Iron-Deficiency Anemia - Treatment - Treatment

Your doctor may recommend that you take iron supplements, also called iron pills or oral iron, by mouth once or several times a day to increase the iron in your body. This is the most common treatment for iron deficiency. It generally takes three to six months to replenish your iron stores.

Iron supplements are sometimes recommended by your doctor during pregnancy. If your condition is caused by certain rare genetic conditions, such as a TMRPSS6 gene mutation, you may not respond to oral iron supplements.

Iron supplements are generally not recommended for people who do not have iron-deficiency anemia. This is because too much iron can damage your organs.

Do not stop taking your prescribed iron supplements without first talking to your doctor. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing side effects such as a bad metallic taste, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, or upset stomach. Your doctor may be able to recommend options such as taking your supplements with food, lowering the dose, trying a different type of iron supplement, or receiving intravenous (IV) iron.

If iron supplements alone are not able to replenish the levels of iron in your body, your doctor may recommend a procedure, including:

• Iron therapy, or intravenous (IV) iron. This is sometimes used to deliver iron through a blood vessel to increase iron levels in the blood. One benefit of IV iron is that it often takes only one or a few sessions to replenish the amount of iron in your body. People with severe iron-deficiency anemia or who have chronic conditions such as kidney disease or celiac disease may be more likely to receive IV iron. You may experience vomiting, headache, or other side effects right after the IV iron, but these usually go away within a day or two.
• Red blood cell transfusions. These may be used for people with severe iron-deficiency anemia to quickly increase the amount of red blood cells and iron in the blood. Your doctor may recommend this if you have serious complications of iron-deficiency anemia, such as chest pain.
• Surgery, upper endoscopy or colonoscopy, to stop bleeding.

To help you meet your daily recommended iron levels, your doctor may recommend that you:

• Adopt healthy lifestyle changes such as heart-healthy eating patterns.
• Increase your daily intake of iron-rich foods to help treat your iron-deficiency anemia. See Prevention strategies to learn about foods that are high in iron. It is important to know that increasing your intake of iron may not be enough to replace the iron your body normally stores but has used up.
• Increase your intake of vitamin C to help your body absorb iron.
• Avoid drinking black tea, which reduces iron absorption.

If you have chronic kidney disease and iron-deficiency anemia, your doctor may recommend erythropoiesis stimulating agents (esa). These medicines stimulate the bone marrow to make more red blood cells. ESAs are usually used with iron therapy or IV iron, or when iron therapy alone is not enough.

• Living With will discuss what your doctor may recommend, including lifelong lifestyle changes and medical care to prevent your condition from recurring, getting worse, or causing complications.
• Research for Your Health will discuss how we are using current research and advancing research to treat people with iron-deficiency anemia.
• Participate in NHLBI Clinical Trials will highlight our ongoing clinical studies that are investigating treatments for iron-deficiency anemia.