It just occurred to me after nearly a year of intermittently feeling weirdly ‘off’ and headachy, that my iron supplement (ferrous gluconate) may be the culprit.
Anyone else have a similar experience?
I had periodically taken these kinds of supplements before (since 2009) so I am not sure if it’s the brand I chose, or the extra iron, but thinking back this weird feeling started last spring when I started taking a supplement again.
Do you take it as an iron-only supplement or as part of a multivitamin? I ask because I tried taking additional zinc last cold season, but it made me nauseous. It would be hard to determine what exactly was causing symptoms from a multivitamin, of course. Have you had a blood draw lately?
It’s a supplement in its own. Sometimes I took a Vitamin C tablet at the same time.
Iron levels were checked and found to be low last spring, had it checked again last fall and level was much higher. The Dr said to keep up with the supplements, and that the weird feeling was due to stress, most likely. (True enough, what with changing jobs and cities although stress in the past manifested itself differently than this ‘off’ feeling I’d been experiencing).
It dawned on me last week when this ‘off’ feeling came back was that it was the first time I’d taken an iron pill in a few weeks. Perhaps just a coincidence…?
It may be the dosage is too high. I was taking it for about a year because of low iron, and my doctor wanted me taking it every day. I could handle 4-5 days in a row, then I’d have to take 2-3 days off. Too much iron can cause headaches, but I think it takes a lot, over a long period of time, to get to that point.
I used to know a lady who said that she was allergic to iron supplements, but I don’t know what the symptoms were or how she came to that conclusion (and I don’t know if she actually was allergic, or just said that).
I know that at first people can experience some tummy upset but that is supposed to be short-lived. My physio mentioned that his wife can’t handle supplements in pill form, after I told him my own suspicions. So I wondered if others had noticed this, too.
At any rate I’m not going to take them any more - I will pay more attention to my overall diet and get my levels checked again in a few months.
Iron in pill form makes me puke. Try liquid iron supplements. I use Spatone. Love it. The body absorbs the liquid stuff much better.
I might try that after I get my levels checked again. I still don’t feel great so the issue may not be the iron pills after all.
Well that was interesting, got blood checked, levels are all just fine, so why am I taking an iron supplement anyway?!
After a bit more discussion and a better understanding of my history the Dr figures I have either an ulcer or some kind of gastric reflux thing going on. Makes sense since that can mimic other issues.
So, a month on some unpronounceable drug and I should be rid of this weird symptom I’ve had for the past 10 months. 
And the iron pills are history. Just got to remember to eat right (and not get lazy about my nutrition).
Good news! But for others whose stomach gets upset by Iron pills, I like the ferrous fumarate formulation, found in Ferrosequels to be easy on the stomach.
It pays to insist that doctors listen to you and not let them just make assumptions based on little knowledge of your background!
I saw a Dr last fall about my odd-stomach issues and general feelings of being “off” - I listed about 8 symptoms that I noticed and he informed me I was just stressed out (fair enough in a way, I’d just moved and started a new job in a new, unfamiliar city) - but I’d felt stressed out before and it felt nothing like this.
Symptoms came and went over the next few months, and I thought I’d narrowed it down to my iron supplements but that was incorrect.
Next Dr, a nice woman, listened to my story a bit then kind of freaked out an ordered a stress test (what??? now I’m freaked out, too!!). It showed nothing, like I figured. So then she says I “probably” have an ulcer. Here’s a prescription. It did nothing.
Symptoms came and went and finally I’d had enough - it couldn’t even run without feeling squeezed any more. I’m no hypochondriac, something is going on and I’m tired of the stomach discomfort and headaches. New clinic, new Dr. He actually listened - whew. He asked questions. He poked and prodded. He ordered a barium swallow and a test for the bacteria that causes ulcers, just to rule things out. Okay, maybe we will get to the bottom of this after all.
I go back to discuss the results and a different Dr saw me. Initially I was a bit disappointed because I didn’t want to repeat my story but this guy was great. Amazingly he chatted with me for 10-15 minutes about diet, exercise, and the negative results of my previous tests. Then he suggested this (which apparently is well-known but I’d never heard of it): 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar + 1 tsp of lemon + a bit of honey in a glass of water before meals and see if that makes a difference. He figures that it’s excess stomach acid and after a meal my tum makes too much acid, leading to the discomfort and headaches. The acidy drink should trick my tum into thinking it’s got enough acid produced. That concoction isn’t exactly pleasant, although with enough honey it’s tolerable - and it’s increasing my fluid intake for the day by about 30%, so not a bad thing!
3 days in and it really seems to have helped. No tummy discomfort, no headaches. Yay! I’ll keep this up 3x/day for a week and then cut back but if this is the end of a year’s worth of significant discomfort I’ll be so happy. It’s bad enough getting older as it is, I’d like to avoid “age-related” health issues for a while yet, but this whole situation is likely related to just getting older.
It goes to show that we need to advocate for ourselves in the medical system. If one Dr is dismissive then find another Dr who will sit and listen, and take our symptoms seriously. We aren’t all just “stressed” and it’s not all in our heads.