# Spatone vs Ferrous Sulphate tablets



## helenie

Hiya,

I'm 31 weeks, and mildly anaemic so my doctor has prescribed iron sulphate 200mg 3 times a day. 

I'm not surprised to find out that I'm a bit iron deficient - I'm mostly veggie, and lately I've been quite sluggish and energyless, had trouble sleeping, and have had a mouth ulcer, which all fits in with that.

Before I had the Hb test, I had been trying a bit to make sure I got enough iron by eating spinach, and having the odd spatone sachet every now and again (not every day, not even every other day, just sometimes.)

I've read on the boards here that spatone is more easily absorbed than the tablets, and doesn't tend have the same side effects of getting constipated, so now that I'm diagnosed with low iron, I was considering sticking with spatone, but taking it e.g. 2 sachets every day, as suggested (on Spatone's FAQ) for 2nd and 3rd trimesters.

I was wondering whether the two methods would give roughly the same amount of iron, so I checked the amounts of iron on the package, and got the following figures:

One 200 mg tablet of iron sulphate contains 65 mg of actual iron. 
So Three x 200 mg tablet of iron sulphate contains 195 mg of actual iron.

One sachet of spatone contains 5 mg of iron. 
So Two sachets of spatone contain 10 mg of iron.

Looks like there's a lot more iron in the tablet method - twenty times more in fact.

So is it better to stick with the tablets? Or does the improved absorbtion of the spatone mean that its enough to take the spatone?

Thanks,
Helen


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## mazv

Hi Helen,

Generally speaking iron tablets have a relatively poor absorption so it's hard to say exactly how much you would get from a dose, but 3 tablets a day will give more iron than Spatone. Just not sure how much more. It is fair to say that Spatone is a lot less constipating so might be easier to take. Only way to know for sure if it's working is to go for repeat bloods and check if iron levels are coming back up (or clincically you should start to feel less tired etc..)

I'd be inclined to take the tablets for a few weeks to get levels back up and then maybe switch to Spatone for prophylaxsis to keep your levels up.

Hope you feel better soon
Maz x


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## helenie

Hiya Maz, thanks for the advice. OK, I'll take the tablets (that reminds me, better have one now), until I'm back to normal and then go back to spatone, thanks, Helen


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