IV Iron Therapy

Symptoms of Iron Deficiency Anemia

• Weakness
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Decreased exercise tolerance or capacity
• Mental status changes, including: irritability, short temperament, anxiety, or depression
• Restless leg syndrome
• Pica (compulsion to eat non-food item))Pagophagia (compulsion to eat ice)

What are the Causes of Iron Deficiency?

There are several different root causes which can result in decreased total body iron absorption or iron deficiency. These can be from either dietary deficiency, impaired gastrointestinal absorption, pregnancy, , and acute or chronic blood loss. Most common sign of iron deficiency in females results in cramps during periods. Rather than simply treating iron deficiency with replacement, a consultation with a medical provider is appropriate to find the root cause.

Dietary Deficiency

In developed or resource-rich countries, dietary iron deficiency is rare due to the availability of iron in many meats and vegetables, as well as the practices of supplementing grains with iron. Infants and young children can develop dietary iron deficiency if they are exclusively fed with cow’s milk, breast milk, or formula which is not supplemented with iron.

Impaired Gastrointestinal Absorption

Disruptions due to various physiological changes can lead to impaired absorption, such as inflammation or surgical changes. Some examples can include inflammatory bowel disease, gastric bypass surgery, celiac disease, or autoimmune diseases.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy results in increased iron requirements and necessity for both the mother and the developing baby due to the increased maternal red blood cell mass, and for fetal and placental development. Iron deficiency is common in pregnancy, especially in those who are borderline iron deficient to begin with. 

Acute or Chronic Blood Loss

Blood loss (usually occult blood loss, which happens too slowly to notice) is the most common form of iron deficiency in adults. The most common cause of blood loss is from the endometrium in menstruating women (those who have heavy flow or heavy periods have increased risk of bleeding and iron deficiency), and can occur in 20-66% of women. Other causes of bleeding can be from the gastrointestinal tract (any individual >50 years old who has unexplained iron deficiency anemia should have a workup for colorectal cancer including a colonoscopy), acute blood loss from traumatic injuries, and others.

What is the Role of Diet in Prevention of Iron Deficiency Anemia?

A normal, healthy, balanced diet has sufficient iron to meet human metabolic requirements. While those who are strictly vegetarian or vegan consume diets which are inherently lower in iron content, their diet usually includes grains and liver which have been fortified with iron and this mitigates the risk of deficiency. In individuals with documented iron deficiency, dietary changes alone are usually not sufficient to correct the underlying deficit.

Treatment of Iron Deficiency Anemia

Several trials have shown that iron repletion in patients is beneficial to symptomatic improvement.

Those who are deficient in iron showed that treatment with iron replacement can improve athletic performance, fingernail strength and decreased fragility, and improve sleep profiles, even in runners and higher performance athletes.

A trial which looked at treating 90 non-anemic, postmenopausal women who had fatigue and documented iron deficiency (serum ferritin <50 ng/mL, hemoglobin >12 g/dL) showed that the group who was treated for iron deficiency with IV Iron replacement (treated with a cumulative dose of 800mg of IV iron for 2 weeks) experienced improved results compared to placebo when assessed 6 weeks after the treatments. The treatment group (those that received the IV iron treatment) showed improvements in parameters for fatigue (these improvements were more pronounced if the starting ferritin was lower than <15ng/mL showing they had decreased total body iron stores). These benefits persisted for 12 weeks after treatment. On examination of labs after treatment, the group who was treated with IV iron had an unexpected increased ferritin of ~100ng/mL.

IV Iron Therapy for Iron Deficiency Treatment

Conversion to IV Iron therapy has been documented to be safe and appropriate for a wide range of patients, especially: those who have inflammatory bowel disease, history of gastric bypass or intestinal resection or intestinal malabsorption, those who have intolerable GI side effects from oral iron, patients whose rate of blood loss is greater than the supply of iron provided by oral therapy, those who have surgery within 2 weeks and correction is needed more promptly, those who are in the second or third trimester of pregnancy with hemoglobin levels less than 10.5g, and more.

Which Form of IV Iron Should I Receive?

At Revival Hydration IVs, we have a combination of IVs as our medication of choice for our IV iron infusions. This has been safe and very well-tolerated. 

How Much IV Iron Do I Need for Treatment?

For most of our clients, the math breaks down to needing 3-5 treatments of 200mg IV Iron (600-1000mg of total IV Iron dosing) over the course of a few months, but always consult with your primary care physician prior.

Revival Hydration IVs offers the most convenient way to schedule IV iron infusions therapy with their team of medical professionals.

Need an IV Iron Infusion in Sunnyvale, San Jose, Los Gatos, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Mountain View? Revival Hydration IVs can help by offering individualized care to get you the help you need.

When will I feel the benefits of IV Iron treatment?

Most commonly, the client will note an improved sense of well-being within the first few days of treatment. This can be a reduction of levels of fatigue and increased activity tolerance. If the client has restless leg syndrome (RLS) in addition to iron deficiency, these symptoms of RLS will nearly completely subside in 24-72 hours. 

How do I schedule an appointment for an IV Iron Infusion?

Easy! All you need to do is schedule directly through our website here. Click on book now. Complete medical intake and consent form. Our nurse practitioner will call, consult, and evaluate client accordingly. Then, our nurse will come to you, or come to our office in Sunnyvale by appointment only. Our IV therapy solutions for Iron IVs are conveniently offered in Sunnyvale, San Jose, Los Gatos, San Francisco, Palo Alto,  Mountain View, and Walnut Creek.