemic after starting on methotrexate for my rheumatoid arthritis. My hemoglobin had been slowly dropping for over a year but took a serious nose dive as soon as I started the methotrexate in November 2004. When it went from 11.7 to 10.2 in less then two weeks the rheumatologist sent me to the family doctor who put me on Niferex 150. But the strange thing is as soon as hemoglobin dropped I started feeling great. I mean I felt GREAT. As soon as I started on the iron my energy level dropped and I was exhausted, I was taking two naps a day. I lasted on the Niferex for two days and quit taking it. Serveral days later, after talking to the pharmacist, I switched to Niferex Forte taking it with meals. That lasted five days. Went off it for four days and tried again for another four days before quiting again. I have tried over the counter iron tablets, ferrous sulphate 27 mg., it all makes me tired and I feel beat up. My hemoglobin is down to 9.55, hematocrit is 33.2. Iron is 21, saturation is 5 and ferritin is 3. I don't know what this stuff means but if I feel fine I don't understand why I need to take iron. I do take a multivitamin with 18mg of ferrous fumarate and have for the last six months. I am not normal, I have never been normal but the doctors refuse to look for zebras, insisting that there are horses back there somewhere. Has anyone else ever had this problem with iron before? Am I that abnormal? I would love some feedback. Thanks.
Some people are allergic to iron supplements. Some times people are allergic to the filler ingredients that the manufacturer uses to make the supplements into oral medication. If you want to you could wait until your levels get critical and then get infusions. There would be a chance of an allergic reaction, or perhaps less of one. I do know that some people are not supposed to have as much iron as the recommended amount, espescially people who have Hep C or other liver problems.

My numbers are low also, ferritin was at 4, iron 20, now maybe a little better. I would need to be on iron supplements also but they are making me sick too. I get anxiety, weakness, feeling like I am going to faint. I always feel better off iron but I don't feel good. I know I need iron in my blood. I have tried different brands and forms without lack. I don't know if that means that we are not normal or what, but I don't know anyone who cant take iron for the same reason that I cant. Good lack!

Thanks for the insights but at what point is the anemia critical?
I have done some research on the iron supplements. So far I have tried Niferex, which is a polysaccharide iron complex as cell-contracted akoganeite(and that means...ahhh, it is man made, maybe?). I also tried ferrous sulphate, which seems to be the most common iron supplement. I would like to try ferrous gluconate, if I could find it, because it is suppose to cause less side effects then the others. But then again I don't have normal side affects so I will try it and see what happens. I have added 800mcg folic acid, 100mg B-6, and 500mcg B-12, in addition to the complete multivitamin I was already taking hoping that will help in some way.
So far I am not having any anemia symtoms except I am tired, but for me that is normal. I have been on Provigil for three years and still need naps in the afternoon, 20 minutes and I am fine.
I am just tired of the doctors not explaining what is going on and expecting me to be a good little girl and not ask questions. Thanks, Bobbie