Iron infusion finally

Having my first of four iron infusions on Thursday. For some reason I thought it was given all at one time but the Dr. said there's less chance of reaction if I do it weekly or biweekly four times. Is there anything I should be aware of going in. Any idea of how long I'll be there? I forgot to ask. I currently use the iron patch, should I double up on them as I've seen others do? Any input is appreciated.

I really hope you feel better soon. I had iron infusions before surgery and they did four. The time depends on your tolerance. Mine had to go in very slowly so I was there for at least an hour each time. Bring a book and some music and just chill.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll bring some papers to grade!

I think the most difficult part is that I had my infusion appointments in the "chemo" room so all of my companions were very sick. It was very sad.

I feel like I'm in iron infusion heaven. I have a private room, no copay and they just came in a gave a 15 minute complementary Reiki session! Wow!

So glad it is going well! I ended up paying about $200 (after insurance) per infusion. I needed to feel better, but the price was HIGH!

I hope it helps! I had mine last year and did it all at one time. It took about six hours but that included a small dose first with a wait and see (about an hour) to make sure I wouldn't have an allergic reaction. I jus****ched tv and read during the time I was there.

Thank you! I hope it helps too. Just haven't been myself. Wish they would just do it all at once! Oh well, at least they are doing it.

I hope that you will feel much better afterwards!

I have had 4 or 5 now, about 2 or 3 or 4 weeks apart each time. Like Janet said, it's horribly sad to be in the room with people getting chemotherapy. It makes you feel actually very fortunate. But the very first time I went in, they gave me an IV with benadryl to counter a possible allergic reaction. I was soooo drowsy! I didn't have a reaction to the iron, but I did move my arm too much and it started to be uncomfortable and it seems I poked a hole in the vein or something, so they had to stick it in a different vein. I had a small bruise. Ever since, I have them do it in my left arm and I hold that arm VERY still. It takes about an hour for them to administer the bag of iron. I read my kindle or hop on conference calls. If you can grade papers with one hand, it would be easy to get that done.

One note - every single time I go in for iron, they take blood before. The next time, they provide me with my labs. I track them on a spreadsheet so I can see what is going up or down. I highly suggest you track yours closely! Here is the spreadsheet. It will download to your computer if you click on that link. Good luck!