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Suffering From Exhaustion Due To Anemia. What Medication Should I Take?
Question: Hi,
I'm currently suffering from exhaustion due to oral iron for years.I take 65 mg of iron and 325 mg of ferrotonus (i forget what the s word is).My doctor wants me to start taking 5,000 mg of Vitamin C to help with the iron absorbing but due to the side effects i've decided not to do that.I don't know how anemic i am,just that at my last bloodwork the nurse called and said i have an "iron deficiency".I've also tried doubling my dose and taking 2 iron pills a day hoping that would take care of the exhaustion but that hasn't worked.my question is what do i do?what should my next step be?should i talk to my pcp about going to see a hematologist?and how would the hematologist help me?
I'm currently suffering from exhaustion due to oral iron for years.I take 65 mg of iron and 325 mg of ferrotonus (i forget what the s word is).My doctor wants me to start taking 5,000 mg of Vitamin C to help with the iron absorbing but due to the side effects i've decided not to do that.I don't know how anemic i am,just that at my last bloodwork the nurse called and said i have an "iron deficiency".I've also tried doubling my dose and taking 2 iron pills a day hoping that would take care of the exhaustion but that hasn't worked.my question is what do i do?what should my next step be?should i talk to my pcp about going to see a hematologist?and how would the hematologist help me?
Hello and thanks for your query.
I shall make an effort to provide you with good professional recommendations specific to your questions.
1. what do i do?
It appears that oral iron therapy is not working for you - assuming your exhaustion is still on and the blood iron levels are still low in spite of 2 iron tablets in a day for years. Obviously,your heavy bleeding has compounded this, and in this case - I would suggest you would need to talk to your doctor about the possibility of parenteral (injections) iron preparations available - that have many advantages over oral tablets with respect to getting back normal iron levels for eg. the iron that is absorbed is higher than that with tablets.
I must ask what side effects you have with Vitamin C though. Because, it is a very naturally occurring vitamin.
2. what should my next step be?
As explained above, if your blood tests reports are up to date - and still show up as Haemotologist is a professional studying the laboratory aspects of blood, whereas a Pathologist would in addition correlate it to your clinical picture given by your Primary Care Physician. So if your reports are good already, then a haematologist would be of no further help. Else, if your PCP needs other pathological test correlation (in case if other causes of anemia needs ruling out based on your clinical exam) then a pathologist/hematologist may be of help.
Let me know if I have missed out any other concern in your question.
Yet again, I duly appreciate your query to me, I do hope that you have found something useful to help you and I shall be glad to answer any further apprehensions.
Sincerely,
Dr Sujeet N Charugulla,
MBBS, MD.
Consultant Physician.
I shall make an effort to provide you with good professional recommendations specific to your questions.
1. what do i do?
It appears that oral iron therapy is not working for you - assuming your exhaustion is still on and the blood iron levels are still low in spite of 2 iron tablets in a day for years. Obviously,your heavy bleeding has compounded this, and in this case - I would suggest you would need to talk to your doctor about the possibility of parenteral (injections) iron preparations available - that have many advantages over oral tablets with respect to getting back normal iron levels for eg. the iron that is absorbed is higher than that with tablets.
I must ask what side effects you have with Vitamin C though. Because, it is a very naturally occurring vitamin.
2. what should my next step be?
As explained above, if your blood tests reports are up to date - and still show up as Haemotologist is a professional studying the laboratory aspects of blood, whereas a Pathologist would in addition correlate it to your clinical picture given by your Primary Care Physician. So if your reports are good already, then a haematologist would be of no further help. Else, if your PCP needs other pathological test correlation (in case if other causes of anemia needs ruling out based on your clinical exam) then a pathologist/hematologist may be of help.
Let me know if I have missed out any other concern in your question.
Yet again, I duly appreciate your query to me, I do hope that you have found something useful to help you and I shall be glad to answer any further apprehensions.
Sincerely,
Dr Sujeet N Charugulla,
MBBS, MD.
Consultant Physician.
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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