Yesterday I ate only iron rich foods (which I purposely boughtfrom the store a couple of days ago) because I do not have any supplements. By the end of the day, the right side of my face swelled up from my eyelid to my lip and all along the nose. (It looks like someone punched me.) The swelling only got worse over night.

Also, my body temp went way up last night because I could not sleep at the same temp that I'm usually comfortable sleeping at.

Does anyone have symptoms in their faces or gums with large amounts of iron?

glenni--Are you sure that you didn't eat something that you are allergic to. Have you been okay before when taking iron supplements or do you get a reaction with those as well? Maybe your iron intake is more than your body can handle. I would share this with my doctor.

I take large doses of oral iron and only get GI symptoms if I eat too much veggie. I do have a numbness, tingly left side of my face and arm, but we don't think it is related to iron at all. Hope yo are doing better. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

If you were taking supplements, I would be concerned. You could have been allergic to something in the supplement.

I don't think you can get too much iron through food. In fact, it is always very hard these days to get enough iron. I just can't imagine what iron in food would give you this type of reaction. I agree with FLFLOWERGIRL that this sounds more like a food allergy to me.

I agree with what everyone else has said.... you really don't get that much iron through food. And your body doesn't even absorb all of the nutrients that are in food so you most likely got less iron than you thought. It's virtually impossible to overload on iron through food. It sounds more like a food allergy or something along those lines.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. It is probably a food allergy. I haven't had any supplements yet. Going to get those soon. (Tired of trying to eat them all.) I've been experimenting with new foods (I'm stronger, used to have reactions to almost everything) that are iron rich. I don't know which is the culprit. It might be iron overload, as someone suggested. Going from 0% to 300% a day is a bit much. I'm not sure. The cereal and crackers gave me the worst allergic reactions, but I cannot pinpoint one food or reason for it. The swelling has still not gone down. I'm going to get some allergy medication this afternoon. Getting tired of it.

On a good note, my system is getting stronger by the day!! I'm having less of a reaction to a product that gave me a violent one two days ago. I'm so excited. I can't wait until my system goes back to normal.

glenni-I'm glad to hear that you are doing better, from your post you really have me concerned. I just hope that you are getting the iron that you need. And "Iron Overload" is a whole different story, I'm almost positive that you are not suffering with that one. Maybe just too much for you at one time. Let us know how you are getting along. Get well. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

Thanks, Flowergirl. Actually things are not so great. My heart has weakened from having an allergic reaction for three days. I just took the weakest dose of Allegra and am wondering if I should have asked for the strongest. I can't have anymore until tomorrow. My face is still swollen after an hour. Shouldn't it be instantaneous? My chest is still tight but the pain isn't too bad.

Glenni,

I have a son who has severe food allergies and I have been told that Allegra is not the best for allergic reactions. The best drugs you can use for this would be: Zyrtec, Hydroxizine, or OTC Benadryl.

Hi, Christine,

Thanks for telling me. I don't know the second one you mentioned. I can probably get a prescription for Zyrtec at the end of the week. I'm afraid to take Benadryl because I'm very sensitive. I cannot eat regular food. Everything has to be organic and only certain brand or else I will have a violent reaction. Actually that was what gave me a reaction. So I don't know. Someone told me Benadryl is harsh. If I were normal, I could take it easily though. Trying to get there.

Oh, the swelling has gone down a tiny bit, but it has a long way to go before it looks normal. I also had a nasty reaction to 150mg of Ferragon, but I'm excited. It's a start. (Some idiot broken the saftey seal on my Feosol.)

glenni--See, I told you that I was concerned, I can tell from your post that you are stressed. I'm really glad that you are on iron and excited about that. Don't know what type of reaction you had on this but you are right, this is a start and it sounds like you really need it!

There was a time when my husband reacted to all most all foods that he ate with violent migraines. We even tried a detox that almost killed him. So, I know what you are saying about food allergies. I'm allergic to corn, wheat and peanuts but don't know what it does to me because I've never had a reaction, that I know of. That's what the testing said.

I would try benadryl, I think it is the least reactive. Good luck to you! FLFLOWERGIRL:)

Glenni,

Try Children's Liquid Benadryl. They make a Dye-Free version of it because some people are allergic to dyes. It's not always easy to find but if you go to a well-stocked pharmacy, they should have it (our Target is always sold out of it).

I really like using the children's liquids because you can titrate exactly how much medicine you can tolerate. Like you, I am very sensitive to meds and I never really need to take the full adult dosage.

I had a reaction to the Feosol iron caplets. Got a huge hive on my chest. I also have the same issue with ibuprofen and some types of Tylenol. It is not the active ingredient but one of the fillers called 'povidone.' Feosol apparently has a large amount of povidone in it because I got a HUGE welt with it.

So, everything I buy has to NOT have povidone in it. It is a pain.

Hi Christine,

Thanks. That is great to know about Benadryl. I'll try and get it in the next day or two. Even if I don't wind up using it, I will probably need something that strong as I experiment with different foods. Just to mention, I think the food that caused the terrible reaction was a children's cheese cracker that has vitamins. It must be the cheddar because crackers were one of the last things I could have before I started having reactions to everything.

