Iron Infusion - PLEASE HELP!!!
I had WLS over 6 years ago. I had my daughter almost 3 years ago and she is perfect. I just lost a baby at 16 weeks and they started running tests on me to find out why it happened.
Come to find out that I have almost NO B-12 left in my body and I am almost completely iron deficient. So I have to get 5 B-12 shots (had 3 already) and last tues I went and had a 3 hour Iron IV. The doctor says that will be enough to last me a few years.
I was fine during the whole process. I got a bit nauseous at the end, but that was it. But almost a week later, I am getting terrible dizzy spells (only at night time), I have pounding headaches everyday, I am swollen, bloated and I am gaining weight for some reason. And I am SERIOUSLY constipated.
Has anyone gone through the same thing? Are there any good ending stories out there? Anything people can suggest would be so appreciated. I can't seem to get any answers from my doctor.
Thank you
Philippa
Come to find out that I have almost NO B-12 left in my body and I am almost completely iron deficient. So I have to get 5 B-12 shots (had 3 already) and last tues I went and had a 3 hour Iron IV. The doctor says that will be enough to last me a few years.
I was fine during the whole process. I got a bit nauseous at the end, but that was it. But almost a week later, I am getting terrible dizzy spells (only at night time), I have pounding headaches everyday, I am swollen, bloated and I am gaining weight for some reason. And I am SERIOUSLY constipated.
Has anyone gone through the same thing? Are there any good ending stories out there? Anything people can suggest would be so appreciated. I can't seem to get any answers from my doctor.
Thank you
Philippa
I receive IV Venofer for iron deficiency about every 3 months. It takes about 30 minutes for the iron and about 20 minutes for the IV benadryl prior to receiving the Venofer. I haven't had any side effects other that being sleepy from the benadryl. Are you seeing a hematologist? If not, you should be. They really know their stuff.
Sorry I can't provide you with anymore info than that. I hope you get things straightened out soon and are feeling better.
Sorry I can't provide you with anymore info than that. I hope you get things straightened out soon and are feeling better.
Dear Philippa,
I'm so sorry about your loss. My prayers are with you and your family.
My labs have been good so far, so I can't help you with your IV iron question.
Have you been taking your vitamins every day?
For constipation problems, I drink regular coffee, that seems to do the trick for me and I take equate brand stool softner (WalMart brand)
Philippa
First of all let me say I'm so sorry for your loss. Second I hope your doctor will keep tabs of your labs closely. At least every 3-6 months until your iron stablizes or you could have issues again. If they are not drawing labs like this you need to find someone else.
Us wls patients need this to keep track of our levels just incase. My iron is so low now i've had to blood transfusions and am doing the IV Venfor again once a week for 3 hours instead of the 1 hour treatment hoping my blood will grab some of it. I have 5 more rounds wait 1 week blood draw again an a recheck if my crit is not above the limit he set I will go back for more rounds until I am at or near normal limits. My crit is only 10 at this point but I've been as low as 6.
First of all let me say I'm so sorry for your loss. Second I hope your doctor will keep tabs of your labs closely. At least every 3-6 months until your iron stablizes or you could have issues again. If they are not drawing labs like this you need to find someone else.
Us wls patients need this to keep track of our levels just incase. My iron is so low now i've had to blood transfusions and am doing the IV Venfor again once a week for 3 hours instead of the 1 hour treatment hoping my blood will grab some of it. I have 5 more rounds wait 1 week blood draw again an a recheck if my crit is not above the limit he set I will go back for more rounds until I am at or near normal limits. My crit is only 10 at this point but I've been as low as 6.
consult 392/ 360 day of surgery/ goal 150/ currently130
Ask me about my web store you know you want to.....
12/25/2004 
7/23/07
I'm sorry for your loss.
I had 8 IV iron infusions over a 9 day period with ferlicit (may be spelled wrong) in early January. I'm due for follow up labs to see how much it helped. Then I will follow up with the hematologist. I suspect if evry thing looks good I will have labs and see him again in 6 months.
I feel so much better after the infusions.
I will also have my 3 year post op labs in April.
I agree you need to see a Hematologist for the anemia issues.
Miralax has helped me constipation.
I hope you feel better soon.
