Fatigue — feeling too tired to manage your activities — is the most noticeable anemia symptom. Other symptoms may include: Shortness of breath (dyspnea): This is the feeling you can't catch your breath or take a deep breath. Dizziness: This is feeling lightheaded or unsteady on your feet.
Without enough iron, your body can't produce enough of a substance in red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen (hemoglobin). As a result, iron deficiency anemia may leave you tired and short of breath. You can usually correct iron deficiency anemia with iron supplementation.
Call Your Doctor About Anemia If:
Persistent fatigue, breathlessness, rapid heart rate, pale skin, or any other symptoms of anemia; seek emergency care for any trouble breathing or change in your heart beat. Poor diet or inadequate dietary intake of vitamins and minerals. Very heavy menstrual periods.
But as the anemia gets worse, you may develop a blue color to the whites of your eyes, light-headedness when you go to stand up and you may look pale or experience shortness of breath. To find out if you've got iron-deficiency anemia. See your doctor; your doctor will start with a Complete Blood Count or CBC test.
Cramping and Tingling in Limbs
Oxygen deprivation causes them to work overtime and cause fatigue, weakness, severe cramps, and restless leg syndrome (RLS), which may contribute to insomnia. Anemic patients may feel a crawling or itchy sensation in the feet and legs, which can worsen at night.
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.
This is by far the most common anemia symptom. You may feel very tired or weak and unable to summon the energy for most daily activities. Dizziness. Dizziness is most likely to occur when you stand up from a sitting or resting position.
Treatment for iron-deficiency anemia will depend on its cause and severity. Treatments may include dietary changes and supplements, medicines, and surgery. Severe iron-deficiency anemia may require a blood transfusion, iron injections, or intravenous (IV) iron therapy. Treatment may need to be done in a hospital.
If you're feeling tired or weak, having trouble sleeping and are unable to tolerate even moderate exercise, anemia could be the culprit. Anemia develops when there aren't enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen through your body.
If it's more severe, it could cause lightheadedness, headache, chest pain, shortness of breath, or loss of consciousness. Go to the emergency room if you are experiencing lightheadedness, chest pain, shortness of breath, or lose consciousness.
During a hemolytic crisis, the body cannot make enough red blood cells to replace those that are destroyed. This causes acute and often severe anemia. The part of red blood cells that carries oxygen (hemoglobin) is released into the bloodstream.
Moderate: Hemoglobin 8.0 to 10.0 g/dL. Severe: Hemoglobin 6.5 to 7.9 g/dL[1] Life-threatening: Hemoglobin less than 6.5 g/dL.
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.
The type of headache a person experiences as a result of iron-deficiency anemia can vary. Some people will experience a dull aching sensation throughout their head. They may also feel lightheaded or dizzy. A migraine episode will feel different.
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.
If left untreated, iron-deficiency anemia can cause serious health problems. Having too little oxygen in the body can damage organs. With anemia, the heart must work harder to make up for the lack of red blood cells or hemoglobin. This extra work can harm the heart.
If you think you may have severe anemia, it is essential that you call your physician, go to the emergency room for evaluation, or call 911 to get help. One treatment that may help those with severe anemia could be hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).
Stage 3 – Iron Deficiency Anemia – Hemoglobin begin to drop in the final stage which, depending on other blood work, may formally be defined as IDA. At this stage your red blood cells are fewer in number, smaller and contain less hemoglobin.
A sudden lack of energy and chronic fatigue are warning signs that you might be lacking enough iron. In order for all of the cells in your body to function efficiently, oxygen needs to be able to travel freely around the body.
Anemia is often one of the first signs of cancer, especially colon cancer or blood-related cancer such as leukemia or lymphoma.
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.
You may also find that low iron causes weight gain. There are a couple of reasons for this; firstly, your energy levels are low and so your exercise levels reduce; secondly, iron is essential for thyroid function, and an underactive thyroid will lead to weight gain.