tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738062031052371885.post7033983792413345691..comments2024-03-17T10:07:53.205-07:00Comments on The Well-Rounded Mama: Prenatal Vitamins, Pre-Eclampsia, and ObesityWell-Rounded Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04129621631406155340noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738062031052371885.post-31571533111331290642014-06-07T15:23:03.095-07:002014-06-07T15:23:03.095-07:00Within one day of taking Floradix all of my sympto...Within one day of taking Floradix all of my symptoms had lessened significantly and were gone within a few days. I continued taking it until two large bottles were gone, that stuff is expensive. Part of why my midwives didn't automatically test me is because I have a meat heavy diet and they just didn't suspect it, until I complained about my pica coming back (off and on since young teens). When the labs came back for low ferritin, I looked up symptoms and they were dead on. Everyone just kept thinking PE and didn't even notice that the symptoms are similar. I was on 3 days of IV abx in the hospital which destroyed my gut flora and I wasn't absorbing any nutrients while trying to simultaneously put weight on my baby and heal from a big surgery. How is weight loss + frequent cream colored bowel movements not a red flag during pregnancy??? Ended up with a completely normal homebirth, almost no blood loss. Baby was 10lb10oz 23in, no complications. He's 6 months old as of yesterday!Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03576504078115706818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738062031052371885.post-32020997804432956852014-06-06T01:38:51.617-07:002014-06-06T01:38:51.617-07:00Those levels sound more like your hemoglobin rathe...Those levels sound more like your hemoglobin rather than your ferritin, although it could be ferritin too. They don't routinely test ferritin, though. But hemoglobin is a marker they do test frequently in pregnancy, with cutoffs similar to what you mention.<br /><br />Either way you're anemic, but there are different types of anemia. Low ferritin is harder to treat because it's about stored iron. Low hemoglobin is usually pretty responsive to things like Floradix.<br /><br />So once your levels came up, your PE symptoms went away and everything was okay that pregnancy?Well-Rounded Mamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04129621631406155340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738062031052371885.post-65707735462687946112014-06-05T18:28:13.680-07:002014-06-05T18:28:13.680-07:00I think it was 11 and the cut off was 8 or 9, I ne...I think it was 11 and the cut off was 8 or 9, I never got those labs printed so not positive, I've gotten numbers screwed up before. I just remember at one point having this huge panic attack because I felt so horrible, my heart was racing, I was tingling all over, it was awful. Immediate relief of symptoms after taking a big dose of iron. If I had heavy blood loss, nobody told me. My post op follow up care was basically non-existent.<br /><br />Another fun story - when I was in the hospital, they used the automatic BP cuffs and kept commenting that my BP was elevated (140/90) and I argued with them the first few times because I knew the cuff was too small. Eventually I stopped saying anything, but I was also on heavy pain drugs and didn't care. I even remember coming out of the anesthesia and hearing my mom and husband arguing with the nurse checking me back into my room that she was using the wrong size cuff and my BP was probably just fine, because I've ranted about it so many times to them! I was there 5 days with 6 BP checks a day before one nurse finally goes "Oh we've been using the wrong one!" <i>so she checks it on my forearm and says "Well it's the same as on your upper arm so it must be fine,"</i> and I facepalmed so hard.Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03576504078115706818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738062031052371885.post-76984125335019209422014-06-02T23:28:57.515-07:002014-06-02T23:28:57.515-07:00And did you lose a lot of blood with the ovarian c...And did you lose a lot of blood with the ovarian cyst surgery? That would certainly be a risk factor for anemia that they should have checked.Well-Rounded Mamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04129621631406155340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738062031052371885.post-41575908072701255442014-06-02T23:27:16.101-07:002014-06-02T23:27:16.101-07:00Cassandra, what was your ferritin level, just out ...Cassandra, what was your ferritin level, just out of curiosity?Well-Rounded Mamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04129621631406155340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738062031052371885.post-58287627228075532014-06-01T22:19:50.852-07:002014-06-01T22:19:50.852-07:00So I had a fun experience with my second pregnancy...So I had a fun experience with my second pregnancy. I had an ovarian cyst (long story, I got featured on My OB Said What!) that ended up getting removed at 30 weeks. The week after I came home from the hospital, I dropped 15lbs and was having numerous bowel movements a day, I also complained of being very easily short of breath, as in just standing for a few minutes would knock the wind out of me. Both my midwife and surgeon brushed it off, because ya know, I'm fat and even if I'm not eating enough to grow a baby and recover from major adominal surgery at the same time, it's not like I don't have plenty of nutrients stored up! I knew they were full of shit from reviewing all of the research you've posted here, but they both insisted it was fine and I was just exhausted so I dropped it. The shortness of breath never went away, and over the next 6 weeks, my health deteriorated. My blood pressure was up, my feet and hands were swelling, I was getting light headaches, and my vision was a bit blurred. Warning bells for the midwives, right? No protein in urine though, and I argued round and round about my BP because I knew they were using the wrong cuff. They sent me off for blood work and found out my ferritin level was almost low enough to risk me out of a homebirth. I took double the recommended dosage of Floradix and my symptoms disappeared. Had I been seeing a doctor, I'm fairly certain I would have been pressured into induction for pre-e, even without definitive proof. It was a very interesting experience for me though, to find out that you can develop nearly every symptom of pre-e just from having low iron, and I don't doubt there are similar expamples of being low in other nutrients causing the same problems.Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03576504078115706818noreply@blogger.com