Without sufficient iron, your body cannot produce the number of normal red blood cells needed to keep you healthy. Iron also helps healthy muscle metabolism, neurological development and hormonal synthesis, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Your doctor may recommend that you take iron supplements if you are deficient or if you have another underlying health, but you should know that there are side effects of the iron pills.
If you feel worse after taking an iron supplement, here is what you need to know.
Iron pills, available in the form of various salts of ferrous ions, can be beneficial to treat a deficiency with the appropriate dosage, but taking too much can cause risk of health toxicity, including acute liver lesions.
How many iron should you take per day?
Iron is an essential component of hemoglobin, the protein of red blood cells which transfers the oxygen of your lungs with each fabric of your body. Iron supports muscle contraction and helps maintain healthy connective tissue. It is also necessary for neurological development, the synthesis of hormones and good growth.
The amount of iron you need daily depends on your age and sex. The National Institutes of Health list the recommended food allowance necessary to meet your nutritional needs. The average amount for adults 19 and over is between 8 and 18 milligrams.
The tolerable upper limit (UL) for iron is 45 milligrams for people aged 14 and over and 40 milligrams for those under 14. Make sure you read the labels before taking supplements to make sure you are in the 45 milligrams of iron safety range for adults, according to the Harvard Th Chan School of Public Health.
Iron supplements are available in autonomous forms, including tablets, capsules, powders and liquids, or combined with other vitamins or minerals. The formulations may differ considerably in their iron content.
Food -rich foods
Even if you are not deficient in iron, foods rich in iron is always an important part of a balanced and healthy diet. Some examples of iron -rich foods that you can incorporate include the following elements, according to the USDA:
- Cereals ready to eat
- Hot wheat cereals
- Oysters and mussels
- Beef
- Sardines
- Shrimp
- Spinach
- Soy
- Beet
- Lenses
- White beans
- Beet
- Mushrooms
- Black beans
- Sweet potato
- Cashew nuts
- Sesame seeds
Who needs to take iron pills?
Despite a balanced diet, you may find that your body has exhausted its iron reserves. This can cause symptoms of iron deficiency anemia, according to the Mayo clinic, which may include:
- Extreme fatigue and weakness
- Pale skin
- Chest pain, fast heart rate or breath
- Headache or dizziness
- Cold hands and feet
- Inflammation or pain of your language
- Brittle nails
- Desires of unusual substances, such as dirt or ice
- Bad appetite, especially in infants and children
To correct iron deficiency, you may need to take iron supplements. It is important to make sure you take the correct dosage, because too much iron can be dangerous.
Most people receive enough iron from their diet. However, because iron is mainly found in animal products, people who follow a limited or vegetarian diet may have low iron levels. In addition, certain conditions may increase your need for iron, according to Mayo Clinic. Some of them include:
- Bleeding problems, such as spent ulcer, colon or hiatal hernia polyps
- Dysfunctional uterine bleeding
- Burns
- Renal dialysis
- Intestinal diseases that inhibit absorption. like celiac disease
- Stomach problems or stomach surgical elimination
- Drugs used to increase your number of red blood cells
If none of these is to be blamed for your low iron levels, your doctor can perform tests to detect colon cancer, which can bleed slowly an iron deficiency even obviously bloody in the stool, according to a March-April 2023 review Diagnosis and prognosis for cancer.
Excessive iron by supplements (or an accumulation of iron through a combination of food and pills due to a hereditary condition called hemochromatosis) can spoil your organs and cause unfavorable health complications, such as damage to your liver, according to the mayonnaise clinic.
What are the signs that iron pills work?
You will probably feel less tired, less stunned and less weak after starting to take iron pills, especially if you have anemia. It can take one to four weeks to feel the positive effects of taking iron pills daily (or as prescribed by your doctor), according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Find a list of the best iron supplements here.
Side effects of iron pills
Iron pills, if taken properly, can reconstruct iron in your blood at normal after about two months, but the National Library of Medicine (NLM) suggests that you continue to take supplements for an additional six to 12 months to build iron stores in your body’s bone marrow.
If you think you feel worse after taking iron supplements, it is common to feel certain side effects of the iron pills – ferrous sulfate, ferrous smorate and enclosed gluconate forms included. For example, if you feel dizzy after taking iron supplements, it might be due to your persistent deficiency or the pill itself.
