My FIRST Iron Infusion for Iron Deficiency Anemia. 

Did you see this post?

I'm anemic and I'm starting iron infusions.

You see, I'm iron deficient and I'm using myself as a guinea pig to see what it's like to get iron infusions.

I will be administering the magic VENOFER.  One vial will give me 100 milligrams of iron sucrose. 

For my first treatment as a test of tolerance I’ll inject less, 60 mg. Depending on a patient’s case I might start with a smaller dose to be as safe as possible. 

It goes into 100 mils of sodium chloride (saline) which is great because it’s neutral to the blood and won’t be irritating to the vein as it goes in. 

My experience during my first iron IV drip: 

I love the dark brown colour of the iron and how it mixes into the IV bag. It’s so dark and rich. 

My IV patients who come in for nutrient therapy know that sometimes they taste the nutrients, especially the B vitamins, as the infusion is happening. 

Funny, hey? You’re not eating a food, but yet the taste receptors are getting access to those molecules. Some people smell it too. But everyone will taste or smell the nutrients. 

I'm one of those people who do. With the iron what I tasted was a little bit like maple syrup or like maple bacon. 

And that's good. We like that. 🤣🤣

In terms of sensations, I didn’t feel anything. But that’s true for me when I give myself a nutrient IV as well… my arm feels fine. I don't have any discomfort. 

It took under 30 minutes. 

My body feels calm. Things went well. I felt good! 

At the end of the drip the taste when from maple bacon to a taste closer to blood, like if you were to have a small cut in your mouth. 

I did feel hungry after. So I treated myself to a buckwheat, coconut flour, chocolate chip muffin. YUM! 

Once the bag is empty the liquid will continue to move down the tube until the pressure of my body exceeds the pressure in the line and it will stop. 

I always let the body dictate how much of the IV it’s going to take in, and never stop it artificially. 

Ultimately I had no reactions of any kind. I feel great. I'm quite pleased with my first infusion. 

What’s next? 

In one week I’ll do another iron infusion at the full 100 mg dose and then another 2 more.

I'll do a total of 4 IV iron infusion treatments. 

Then after 4 weeks I’ll retest my ferritin and iron panel to see where my  levels are at. 

I will also be keeping track of how things are going symptomatically. I'm looking for: 

• less dizziness

• more stability when I stand up

• more stability when I'm turning, especially in salsa dancing

• better brain function

• word recall, not having to pause where I attempt to pull a word out of what seems like blank, thin, air. 

• More energy, of course

Iron Deficiency as a Root Cause? 

Iron deficiency is not a root cause. It is a symptom of something else. It could be due to: 

• Dietary insufficiency (vegans, vegetarians, carbatarians, junkfoodatarians). Non-heme iron that comes from plants just isn’t a solid source of iron. It’s absorbed poorly and we’d need anywhere from 6-10 x as much plant matter to equal heme iron that comes from animals. 

• Poor gut function. Sadly this can worsen as we age, but also in inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn’s, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, etc. All these situations decrease our ability to digest and absorb iron. 

• Heavy menstrual periods due to things like fibroids

• Internal bleeding, which can happen with heavy use of NSAIDS (drugs like ibuprofen). 

• External bleeding from wounds, blood letting, or blood donation. 

My personal iron conundrum: 

For whatever reason, my body is storing iron as ferritin. My levels have been rising with oral therapy. But my body is not carrying iron around in the blood (my iron saturation levels have been going down). I shared all my blood values leading me to consider iron IV infusions for myself here. 

Sometimes these things are meta problems wherein we don't have the nutrients that we require to have the benefit of the nutrients. 

Remember Martha? 

As an example, I worked with someone who, in her words, “My guts are destroyed.” 

She was exposed to a parasite (from drinking water in her own home… ewww), and after the anti-parasitic drugs her gut wasn't functioning well. 

She was hardly able to eat. She had diarrhea all the time. 

We started doing IV nutrient therapy, (not iron infusions). 

After 2 treatments she reported that she was eating solid meals again. Her appetite and energy were back. She was gaining weight she had lost (unintentionally). 

All because we were giving nutrients to her system, her gut was healing, which in turn helped her system heal even more. 

The GUT is the EPICENTRE of ILLNESS

That’s a core tenant of Naturopathic Medicine. We need the gut to be well to nutrify and heal the body. But I’m seeing more and more as I'm doing more and more IV therapies that we also need the body to nutrify and heal the gut. It’s a two way street. 

Back to Iron IV Therapy

I’m imagining that the iron I’m injecting will actually help my body do better with how iron cycles through different compartments in my body. 

Carrying more iron in the blood is the goal. That will help my system do better with iron. It will also help all my other cells get the benefit of the oxygen that is going to be delivered to them. 

See more iron infusion related posts.

I'm newly and proudly offering IV iron infusions to the drained, depleted, exhausted folks of Nanaimo and Central Vancouver Island, BC…

So that they can increase their energy, focus, stress tolerance, and immune function, etc… 

And keep up with life demands without their health suffering anymore. 

Reach out to find out if you're a candidate and learn more here: 

https://nanaimoivtherapy.com/iron-infusions