Belinda
I had 8 IV iron infusions over a 9 day period with ferlicit (may be spelled wrong) in early January. I'm due for follow up labs to see how much it helped. Then I will follow up with the hematologist. I suspect if evry thing looks good I will have labs and see him again in 6 months.
I feel so much better after the infusions.
I will also have my 3 year post op labs in April.
I agree you need to see a Hematologist for the anemia issues.
Miralax has helped me constipation.
I hope you feel better soon.
Belinda
Anchor cut TT 9/27/2007
Hi Philippa - I'm looking for answers too. I had Lap Band surgery 4 years ago; I'm still losing, not at goal yet, but not too far. My Ferritin (sp) level is a 3, my iron saturation is 7%, my hemotocrit is a 10, but that is good for me as I've been as low as 8 (however, I didn't have a period this month so it would have been lower I'm sure) - I just left a phone message for my WLS doctor. My regular doctor is talking about a transfusion or some sort of Iron infusion shots. My symptoms (four months now) have been tiredness, sleeplessness, restless leg syndrome and severe irritability. All of which have been mentioned as side effects of anemia. I'm so tired of being tired that I can't stand it. I have so much to do and no energy to do any of it! I push myself because I have triplet 11-year-olds and so much to do but truthfully there are days when I don't want to get out of bed. I can't sleep at night but I can sleep all day :) Any helpful words would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi phillipa
did you get your iv situation taken care of?
i had my iv today .. it was 6 hours ..
i got the iron dextran because i was told i could do it in one sitting ..
i had it two years ago .. but this time im going to keep up my iron intake
i hope i get my energy back quickly
i live in Georgia .. i have 2 girls and one has special needs ..
i know how u feel being sick and tired of being sick and tired ..
i love the fact that you have triplets .. i wanted 4 girls
but once my baby was born with special needs, i thought it was
best for me to stop ..
lets keep ourselves healthy so that we can be strong for our kids ..
you have my friendship and support ..
united in anemia and weight loss
i had my surgery in 2000 .. im still working on my weight loss ..
vanessa
write anytime ..
even if you want my phone number let me know and we can talk
if you have time and/or want to ..
(deactivated member)
on 3/18/09 12:50 pm - TX
on 3/18/09 12:50 pm - TX
I am so sorry to hear about everything that you have been going through.
I have been having the same problems, sounds almost identical to yours. I felt unwell and went to the drs for some tests. They start with labs and I found out that my b12 were very low and I was almost at the point of needing a transfusion, but they were able to give me an iron infusion. I felt wonderful after the infusion, I was also to have a series of 5 B12 shots. I thought I would be fine for a few years too but that is not the case.(were you chewing ice??)
I found out through an iron saturation study that I do not absorb iron at all and my iron stores are very low, so I need an infusion on a monthly basis. I should start that next week hopefully
Between all of this I found out that I have thyroid antibodies in my blood and I have gained weight, about 17 lbs since October, which is horrible being that I have maintained my weight pretty much for the past 5 years. Some of the symptoms that you mentioned sounds like a thyroid. I think when one this is out of sorts, then that can start other things to go wrong too. please let me know how you make out - [email protected]
I have been having the same problems, sounds almost identical to yours. I felt unwell and went to the drs for some tests. They start with labs and I found out that my b12 were very low and I was almost at the point of needing a transfusion, but they were able to give me an iron infusion. I felt wonderful after the infusion, I was also to have a series of 5 B12 shots. I thought I would be fine for a few years too but that is not the case.(were you chewing ice??)
I found out through an iron saturation study that I do not absorb iron at all and my iron stores are very low, so I need an infusion on a monthly basis. I should start that next week hopefully
Between all of this I found out that I have thyroid antibodies in my blood and I have gained weight, about 17 lbs since October, which is horrible being that I have maintained my weight pretty much for the past 5 years. Some of the symptoms that you mentioned sounds like a thyroid. I think when one this is out of sorts, then that can start other things to go wrong too. please let me know how you make out - [email protected]
Stats:
RNY DISTAL 20 years ago
290 lbs - 120 lbs (got down to 96 and no longer weigh myself but I am 100+ a little) :-)
Most recent labs:
Ferritin 4 L
Carbon Dioxide 20 L
Iron Total 24 L
TIBC 477 H
Transferrin Saturation 5 L
HGB 12.5 L
MCV 73 L
MCH 22.8 L
MCHC 31.4 L
RDW 17.1 H
PLT 438 H
GRA% 11 .5 H
For the most part I have been feeling lousy for years and it gets worse each year. It is at the point now where I really have no life. I stopped working and am exhausted all the time. Since surgery I have never been able to sleep more than 3 hours consecutively, so I nap twice during the day. I have almost all the symptoms of Iron Deficient Anemia from exhaustion, hair loss, legs buckling, short of breath, panic attacks, and so on.
