Im 33 weeks and doc told me to start taking an iron pill. I asked him which one to take and he said at this point it doesnt matter. so I went to the pharmacy and got iron supplement ferrous gluconate. They had like 4 different kinds of iron pills. Im wondering if this is ok for me to take. Even though he did say it didnt matter which one I got, how doesnt it matter??? There is iron in the prenatal vitamins I take and I dont want to take too much iron. Did anyone else take ferrous gluconate? Should I be worried?
I took this during all my pregnancies (i always end up on iron pills no matter what I eat, when i'm pregnant). They may give you a bit of a tummy ache, and will likely make your poo black (yeah, lovely isn't it) but they are fine to take. Don't worry about taking too much-if your iron levels are low and your doctor has suggested this, then there obviously isn't enough iron in your pre-natal vitamins and diet already. With my youngest I went into labour after only taking one tablet (coincidence, dont worry as i was due anyway!) and ended up quite low on iron after the birth due to all the blood I lost! Also, try eating iron filled cereals and broccoli which is full of iron, to boost your iron levels naturally. And good luck!
I was told to take ferrous gluconate because at 32 weeks I was told I was anemic. All iron is the same, and does the same thing (help circulation and form red blood cells). Even though your prenatals have iron, you won't overdose by taking extra iron(especially if your doctor told you to take more). The only thing that may happen is constipation, but that can be fixed by increasing your fiber intake. EDIT : My doctor initially told me to take 2 iron pills which has 300mg of iron each.
this is for harley-davidson people not for rice burners sorry
I agree with whoever said to call a pregnancy hotline. Too much iron is just as bad as too little iron. It is absorbed and stored by the body, not flushed out like a lot of other nutrients. How far along are you? It's not until later pregnancy that you need a lot of extra iron to help your blood volume increase. Prenatal vitamins usually have a sufficient iron content in them for non-anemic women. You can get these over-the-counter at most retail drug and grocery stores. If you're early in your pregnancy, you need to worry most about getting enough folic acid to help prevent certain spinal cord birth defects - prenatal vitamins are also really high in that. The only time I've ever heard of someone having to take an iron supplement in addition to a prenatal vitamin was when they were truly anemic, and at risk for complications during delivery from blood loss. You should definitely find out more about this, for the sake of you and your baby. Good luck and congrats!!