According to the NLM, the side effects of iron supplements include:
- Dark urine color
- Constipation or diarrhea (rink a lot of liquids and include adequate quantities of fiber in your diet to fight against this symptom)
- Dizziness
- Gastrointestinal discomfort (Take iron pills with meals to avoid nausea symptoms)
- Black stools
- Liquid iron shapes can stain your teeth (try mixing the iron with a liquid and drinking the solution through a straw to avoid this)
- Interactions with certain drugs such as penicillin or those used to treat convulsions or Parkinson’s disease
You should not be alarmed if your stools are very dark. This is one of the signs that iron pills are working properly. But let your doctor know if:
- The stools are stools
- Red streaks are present in your stools
- You have cramps, sharp pains or pain in your stomach
What is iron toxicity?
Taking an extremely higher amount than recommended iron supplements could cause severe iron overdose. Accidental poisoning can occur if a child accidentally eats too many pediatric multivitamins or adult prenatal vitamins, warns the NLM. Symptoms of iron overdose can affect the whole body and include:
- Stomach and intestines: liver damage, nausea and blood vomiting, metal taste in the mouth, black bloody stools
- Respiratory system: accumulation of liquids in the lungs
- Heart: Low blood pressure, fast and low heart rate, shock, dehydration
- Nervous system: Chills, fever, convulsions, headaches, drowsiness, apathy, coma
- Skin: Lips of bluish color, nails and palms of hands; Skin of skin, pale skin
Symptoms of iron toxicity can decrease in a few hours, then come back after one or more days.
How to treat iron toxicity
Severe iron toxicity will force you to visit the emergency room to receive immediate and appropriate care. You will probably receive IV liquids and be monitored to monitor blood pressure and pulse anomalies, which could indicate the need for more aggressive treatment to eliminate iron from the body.
Doctors can also give you a medication called defeat, which may have to be administered during the 24 hours, according to the University of Utah.
How to take the iron pills correctly
First and foremost, if you are prescribed by your doctor, you must take them as prescribed.
When should you take iron supplements? Try to take them on an empty stomach so that they are better absorbed by your body. Take advantage of taking your iron pills at least an hour before or two hours after eating a meal, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
If you take an iron form, take it whole (do not crush it or chew it) for maximum efficiency. If you take a liquid form, be sure to use a syringe or a measure to measure, not a spoon, so that you can precisely measure the quantity you get, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Other tips include avoiding taking iron pills with milk, caffeine, antacids or calcium supplements. You can also take it with orange juice (which contains vitamin C) to help increase iron absorption, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
When to see a doctor
If you think you have iron deficiency or anemia, visit your doctor, who can do a blood test to determine if you are deficient. From there, your doctor may recommend including more iron -rich foods in your diet or an iron pill.
If you think you have taken too much iron and feel the side effects of the toxicity of the iron, call your nearest doctor or emergency room and you have treated as soon as possible.
Faq
1. How long does the nausea of iron pills last?
You may feel nausea to take iron pills immediately, or you can feel it during the time you take them. As a rule, your body will get used to the iron pills around one to four weeks, that is to say at this moment that you will notice a relief of the symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
2. Why do I feel worse after taking iron tablets?
Iron pills are generally taken on an empty stomach, but sometimes it can cause stomach aches, making you feel worse after taking iron supplements. This is why start, you may want to take iron pills with a little food until your stomach adapts, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
You can also feel worse while taking iron pills if you feel one of the side effects mentioned above. And if you are iron deficient, it can take some time from iron pills to start working and relieving your symptoms. All are reasons why you might feel worse for a while; But talk to your doctor if your symptoms are not improving.
3. What are the stages of iron deficiency?
Iron anemia develops more than three stages. During the first step, iron stores are exhausted, but that has not yet affected your red blood cells.
In the second step, the normal process of manufacturing red blood cells is modified – causing a condition called erythropoies deficient in iron (where the bone marrow is manufactured without enough hemoglobin), according to the Cleveland Clinic.
In the third stage, you have complete iron anemia, that is to say that there is not enough iron to make hemoglobin. This is when you start to feel symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
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