Just 60 mgs of Allegra is making me more sensitive. I'm not sure I understand it because I thought I would be able to have more foods without reactions. Instead, foods that did nothing to me are now hurting me. :mad:

I have not tried Feosol lately. It used to give me so many symptoms (three yrs ago) that I had to stop takimng it. That's why I'm in this mess now.

Thanks again for all the great advice.

I thought the worst was over. The Allegra got rid of the shoulder, heart, and neck pain. Also, half of the facial swelling went down.

Last night I didn't have anything except the Allegra and an iron supplement when I went to sleep. I woke up every one or two hours because I was having so many reactions. By the time I gave up, my face was back to being as swollen as it was before. The gums have swollen pockets at the top that are very tender. My teeth have been in terrible pain (mostly the uppers, but also the lowers). I'm just ready for it to be over. :(

It really sounds like you are allergic to something in the supplement. Since the Allegra is so long-acting I'm betting that it is not the culprit.

Have you looked at all the ingredients? I may have told you that I started inputting all my offending pills into a spreadsheet. That made it easy to find the common offending ingredients. Now I just avoid those fillers. If I hadn't done that I would have incorrectly assumed I was allergic to ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and iron.

glenni--I don't think that an allergic reaction, at least not my experience, stays that long with you. What do you think is the cause? Are you continuing to ingest whatever it is? I would get rid of the reaction before adding anything new. Then add in one thing at a time. Perhaps if it is the iron then maybe you need a dose of benadryl with the supplement but I would ask a doctor about this. Maybe a smaller dose of iron and build up to it. Good luck. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

Thank you both for your replies. I forgot you said you were allergic to an ingredient in a drug/supplement. (In one ear and out the other!) Yes, I will take a closer look. The only other one I have right now is the Blue Bonnett caps(only 100% per cap). The Flinstones expired, the liquid has too much of other vitamins (give me reactions), and the Feosol has been tampered with. So I'll check the Fergon and let you know what I find.

I was so happy that I was getting 300% more a day. Even though 60mgs isn't much, I feel weak and tired and don't feel like returning what needs to be returned or getting new ones.

I don't know which it is, but if you're curious, here are the ingredients.

Fergon:
ferrous gluconate, sucrose, corn starch, hypromellose, talc, maltodextrin, magnesium sterate, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, polyethyene glycol, FD&C yellow #5(tarttrazine) aluminum lake. FD&C blue #1 aluminum lake, polysorbate 80, carnuba wax.

glenni--sounds like a lot of fillers and ingredients to me. Too many things that ~could~ be the cause of a reaction. I understand how hard it is to find out what is causing a reaction. I went through this with my husband for years. Christine is right about the spreadsheet, I kept a food diary and researched it for each reaction. It starts to add up. Why not call a pharmacy and ask which iron and antihistamine would be best for you under these circumstances. If that doesn't work why not try a compound pharmacy. Then you know what you are getting. Just a suggestion. Let us know how you are getting along. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

glenni,

Besides taking the Flintstones, which have a lot of dyes but actually not a lot of fillers, I found a chelated iron at an organic store. It has the iron in and maybe two fillers. It is a very simple compound. I would suggest that you look for something along these lines. The "drugstore" brands of iron are just FULL of crap.

It is extremely rare for anyone to be allergic to an essential mineral, vitamin, hormone, etc. For instance, it is extremely rare for a person to be allergic to synthetic thyroid hormone (T4; i.e., Synthroid). If a person has an allergic reaction to the medication it is 99.9% of the time due to one of the inactive ingredients in the pill. I'm betting that you are not having an allergic reaction to iron--I think that is unheard of. But probably something(s) in that pill.

Yes, I tried to ask the pharmacist if he had any organic or special iron supplements, and he said "No...if you want organic, go to Whole Foods." I did pick up Blue Bonnett from Whole Foods. I couldn't find any pure iron supplements other than that. I haven't tried them yet.

I don't doubt that the reaction is from a filler. I have to wait about three days before I can try them. Things are better without the supplement, but I'm not working on my iron stores.

Thanks again for the great replies. I will have to this reread in the morning. Oh, the swelling finally went down.

Did I say thank you? I would not have made it through this weekend without you, Christine. The swelling went down completely. :)

I just tried a the Blue Bonnett brand (the organic ones -- only three added ingredients). The reaction is very weak. It's also not in my chest. I'm really sensitive right now, so if I were better, I might not feel anything. The only bad thing is I have to take three a day since they only come in 100% capsules. Also, they make me a little sick to my stomach.

I also bought some FerroSequels but will wait to try those. I might have to wait to use those until my system gets stronger.

I also bought some FerroSequels but will wait to try those. I might have to wait to use those until my system gets stronger.


You do know that these have a stool softener in them? Just another ingredient to deal with.

Also, you might try to "ease" into your iron. I know you need to take 3 tablets per day but you might want to start out at one per day for a week, then two for another week, and then three. I have heard that if you ease into the iron you can get used to it better.

Stool softener?! I really don't need one. I might get in trouble if I have to run errands. Thank you for telling me.

I'm just trying to try different brands so I can see which one works best. I just tried Feosol today and am having minimal reactions (while on Allegra). It does have Crospovidone in it. The thing I like about it is it is 360%. It's the strongest one yet. So far it's been the best, but it hasn't been 24 hours yet.