Frightened of medicine's side-effects

I recently went to get some blood tests and it turns out I have anemia. I've been a vegetarian for 5 months now and I think it might be because I'm not getting enough b12 or something.

I told my doctor about being vegetarian and she wrote a prescription for ferrous sulfate.

The thing is, recently I've been looking up any new medication I'm prescribed and I found it rather terrifying to read all it said about ferrous sulfate.

It said I could get constipation, but I'm already going to the bathroom very few times, I could get blood in my stool, my teeth will get stained, I'm bad at swallowing pills and I read I can't break the pill, some say I can take it after a meal others say I can't, and too much could be FATAL...

I'm just so scared, I want to not take the pill but the doctor ordered another blood test for next month and if anemia shows up again I'll get injections (which showed up as very painful on the web )

Please help!

Post Edited (BlaiddDrwg) : 9/16/2016 8:41:26 PM (GMT-6)

Hi BD!

Fellow vegetarian here - for over 15 years! Anemia is low iron - not B12.

I always laugh when people assume all vegetarians are "health nuts"... ummm.. let me tell you, as a vegetarian, my favorite food is donuts! :D It can be easy to miss essential nutrients.

However, it is important to get enough iron, and you *can* do that as a vegetarian. Ferrous sulfate is just an iron supplement - more like a vitamin than a medicine.

You can attempt to increase your iron with foods. Try anything green & leafy, beans of any kind, tofu, oatmeal, nuts and seeds (and nut butters). Also, many grain products (cereals, breads) are usually fortified with iron.

You also should eat lots of vitamin C - as that helps your body absorb iron. Calcium can also interfere with iron absorption, so you can try to avoid excess calcium while you're eating iron rich foods.

The worst side effect I've heard about iron supplements is that yes, they can cause constipation. If that happens you could consider taking the iron pill every other day - or even a few times per week could be helpful.

You could also call your doctor to see if there is perhaps another source of iron (maybe a multivitamin that would be easier to swallow, or a liquid iron supplement?) you could take. Don't be afraid to ask the doc about any questions relating to side effects. Or try the diet modification for a month and see if you find improvements, and then go to the iron pills if you need.

Hang in there! You'll be ok!

Yeah, I guess I should keep my laptop away and take the pills instead... The thing is, it can be hard to keep my mind distracted sometimes :-/

Also, I was having a great weekend with little to no nausea at all. But today when I went to school I don't know why I got SUPER nervous and when that happens I start feeling sick, I get an upset stomach, I asked to go to the bathroom 3 times and blamed it on the medicine I'm getting but in reality I know it's because I was nervous.

Ever since I was a child I would get nausea when I got nervous, during some time I was able to control it but it suddenly came back! What should I do? I tried breathing exercises in class but they didn't work. Mint takes it away for a class but after that even the mint can't stop me from feeling sick