The scary thing is that in my 20 years post-op I have found most doctors do not understand WLS bodies and how we work (or rather don't). When the Hematologist saw my HGB (marginally low) he said it is all in my head and I should see a shrink. Two days later he got the remainder of the blood results, saw the Ferritin and immediately ordered transfusions. *I think while it is uncommon for the normal person to be so anemic without having a very low HGB result it is fairly common for the WLS patient.
Long story short I knew I needed iron infusions, but had lost my insurance some years back. I now have insurance again, so started researching the infusions. There is a great site out there where many have shared their experiences and quite frankly is scared the heck out of me.
I admit I have a very low tolerance for pain and I am a big baby. It pretty much seemed everyone had pain, discomfort, etc (I guess depending on their tolerance), but it seemed fairly consistent that all had the worst headache ever and an excruciating back ache.
Yesterday I went to the Hematologist and I thought we were just going to talk. Nope it was infusion day. I took a Klonopin about an hour before I got there and then 2 Advil shortly before arrival. I was given 200 of Venofer (even though friends suggested I go with Infed). While this is usually administered with Benadryl (I have a bad reaction to Benadryl pills, so I did not want to chance it) I was given some other drug.
Long story short (for those of you that are scared and apprehensive)... First they inserted the IV needle (not great, but really no big deal). They then ran just some saline, then the Benadryl replacement and finally the Venofer. I never felt anything! Then the fear really set in... I wondered what was going to happen when I got home. It's 24 hours later and NOTHING.
I am scheduled for 7 more infusions - 1x a week.
RNY DISTAL 20 years ago
290 lbs - 120 lbs (got down to 96 and no longer weigh myself but I am 100+ a little) :-)
Most recent labs:
Ferritin 4 L
Carbon Dioxide 20 L
Iron Total 24 L
TIBC 477 H
Transferrin Saturation 5 L
HGB 12.5 L
MCV 73 L
MCH 22.8 L
MCHC 31.4 L
RDW 17.1 H
PLT 438 H
GRA% 11 .5 H
For the most part I have been feeling lousy for years and it gets worse each year. It is at the point now where I really have no life. I stopped working and am exhausted all the time. Since surgery I have never been able to sleep more than 3 hours consecutively, so I nap twice during the day. I have almost all the symptoms of Iron Deficient Anemia from exhaustion, hair loss, legs buckling, short of breath, panic attacks, and so on.
The scary thing is that in my 20 years post-op I have found most doctors do not understand WLS bodies and how we work (or rather don't). When the Hematologist saw my HGB (marginally low) he said it is all in my head and I should see a shrink. Two days later he got the remainder of the blood results, saw the Ferritin and immediately ordered transfusions. *I think while it is uncommon for the normal person to be so anemic without having a very low HGB result it is fairly common for the WLS patient.
Long story short I knew I needed iron infusions, but had lost my insurance some years back. I now have insurance again, so started researching the infusions. There is a great site out there where many have shared their experiences and quite frankly is scared the heck out of me.
I admit I have a very low tolerance for pain and I am a big baby. It pretty much seemed everyone had pain, discomfort, etc (I guess depending on their tolerance), but it seemed fairly consistent that all had the worst headache ever and an excruciating back ache.
Yesterday I went to the Hematologist and I thought we were just going to talk. Nope it was infusion day. I took a Klonopin about an hour before I got there and then 2 Advil shortly before arrival. I was given 200 of Venofer (even though friends suggested I go with Infed). While this is usually administered with Benadryl (I have a bad reaction to Benadryl pills, so I did not want to chance it) I was given some other drug.
Long story short (for those of you that are scared and apprehensive)... First they inserted the IV needle (not great, but really no big deal). They then ran just some saline, then the Benadryl replacement and finally the Venofer. I never felt anything! Then the fear really set in... I wondered what was going to happen when I got home. It's 24 hours later and NOTHING.
I am scheduled for 7 more infusions - 1x a week.
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