Wife is having serious problems while pregnant-any advice?

[aragorn]

My wife who is due to give birth in January has been having a very difficult time the last three months or so. The main problem is that her hemoglobin is extremely low (last measure was 103) and her heart rate also speeds up significantly at moments. These moments of the heart pumping fast can last several hours and she's been near of fainting many times. All this makes her very tired and stressed too.

Now she's been to the doctor and they keep telling her that she should increase the intake of iron. And that's what she has been doing right from the start, big amounts. She has tried many products and feels that this iron supplement called Maltofern helps the most. But the last weeks the hemoglobin has just kept dropping and we feel helpless as what to do.

Last week she contacted the 'specialists' at the hospital and after reading her files they announced that there's nothing wrong with her, that she's just having some sort of panic attacks-and it's all in her mind!!! As I'm writing this we've just been to another doctor with her. This time she was taken a bit more seriously. The doctor subscribed her medication to slow down the pulse; I guess it's some sort of Beta blocker. On the label it says 'Propral 10mg'. We really don't feel comfortable of her taking medication, but we are getting desperate.

Any suggestion by Psyche or others are welcomed!

 

[Laura]

Is she completely off gluten and dairy containing foods? Is she taking a good prenatal vitamin including folate? Do you use iron cookware? Eat plenty of saturated fats? Plenty of softly cooked veggies? Meats? Minimize simple carbs including too much fruit?

 

[brainwave]

If she isn't getting folate and folic acid the iron will not be absorbed as well.
a low dose magnesium supplement would help too.

brainwave

 

[Laura]

A good, broad spectrum, high potency mineral supplement, too!

 

[Nević Nenad]

May be the case that she does not absorb iron good (as brainwave said), maybe changing type of preparation that she takes (sorry, don't know how to say it more clearly in english). Does she eats meat?

 

[aragorn]

Thanks guys, appreciated.

My wife has been gluten free for ca a half year now. She's almost dairy free too, occasionally eating some cheese. We use an iron skillet for all the meat we prepare, eat often broccoli, carrot, cauliflower and other veggies. Recently we've quit eating rice too. Now we use qinoa and potatoes. In the morning she often eats the buckwheat blinis I prepare and occasionally she eats some gluten free bread(that's when she takes a few pieces of cheese). We eat meat every day, varying with: chicken, salmon, hamburger meat, pork, beef - always trying to find pure products. We use quite a lot of butter in our cooking.

We both take the multivitamin by Solgar (VM-75) every morning. It's quite high in vitamin B:s and has 400mcg of Folic acid. Here are the specs:

Each Solgar VM75 tablet provides:

Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid)250 mg
Calcium (as carbonate, amino acid chelate+)64mg
Vitamin E (150iu, as d-alpha tocopheryl succinate) 100mg
Thiamin (B1, as thiamine mononitrate)75mg
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine hydrochloride)75mg
Pantothenic Acid (as Calcium pantothenate)75mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)92mg
Within tablet75mg
Within tablet coating17mg
Niacin (as niacinamide)75mg
Inositol75mg
Choline (as bitartrate)31mg
Magnesium (as oxide, buffered amino acid chelate+)32mg
Natural Source Betacarotene (as prep.)4.5mg
Providing other carotenoids12ug
lodine (as powdered kelp)150ug
Zinc (as buffered amino acid chelate+, oxide+)10mg
Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex powder 25mg
Betaine Hydrochloride25mg
Rutin powder25mg
Boron (as sodium borate, citric acid) 0.5mg
Copper (as buffered amino acid chelate+)1000ug
Vitamin D (400iu, as ergocalciferol prep.)10ug
Vitamin B12 (as cobalamin prep.)75ug
Biotin (as prep.)75ug
Iron (as bisglycinate++)1.3mg
Selenium (as selenomethionine)25ug
Hesperidin5mg
Folic Acid (as prep.)400ug
Powdered Herbal Base4mg
(alfalfa, acerola extract, kelp, parsley, watercress and rose hips)
Chromium (as amino acid chelate+++)25ug

