Weakness. Pale skin. Chest pain, fast heartbeat or shortness of breath. Headache, dizziness or lightheadedness.
Mild: Hemoglobin 10.0 g/dL to lower limit of normal. 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.
Red blood cells use haemoglobin to carry oxygen around your body. If you have anaemia, the tissues and organs in your body might not get enough oxygen. Anaemia symptoms can leave you feeling tired, weak and short of breath.
Severe anemia may cause painful lower leg cramps during exercise, shortness of breath, and chest pain, especially if people already have impaired blood circulation in the legs or certain types of lung or heart disease. Some symptoms may also give clues to the cause of the anemia.
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.
As the anemia gets worse, symptoms may include: Brittle nails. Blue color to the whites of the eye. Desire to eat ice or other non-food things (pica)
Fatigue. Tiring easily, and waking up tired even after a good night's sleep, are common and potentially serious symptoms of anemia. This is due to reduced and compromised red blood cells that naturally cannot carry the required levels of oxygen to the organs – which, in turn, cannot function efficiently.
People who are anemic most often experience fatigue. While it's normal to feel tired after a long day at work or a heavy exercise session, when you're anemic, you feel weary after shorter and shorter periods of exertion as your body's cells become starved for oxygen.
On the basis of RBC transfusion guidelines, severe anemia was defined as a hemoglobin level less than 7 g/dL (22). We defined admission hemoglobin as the lowest hemoglobin level within 72 hours before hospital entry or the most recent hemoglobin level within 30 days before an elective admission.
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.
You should call 911 or go to the emergency room if you are having severe symptoms or any chest pain, shortness of breath, or loss of consciousness. Left untreated, anemia can cause many health problems, such as: Severe fatigue. Severe anemia can make you so tired that you can't complete everyday tasks.
Some foods can make it harder for your body to absorb iron. These include coffee, tea, milk, egg whites, fiber, and soy protein. Try to avoid these foods if you have iron deficiency anemia.
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.
What to do if you have anemia. If your red blood cell count is low, you should: Save your energy. Rest when you are tired.
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 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.
When your body isn't getting enough oxygenation due to a lack of iron, you may find it hard to maintain focus and carry out your daily tasks. In addition, you may experience mood swings and irritability. Over time, in some cases, it may cause anxiety and depression.
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.
Third stage: Iron-deficiency anemia develops because there isn't enough iron to make hemoglobin for red blood cells. In this stage, the hemoglobin concentration will drop below the normal range. This is when you may begin noticing iron-deficiency anemia symptoms.
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.
Depending on the cause of anemia, iron levels could fall to dangerously low levels. This could happen if you were losing blood from gastrointestinal bleeding, for instance. You might even feel dizzy or pass out.
Iron supplementation: In addition to taking daily iron supplements, you may need IV treatment, if you have very low iron levels. Receiving a transfusion of red blood cells via IV can increase iron in the blood and improve your anemia right away, although it is only a short-term solution.