Think you might be struggling with iron or need an iron infusion?
Low iron levels can cause excessive tiredness and fatigue. If you are concerned, your doctor can refer you for a blood test (pathology) to check your levels.
Our in-house Nurse Practitioner can do blood tests on the spot and can also perform iron infusions if your doctor gives you a prescription for it. And our pharmacy team can help you choose iron supplements that best suit you.
You can book a blood test in advance, or walk-in and get it done on the spot.
Book an iron infusion
The role of iron
Iron plays an important role in our bodies. It’s a key part of haemoglobin that is in every one of your red blood cells, and it carries oxygen around the body. Having enough iron gives us energy, muscle strength and keeps our brains working well.
If you are tired or fatigued a lot, struggle to have enough energy to do things, and feel like it’s hard to focus, you might have low iron levels.
Anyone can have low iron levels, but it is more common for women, people who have a restricted diet (such as not eating meat), people who give blood regularly and people with bleeding disorders.
In most cases, you can boost your iron levels by taking an iron supplement and eating foods that are rich in iron, such as:
Our pharmacy team can recommend iron supplements, as well as other vitamins and minerals.
What happens during an iron infusion?
Iron infusions are given intravenously – directly into the bloodstream through a needle. This is a quick way to boost your iron levels and is sometimes recommended for people who can’t get enough iron in other ways. This might include people who either can’t take iron supplements or for whom iron supplements aren’t helping, people who need an iron boost very quickly, or people with chronic kidney or heart problems.
Make an appointment and bring your iron infusion prescription on the day. You don’t need to do anything to prepare, just eat normally and drink plenty of water.
The procedure might take up to 2 or 3 hours.
The Nurse Practitioner will check your blood pressure, pulse, breathing and temperature, and will insert the needle and IV line into a vein in your hand or arm.
This line will transfer a mixture of iron and saline (a saltwater solution) into your vein from a drip bag. How much will depend on how much iron you need.
After the infusion is over, you’ll wait for another 30 minutes to make sure that you do not have an allergic reaction. In this time, the Nurse Practitioner will check your blood pressure, pulse, breathing and temperature again.
After you are given the all clear, you can go home and continue your day. You can drive yourself, take public transport, walk or whatever you normally choose to do.
Side effects
Intravenous (IV) iron infusions can cause side effects such as nausea or headache. But in rare cases it can cause an allergic reaction.
It’s very important that you tell the Nurse Practitioner straight away if you have any trouble breathing, swelling around your lips, mouth or throat, or pain, swelling or changes around the IV line.
Before an iron infusion it’s also important to tell your doctor or Nurse Practitioner if you:
or in store. We can also help with
