IV Iron Administration

Since my iron stores are still low and my body is going to try to increase my blood supply by 50% over the next month or so, I'm thinking that it might be time for a more aggressive anemia treatment.

I've been taking oral iron, and eating iron rich foods but still it seems to me that my body doesn't absorb iron well orally. A friend of mine had suggested intravenous iron to me a while back but I never pursued it, but I really want to help this pg in every way possible.

I just started looking up stuff about it and a recent study showed that it helped, and also could help stave off the need for a transfusion later on in pg.

quote:

IV iron "restores blood stores more rapidly and a prompt increase in hemoglobin may be achieved," they point out. Moreover, it may reduce the need for blood transfusion in pregnant women who have severe anemia near term.
From: Intravenous Iron Rapidly Treats Iron-Deficiency Anemia of Pregnancy, Dec 2005 (Obstet Gynecol 2005;106:1335-1340.)

I feel like this would be the right thing for me to do at this point. I do eat dark leafy greens, chicken, fish, occasional red meat and even chicken liver, plus supplementation (granted I'm not as good as I should be about it) but still, I don't eat crap or a lot of caffeine so this still looks to me like I don't absorb it well. And my period is way less than it was before, so that shouldn't be an issue. I'll have to discuss with my doctor next week.