It is not uncommon for an iron deficiency to present alongside uncomfortable gut symptoms like gas and bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
Anaemia has significant impact on the quality of life of affected patients. Chronic fatigue, a frequent IBD symptom itself, is commonly caused by anaemia and may debilitate patients as much as abdominal pain or diarrhoea.
If you show up at the doctor's office looking pale, especially around the eyes, and complaining of constant chills and exhaustion, your doctor is likely to test for iron deficiency. Other symptoms include bruising, dry skin and a bloated feeling.
With low iron, your body cannot manufacture enough hemoglobin in red blood cells to allow them to transport oxygen. It causes fatigue and shortness of breath. The connection between low iron, body weight, and hemoglobin is apparent when low energy makes exercising and burning calories difficult, causing weight gain.
Patients who receive iron treatment gain weight, if they do not make diet or have a metabolic disease. So, iron therapy increases serum ferritin levels accompanying with body weight.
If you suspect you might have an anemic disorder, check yourself for the following symptoms and call your doctor for further advice. A sudden lack of energy and chronic fatigue are warning signs that you might be lacking enough iron.
If you have anemia, your body does not get enough oxygen-rich blood. The lack of oxygen can make you feel tired or weak. You may also have shortness of breath, dizziness, headaches, or an irregular heartbeat.
A low level of iron in the body makes the blood appear less red and our skin looks pale. Pale skin or pale colouring inside the lower eyelid also indicate iron deficiency anaemia. In this condition, the person's face, gums, lips, lower eyelids and nails will appear colourless.
Foods to avoid
milk and some dairy products. foods that contain tannins, such as grapes, corn, and sorghum. foods that contain phytates or phytic acid, such as brown rice and whole-grain wheat products. foods that contain oxalic acid, such as peanuts, parsley, and chocolate.
Severe iron deficiency anaemia may increase your risk of developing complications that affect the heart or lungs, such as an abnormally fast heartbeat (tachycardia) or heart failure, where your heart is unable to pump enough blood around your body at the right pressure.
As a result of the decreased blood oxygen level, there is a compensatory decrease in intestinal blood flow, which may cause motility disorder, malabsorption, nausea, weight loss, and abdominal pain.
Chest Pains and Palpitations
When there's a low level of oxygen in the blood, the heart works extra hard to compensate. This puts a lot of pressure on the heart, which can cause it to beat faster, irregularly, and experience pain. Untreated anemia can exacerbate underlying cardiovascular issues.
Left untreated, however, iron-deficiency anemia can make you feel tired and weak. You may notice pale skin and cold hands and feet. Iron-deficiency anemia can also cause you to feel dizzy or lightheaded. Occasionally, it can cause chest pain, a fast heartbeat and shortness of breath.
One of the best ways to manage anemia-related fatigue is to try and get sufficient sleep. However, you will want to avoid sleeping too much because that will add to fatigue. Instead, aim to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Naps are fine but limit yourself to one short 20- to 30-minute nap a day.
Eye symptoms of low iron can include a pale coloring of the inside of the lower eyelids. In moderate or severe cases of iron deficiency anemia, the inside layer of the lower eyelid is very pale pink or yellow instead of red. Rather than low iron, one common cause of blurry vision is dry eye.
Your body needs iron to make hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein that gives the red color to blood. It carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Anemia has three main causes: blood loss, lack of red blood cell production, and high rates of red blood cell destruction.
Severe: Hemoglobin 6.5 to 7.9 g/dL[1] Life-threatening: Hemoglobin less than 6.5 g/dL.
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is associated with decreased appetite. The ghrelin hormone is one of the major regulators of appetite.
Low iron means low energy, potentially leading to burning fewer calories and therefore forcing you to continue to lower your calorie intake to lose weight. That would be the primary way low iron effects fat/weight loss. Keep this in mind: take in fewer calories than you burn and you will always lose weight.
One way iron deficiency anaemia can impact your weight is through thyroid function and metabolism [10]. Your thyroid hormone and metabolism are responsible for helping your body burn calories, so naturally, if they are underactive, this can lead to weight gain.