How long does it take for an iron transfusion to give you more energy? (+ vent)

Because right about now I'm feeling about as shattered as though I'd ran 20 miles earlier on :-/

I had an iron transfusion done almost two weeks ago. The hospital were cautious and only gave me half the usual dose, and even that was touch and go because I did have a reaction to the iron. But they were able to finish the tranfusion, and I'm going in tomorrow for the second dose.

The first dose cured my restless legs instantly, so for that alone it was worth it. But apart from that I don't feel any better and in fact my tiredness has increased. The increase in tiredness seems to be related to decreasing the Entocort to 3mg a day. I hadn't thought 6mg was doing anything, but apparently it was doing something, unless it's just coincidence.

I'm certain I still have active disease going on, so I'm never going to be 100% healthy. But considering I had bad anaemia prior to the transfusion, I would've thought it would've boosted my energy levels somewhat. Is two weeks not enough time? Does it take 3, 4, etc. weeks before you notice any effect? :-/

Changing subject...

Somebody managed to make a comment about my Crohn's which upset me this morning <__<. On another forum I go to (nothing to do with Crohn's, but they know I have Crohn's there), there's a "What have you eaten today?" thread, which I've been posting in. I've been honest about my daily food intake to the point of scrupulousness. Nobody has said anything about it until today, where some guy told me that for how much I'm eating my Crohn's didn't sound that bad. He said that he thought I would "explode" with what I was eating.

Urgh. Well firstly I consume probably around 1500 calories most days. I won't bore you all with a detailed breakdown of a typical day's worth of food for me, so I hope you can take my word for it that I'm not consuming 3000 calories of junk per day. This guy seems to have absolutely no idea of how to assess calories and he eats probably about 4x what I do, but that's getting off the subject... >_>

Secondly, I've always eaten everything, because it doesn't seem to make any difference what I eat. My brother (who also has Crohn's) is the same. He eats everything too, even in a flare-up. But I have to say, that does not seem to be typical for Crohn's sufferers.

The thing which annoys me - and which I'm sure most of you can identify with - is that because you don't look (or sound) ill people don't take you seriously. You can be feeling at death's door and they'll never know it. The ones which make these assumptions are always healthy as an ox, too, which annoys me even more.

And then I start to feel a bit guilty for feeling so annoyed because in all honesty I sometimes find it hard to believe I have a serious disease, so what hope other people? Currently my symptoms are similar to what they were pre-colonoscopy, and the colonoscopy showed apparently dreadful disease. But my symptoms don't seem to match the severity of the disease, so I don't really know what to think and feel about it. Bah. As always, apologies for the length of my posts.

After three bowel resections and 30 plus years of crohns everything goes through me. I do stay away from spicy food, but I eat most everything else. As for the iron infusion, I was always told it takes 2 weeks for the iron to form red blood cells.

Bottom line - no two crohn's patients are alike re foods, meds, etc.. I would try to look the other way when someone makes an assumption like that. You know your body and your limits, so carry on.

All the best,
Julia

Remember 50% of the people on the internet are the 50% of the dumbest people on the internet. Men and Women! lol

I had an Infed iron infusion aver 8 hours and it did nothing at, my counts actually dropped after and I paid cash for it with hopes of feeling better. But every one is different. Hope it will work for you. KayC

(((NCOT))) When I had my infusion it took about 3-4 weeks for me to start feeling the effects. So do be patient things will improve soon.

As for the jerk on the other board, just ignore him, some people just have the know it all complex. I am a very light eater myself. I can't eat too much food at one time. In fact my husband is a light eater himself, and most times we just share a plate. I don't follow any of the specialized diets, but find a modified low residue diet works best for me. Modified for me means I eat a few items that aren't low residue. And diet is so individual to each of us. So each of us really just have to find what works for "us". Hugs!

A blood transfusion will make you feel better more quickly.

NCOT:  Wow, I'm really impressed that Iron could make your legs better so fast.  Awesome!  Maybe you will be able to sleep better now and that will help you also feel less tired.  Don't know were the hemoglobin levels have to be to help one feel perkier but seems that you are headed in the right direction!  Maybe next time your doc won't let you get so low. . . tell him to pay attention! 

As for a man and food . . . my spouse has long since learned to not say a word . . .no matter what I say . . .he somehow knows just to smile and nod.  It took many years of hands on training to accomplish this . .. is there a right answer to "does this make me look fat?" So the dude that was discussing diet dosen't get "woman" talk yet . . .and remains ignorant and thereby underschooled in the finer things in life.  He needs someone to open a can of whoop ass on 'im!

best, barb

 

I share your irritation with the other poster. I too have had someone suggest they knew better than I did about a personal point I made. I 'was like' (to quote the youngsters of today 😉) *** you don't even know me how can you have the audacity to tell me I have my past wrong. But I didn't rise to it... Like you irritated. In that case they weren't a jerk either ... Just a little too self opinionated. Well intentioned but so missed the mark.

When we all comment we give our opinion from our perspective. And respect the views that others express (whether we agree or not). Unfortunately some don't realise that simply having an opinion doesn't always make it worthy or sharing. Ho hum I thought ... Downed another cocktail and moved on with my life (after a rant to my other half).

Stick in there - after all I'm waiting for the book on your diet to come out. 😊