Hi All,
I am new to this board. I usually post on the digestive disorders board as I have MANY problems in that area.
I had a call from the Drs office saying my iron came back low and I have to take 300mg of iron. I have had to take iron before when I was pregnant with my daughter and boy do I dread doing this again, with the nausea and constipation that goes along with them.
Anyways, my question is this---lately at night when I just start falling asleep I get this weird, almost like a buzzing feeling in my head and nervous stomach that wakes me. This happens like every 5 minutes, and is driving me insane! Anyone else have this problem or something similar? Is this related to having low iron?
My other symtoms are EXTREME fatigue, lightheaded when standing up, dizziness, out of breath VERY easily (like I ran a marathon going from the livingroom to the kitchen!), bruising easily, and VERY irritable!

Whoops...should have said 600mg not 300mg! That is 300mg twice a day!:eek:

Apparently you are supposed to take a much higher dose of iron per day as the traditional iron supplements you buy over the counter have too low a dosage for people who have a very low ferretin level.

The low dose supplements might be ok for people whose levels have fallen a bit and just need a small lift over a couple of months or so. People with extremely low levels need to get their levels up quite fast as it's not a case of simply being anemic or having low ferretin levels, if left low for too long a period it can affect your thyroid among other things.

The iron pills i bought over the counter constipated me, but i had more success with iron in liquid form and suffered no nasty side effects. I then began taking an iron powder supplement given to me by a specialist, but i ended up with irritable bowel. He then got me to continue taking the powdered supplement but added some organic iron tablets for me to take which took away the irritable bowel symptoms (he said something about there being organic and nonorganic iron and one gives possible side effects to some people while the other relieves the side effects, i will have to ask him again as there is just way too much new info for me to take in when i visit him). He did mention that the stomach cramping and diarrhea where likely either due to the dosage being too much too soon and too start off with a lower dosage and taking it after meals, then building up the dosage, then to take it before meals. This still didn't work for me and he felt that it was due to my liver which wasnt coping well after such low iron levels for so many years. In the end adding the organic iron tablets helped calm things.

I was on an extremely high dosage iron supplement too, but my levels only went up a bit and then refused to climb and instead dropped a bit. He then got me to do iron injections once a week for 5 weeks and i'll have a blood test soon to see where my levels are, but i feel better than i have felt in at least 6yrs.

From what my doctor told me, you need the high dose as so many areas of your body rely on sufficient iron, eg: your bone marrow, muscles, thyroid, hair/skin/nails etc. There is a type of chain of command and when your body gets iron a particular organ or part of your body will get the iron before other parts of your body do, your hair/skin/nails and your energy levels get what ever iron is left over after the rest of your body has taken what it needs. That's why you feel lethargic, tired, depressed and your nails can get brittle and your hair can shed a lot more.

As for your symptoms your are getting from your iron supplement, dont be afraid to speak to your doctor and ask for products which may be a bit more gentle on your system.

So you mean I should be taking more than 600mg a day? Wow! That seemed like alot to me! I am only a small person (115 lbs at 5'5"). I took my first pill last night and had some cramping but other than that I was ok.
Funny you mention anemia can affect the thyroid. My Grandmother is hypo. and I have alot of thyroid symptoms, but when I was tested all was normal.:confused:
I can definately relate to nail problems. Mine have these horrible lines and "craters" in them, and are weird shaped. I showed my dr. them and he thought I might have slammed them in a door or something LOL. Should have known that was a sign of a deficiency!
Anyhow, I guess nobody has experienced that weird head buzzing thing that I asked about? It must not be related to low iron! Guess I'll keep looking.
Thanks for the reply Audrey!:)

diamond79--I don't know the type of iron that you are on? But I do know that the ferrous sulfate comes in something like 325 mgs but you only get 65 mgs of elemental iron in that dose which would equal 130 a day if you took it X2. Sometimes this gets confused. I take 150's X2 and do get 300 mgs of elemental iron a day and that is a lot to take for oral supplementation. You have to take a very large dose to replace the depleted stores.

As far as the buzzing thing you speak of, you just never know how this deficiency will effect you as an individual. It's different for everyone. I'm not saying that it is anemia or low ferritin but it's really hard to tell at this point. Symptoms do wax and wane. I have had many B-12 symptoms but my B's are on the high end. That doesn't mean that they might be lower for my system no matter what the norm is. Who knows really, only your body. If this symptom doesn't go away after anemia has been resolved, then I would seek a doctors opinion or even start asking now. Good luck to you. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

Thanks for your reply. I am on 300mg twice a day of ferrous gluconate.
I agree, being iron deficient can cause alot of weird symptoms that I wouldn't have thought would be related. I guess I will wait a bit and see if this buzzing goes away with my treatment. :)

"Buzzing in the head" - Yes! I've never known anyone else that has experieinced this. I thought I was going crazy or just getting old! It is quite odd. Mine seemed to be my bp meds - I think. I still get it every once in awhile but not so much since I switched meds.

Great, someone else that knows what I am talking about!! When I mentioned it to my Dr. he looked at me like I had a third eye or something! It is strange...it happens during the day--almost like electric shocks/pulses going through my head would be the best way to describe it and at night it wakes me from a dead sleep like every 5 mins....quite annoying! No wonder I am sooo tired all the time!:(