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Posted 10/22/2011 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, I'm new to th eforum and so appreciate all your knowledge and experiences.

My husband (53) was diagnosed with UC earlier this year, and is currently in a flare. He's listless and low energy, and I'm wondering what has been your experience with anemia with this disease, and how do know if a blood transfusion or iron supplement will help? 

Posted 10/22/2011 6:04 PM (GMT 0)
Davidica, welcome to Healing Well!

I dealt with anemia during my long flare up a few years ago. I had no insurance and I defintiely couldn't afford any hospitalization or medical treatment but my GI recommended iron supplements and they helped my blood quite a bit. It was enough to pull me out of being anemic. The problem with the supplements for many people is that they are rough on the gut and can make some feel worse. They didn't cause me any negative side effects but I don't take them anymore because my iron has been OK since. You should also consider an iron infusion before a blood transfusion. Speak to your GI, I am sure he just needs supplements or IV iron.
Posted 10/22/2011 6:39 PM (GMT 0)
his blood work should show anemia, although sometimes a hematologist will do a different test, a ferritin level, which I gather is more accurate than a CBC. He could take iron supplements, he could do iron infusions, there are a few options for him. The fatigue & listlessness can be due to his body fighting inflammation, you burn more calories to fight the inflammation, which can cause fatigue. But if it continues after he starts to pull out of the flare, definitely look for more options to treat/diagnose it. I recently had an iron infusion & it did wonders- I go for labs in December to see how it's holding up.
Posted 10/22/2011 8:37 PM (GMT 0)
The other thing that can get out of whack with IBD is vitamins D & B12. It's easy to get vitamin D (I take 2000 iu per day). Iron can also be taken by mouth (but a lot of the formulations are hard on the gut, so be forewarned). B12 is something that you can get with shots I think.
Posted 10/22/2011 9:23 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome Davidica. After I was diagnosed with UC in 2003, I went into iron deficiency anemia. I have some photos of myself and still can't believe I looked so bad and no one mentioned it. After complaining to my GI about symptoms that made me believe I was dying, he finally did some blood work. My hemoglobin count was 8 point something. After taking a low dose iron supplement which didn't help, I was sent to an oncologist. He confirmed the anemia and upped the dose to almost a gram a day of Fe. It took a good while but I finally came up close to normal. Bottom line - don't mess around with this. It really will stress out your whole system. Good luck.
Posted 10/22/2011 10:38 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all so much - how empowering it is to know you're not alone. I wish you all continued recovery and complete healing. I will check out all that each of you has mentioned. My husband is about to start Remicade treatment next Thursday, and although I'm somewhat hesitant, he says he is ready - Prednisone didn't do much. He's currently still on Lialda and Asacol. Just started him on raw meal organic gluten and soy free meal replacement shakes, and Floradix liquid iron. Well let you know if that makes a difference with his diet. Thanks again so much - so glad I stumbled onto this forum!
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