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Very very low ferritin and iron infusions
- Thread starter crohnie2
- Start date
afidz
Super Moderator
I have had problems with anemia since I was diagnosed and had to have several blood transfusions as a result. At one point, my body had started killing off my extremities to save my internal organs. I have had one iron infusion and I reacted badly to it. My blood pressure dropped to dangerous levels. But, nurses are very aware that that can happen and are very good at monitoring your stats. My vein also blew during the infusion before they stopped it, so I had a brown stain under my skin for a long time. I haven't had another iron infusion since because of what happened the first time, I just get blood transfusions instead if my iron level gets too low.
Crohnnie2,
I've had five iron infusions and am stable currently. My first four were iron dextran and took almost an entire day to administer. This included a battery if medical questions and going over history etc. Then there's the placement of the IV, pre-meds benadryl (sp) and zofran to avert any nausea. Next is a test dose to make sure you can tolerate the iron and finally the actual infusion begins. You are usually kept 30-60 minutes to be sure there is no post infusion reaction. My infusions were pretty uneventful themselves. It was the 3-4 days after that I felt sickish - headache, body aches just kind of crummy. Once that passed I was fine but couldn't maintain satisfsctory iron levels so additional infusions were needed. The last one we switched to the iron Feraheme (sp). Had to get prior auth as it is usualky used/reserved for dialysis patients. So glad I was approved. It's administered IV but it a push of2 syringes done in less than 2 minutes each - I chose to do the pre-meds so it took about 1.5 hrs vs 6,5 w/iron dextran. Blood work came back in acceptable ranges in Decembet. Test again in March - usually every 3 months. Have felt my energy level improve - not falling asleep on the sofa @ 6:30 pm and now get up for work feeling more rested instead of exhausted before the day even started. Hope this helps you with your decision. I know tbere's a lot of really frightening info about iron infusions. It took serious convincing by my PCP before I finally took the plunge.
I've had five iron infusions and am stable currently. My first four were iron dextran and took almost an entire day to administer. This included a battery if medical questions and going over history etc. Then there's the placement of the IV, pre-meds benadryl (sp) and zofran to avert any nausea. Next is a test dose to make sure you can tolerate the iron and finally the actual infusion begins. You are usually kept 30-60 minutes to be sure there is no post infusion reaction. My infusions were pretty uneventful themselves. It was the 3-4 days after that I felt sickish - headache, body aches just kind of crummy. Once that passed I was fine but couldn't maintain satisfsctory iron levels so additional infusions were needed. The last one we switched to the iron Feraheme (sp). Had to get prior auth as it is usualky used/reserved for dialysis patients. So glad I was approved. It's administered IV but it a push of2 syringes done in less than 2 minutes each - I chose to do the pre-meds so it took about 1.5 hrs vs 6,5 w/iron dextran. Blood work came back in acceptable ranges in Decembet. Test again in March - usually every 3 months. Have felt my energy level improve - not falling asleep on the sofa @ 6:30 pm and now get up for work feeling more rested instead of exhausted before the day even started. Hope this helps you with your decision. I know tbere's a lot of really frightening info about iron infusions. It took serious convincing by my PCP before I finally took the plunge.
Thanks to you both for your responses. I see a hematologist next week and so hopefully I can get it done sooner rather than later. Not sure how insurance approval will work though and how long it will take toget the insurance to give the okay. Hopefully like you said library gal it will give me more energy, because I feel the same---exhausted when wake up in the morning. Thanks 