Iron injections, anyone?

Hi all, I hope you are all well. I was just wondering whether anyone on the forum has had iron shots. For over a year and a half I’ve been taking iron supplements to treat my anemia and the doc believes the reason I'm not absorbing it properly is because of scarring in my intestines from my Crohn’s. So he has (finally) given me the option of getting iron shots. Whenever I’d mentioned them before the doctors had pulled a pained expression, and I've heard that they are very painful and can ‘tattoo’’ the skin or leave marks …   Just wondering if any one else has had iron injections? My GP says you can get them in your bottom? I don’t want marked skin or intense pain though! Just wondering what you’re experiences have been.   Cheers   Ps86

phoebeskye86,

Have your Dr. refer you to a Hematologist for an iron infusion. It's an IV where it goes directly into your blood. You will feel great in about 3 days.

No more scars than any other IV.

Dave D

Yikes, glad I didn't have to have it done. I hope I can keep my levels up. Phoebesky, let us know what you end up doing.

Thanks everyone for your speedy replys. I'm still not sure what I will do but the way things are going it doesn't look like the iron levels in my blood will go up anytime soon so I'll weight up the options and perhaps ask for a reference to a haemotologist...

Because my hematologist was worried about the risk of anaphylactic shock with an all-at-one-time iron IV, she had me do 16 weekly infusions of small doses of Ferlecit. No side effects and no pain (as long as the IV nurse knew what she was doing). And no risk of anaphylactic shock. That's probably a safer way to go than one big dose of iron. I asked not to have the injections, once I saw photos of the lumpy brown iron stains that appear on your butt cheek and upper thigh--and that take a long, long time to go away.

I had iron shots for awile.  Not bad. Stung for a few seconds. They were not very effective though.  Also have had IV infusions.  Had a bad reaction to the iron that took 4 hours to infuse. The other one that takes about 6 hours is fine (can't remember the name of it) and I have that about every 18 months.

I have had iron injections for the past 3+ years. I used to give them to myself in the top of my leg area. Now I have a wonderful husband that gives them to me in the butt. I get them weekly. If I try to slip much past that I end up not feeling so well. And yes, I have tattooing. On both my legs and my buttocks. Finaly my PCP recommended longer needles. So my butt is not as bad as it used to be. I have not had an injection in my legs in well over a year. And they still look terrible. I had a Ferritin count that dropped down to 2. Yes, 2. I had a gastric bypass about 6 yrs ago. And low ferritin levels can be one of the side effects of that surgery. I felt to terrible. And thank God I had a Doctor that knew to look for it. My numbers are back up to the 170 range at last check. The side effcts for me of low ferritin was I could not remember things. I felt like someone just pulled the enregy right out of my toes sometimes. And I could not breath well. I would almost knd of gasp for air at times. My hair was also falling out. Lots of headaches. I never had time to sit at the Hemotoligists office for the 4-6 hour IV's. I was working and a single mom. My boss was cranky about me leaving for the Hemotoligist anyway. It took me about 18 months minimum to actually get my count any where near a normal range. Now I take the injections at home. And I take 120 mg of Bariatric Advantage iron a day. Bariatric Advantage makes pills special for the new stomaches of gastric bypass patients. But I couldn't take any of the OTC iron pills before either. They were so hard on my stoach and made me sick. Bariatric Advantage is good for anyone needed to take special supplements. I have friends with cancer that take Bariatric Advantage. And I had a girlfriend that was having iron issues while pregnant. I hooked her up with them also. Does it hurt? Well, you know, I walked into a Hemotologist office where people were actually dying from incurable cancers. And I figured any one of them would rather have a quick prick in the butt. And then be on with their lives. I guess it all depends on how your attitude is. I was so sick before them that I was glad they finally found something to help me. I think I do have a high pain tolerance. But it really doesn't hurt at all...just my oppinion.

Post Edited (ROSEKELLY) : 8/3/2010 7:49:27 PM (GMT-6)

belleenstein said...
I give myself my iron injections. Painful? Stings for maybe 30 seconds, but painful? Not to me. As for tatooing? Giving them to myself since 1993 -- there's not a tattoo anywhere on me and I'm a celtic redhead you'd see them on my skin

Where do you get your iron? What is it called? What dosage do you use?

I have lifetime gluten sensitivity and lifetime anemia. My doctor gives me iron infusions and they work, however, I can only get them every two years. I go in to my doctor semi-annually for blood work and if the iron saturation percent is not very low, I have to wait--for two years. This is unacceptable. At day 1 of the iron infusion I feel great, then there is this slow insidious decline for two years until I am way past acceptable daily-life function. I would like to give myself iron shots myself if I could get my doctor to prescribe something. Help me get on the path to injectable iron.