<s>[INST] Hello Dr. Christensen, I am anemic and have very low iron in my blood. The doctor put me on a slow release iron supplement which I have been taking for the past three days. I ve had terrible stomach pain in the top portion of my stomach underneith the top of my liver , it s just below the right rib cage near the center of my chest , it s dull and ache and it hurts when I go to sleep and wakes me up at night. I felt neauseus a few times but never throw up. I know that I do not tolerate iron well and the pain I m having is just like when I take an antibiotic . I m allergic to pennicillin so I take non pennicillin antiobiotics when I need to but haven t been on them in months. I also have a lot of burping. I m planning on seeing my doctor but wasn t sure if it would just pass? [/INST] Hi, Thank you for posting your question here, I will try to answer it as best I can. Iron supplements can cause diarrhea/constipation, abdominal discomfort and other gastrointestinal side effects, as such it is quite obvious that what you're feeling is because of the supplements. Since you need the iron for your blood it can't be avoided, what you can do is talk to your doctor and ask if you increased your iron intake by eating more red meat/green vegetables is it enough so that you can avoid taking the pills. He might say no, if your iron levels are extremely low. I hope this answered your question. </s>