Hi,
Last Dec. while in the hospital, I was given intravenous iron for anemia and to lower my platelets. The last time I saw my Hemo was April. Since then I am receiving monthly B-12 injections. He did give me a prescription for oral iron, but said that it was not necessary(to take) because I had the IV iron in Dec. I haven't taken the iron pills, and am very curious as to what my blood test results will be when I see him in Oct. Does anyone know if IV iron can actually be beneficial and help for almost a year? I am going to ask him if I need it again this Dec.
Thanks!

Hi,
Last Dec. while in the hospital, I was given intravenous iron for anemia and to lower my platelets. The last time I saw my Hemo was April. Since then I am receiving monthly B-12 injections. He did give me a prescription for oral iron, but said that it was not necessary(to take) because I had the IV iron in Dec. I haven't taken the iron pills, and am very curious as to what my blood test results will be when I see him in Oct. Does anyone know if IV iron can actually be beneficial and help for almost a year? I am going to ask him if I need it again this Dec.
Thanks!
IV iron is not necessary unless your counts are too low to protect you from infection. As for how long IV iron lasts, it is dependent on what is causing the anemia. If it is a temporary bleeding problem, you might never need an IV again. If it is a chronic slow bleeding condition it may take about six months to a year to need to reboost. If you are not taking your iron pills because of side effects you need to tell your doctor. If you are just experimenting to see what is going on, that can be dangerous due to the side effects of the iron going to the wrong place and causing liver problems. I am not saying that anyone would do this I am saying that the danger for health complications from IV iron are great and the risk benefit needs to be assessed each time.

These things are great to know. When I last had my bloodwork in February my Hct was 28 and Hgb was 6.8. I have been taking Ferrous gluconate but I'm still very pale and have heart palpitaions,shortness of breath,dizziness,etc. with exertion. I had an endoscopy last June which just showed esophagitis and a colonoscopy where I had 2 polyps removed. All the biopsies were fine and they ruled out celiac disease. My rheumatologist drew more blood for everything under the sun yesterday-CBC,thyroid,renal,liver,etc. and said he'll call me with the results if they're still not good. He said I just may not be absorbing the iron and may need to get the IV iron to get my levels up but that he'll leave that to my PCP. The IV iron sounds like it has lots of side effects and reactions associated with it. I'll have to read up on it.

Hey Shamrock, good luck with your test results! Your scores and symtoms sound simular to mine..I will hope you can report good news with your results. emmy

shamrock-please don't go by my bad and very unusual experiences! I am a total anomaly and the doctors have still not figured out what is going on. I just came back from iv again i dropped my ferritin is only 11 my hmgb is 9.8 from 10.4 last week. they are doing malsbsorption test-anyone know what that might be? I also do have a hiatal hernia that might possibley though unlikely be bleeding.-I'm meeting with a surgeon sometime in future. my gastro is going to staart me on niferex-anyone heard of that or know of any complications ? anyway as far as i know and see weekly people come for iron and don't need it again for months. they have no reactions-so don't worry! good luck to you!:wave:
merimac -hi i just read your post-e/o wants the comp so i' m rushing sorry-what complications are you referring to? I'd love to know what no one is telling me!!! I've been on this stuff for 7-8 months now!!!please share any info you have thank you!!

grandkids,there are different tests they do for malabsorption problems like Pernicious anemia and celiac disease. I know with celiac that you can't have any food products that have gluten or wheat in them since it inhibits the absorption of iron. They do blood tests for this and they can also take a biopsy during an endoscopy to rule it out. Sorry to hear about your reactions with the IV iron. I have heard that alot of people get them and need to premedicate with Benadryl before they go. I don't have my latest results yet so I don't know if I'll have to go or just keep taking the oral iron. BTW,Niferex is a prescription iron supplement that I think contains one of the B vitamins with it. My friend's Mom has been taking it for years without any problems but the only thing that helped her iron deficiency for some reason was the Procrit shots. Good Luck!:)