Tableted with these natural ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose, silicon dioxide, stearic acid, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, cellulose gum, titanium dioxide, vegetable glycerin. +Albion Process Amino Acid Chelate Patent No. 4,599,152 Chelazomes ++A unique form of chelated iron (iron bisglycinate) formulated for maximum absorption without the gastrointestinal irritation or constipating effects that often accompany iron supplementation. Albion Process Amino Acid Chelate. Patent No. 4,599,152 Chelazomes. +++Albion Process Amino Acid Chelate Patent No. 5,292,729 Chelazomes. Buffered Chelates Patent No. 4,167,564

She also takes daily 1 capsule of fish oil and vitamin D3 (25ug), some calcium and ca 150mg of magnesium citrate powder every other day. I've tried to suggest to her that she should take more magnesium, but she's afraid that this could be harmful to the baby. She follows this rule of thumb that "since one can't be sure how supplements effect the baby, it's better to take too little than too much." I really can't argue with that since I'm no expert.

Now,I've always thought that Folate and Folic acid is the same thing, but maybe it isn't? Maybe the 400mcg provided in the multivitamin is not enough or of bad quality, dunno.

 

[Gaby]

I've tried to suggest to her that she should take more magnesium, but she's afraid that this could be harmful to the baby. She follows this rule of thumb that "since one can't be sure how supplements effect the baby, it's better to take too little than too much."

Well, no one can argue with that, but Carolyn Dean summarizes the research of mg and pregnancy in "The Mg Miracle". She reports that the women who are deficient in mg take at least 300mg of mg per day (up to 600mg) and she encourages women to check with their doctors, but adding "know that mg has a long history of safety for both mother and child."

 

[aragorn]

My wife is going for some lab tests first thing tomorrow. If I've understood correctly they are taking an EKG, the 'big blood screen' and testing e.g. her vitamin B12 levels. And then she's going to do the glucose tolerance test. I'm worried about that one, because loading someone up with sugar, especially someone who is not feeling well, sounds like a very bad idea!

 

[Gaby]

My wife is going for some lab tests first thing tomorrow. If I've understood correctly they are taking an EKG, the 'big blood screen' and testing e.g. her vitamin B12 levels. And then she's going to do the glucose tolerance test. I'm worried about that one, because loading someone up with sugar, especially someone who is not feeling well, sounds like a very bad idea!

Yeah, it is a load of pure sugar... Remember that the normal lab tests for mg don't tell anything about body levels of mg.

 

[Hildegarda]

One more thing to try is chlorophyll. For some reason, it really works well in rebuilding blood supply during pregnancy. Up to 12 caps a day if hemoglobin is very low, together with iron and folate supplement. Hopefully your wife improves soon!

 

[aragorn]

So folate and folic acid is the same? And 400ug should be enough?

 

[Laura]

The glucose tolerance test I did when I was pregnant nearly killed me. I went into insulin shock.

 

[Hildegarda]

Aragorn, just to further comment on your concern about glucose intolerance test: you DON'T HAVE to do every single thing a doctor recommends. If you feel anxious about it, perhaps it is better to wait until you have other issues figured out. Or not do it at all. The GI diet that they recommend for managing gestational diabetes is very similar to the diet recommended here anyway: high on protein, low on simple carbs and spreading carb consumption throughout the day. Any other big risks of blood sugar imbalance in pregnancy, such as maternal pre-eclampsia or the baby being large, will be picked up on subsequent examination. And there's not much doctors can do to prevent it anyway, they can only fix it once it's already happening.

Truly, the doctors telling you to do stuff and actively managing, according to standard procedures, what should be a natural and individual process, is an unrecognized source of stress in pregnancy.

 

[Laura]

Interestingly, as is reported in the book "The Magnesium Miracle", pre-eclampsia is treated with IV magnesium.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book right now because everybody suffers a shortage of magnesium - we need at least 700 mg of it per day - and a pregnant woman is undoubtedly using a lot more during pregnancy.

 

[Gaby]

Folate is the naturally occurring form. For supplementation purposes, folic acid will do. The minimal dose is 400ug, this is the dose suggested to women who wish to become pregnant. When there is folate deficiency, 1 milligrams three times a day is suggested.

I checked an obstetrics textbook, folic acid requirements increase from 50 µg/day in the nonpregnant state to 800–1000 µg/day in pregnancy.

The results are abnormal for all women who take that glucose test, they all have high levels of circulating sugar after the test. But those who are among the specially high levels are considered positive. Can't they do something more normal instead of giving a load of unhealthy sugar?