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.
Severe: Hemoglobin 6.5 to 7.9 g/dL[1] Life-threatening: Hemoglobin less than 6.5 g/dL.
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.
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.
Aplastic anemia.
This rare, life-threatening anemia occurs when the body doesn't make enough new blood cells. Causes of aplastic anemia include infections, certain medicines, autoimmune diseases and being in contact with toxic chemicals.
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.
If anemia was suspected on the basis of a skin puncture sample, anemia should be confirmed with a repeat screen with blood obtained by venipuncture. For nonsmoking women, the committee recommends the following cutoff values: hemoglobin, <12.0 g/dl; hematocrit, <36 percent; or serum ferritin concentration, <12 µg/liter.
Undiagnosed or untreated iron-deficiency anemia may cause serious complications such as fatigue, headaches, restless legs syndrome, heart problems, pregnancy complications, and developmental delays in children. Iron-deficiency anemia can also make other chronic conditions worse or cause their treatments to work poorly.
Mild iron deficiency anemia usually doesn't cause complications. However, left untreated, iron deficiency anemia can become severe and lead to health problems, including the following: Heart problems. Iron deficiency anemia may lead to a rapid or irregular heartbeat.
If iron deficiency anaemia is left untreated, it can make you more susceptible to illness and infection, as a lack of iron affects the body's natural defence system (the immune system).
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.
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.
With treatment, most people recover from iron-deficiency anemia in 2 to 3 months. You may need to take iron supplements for several months longer, though, to build up your reserves of iron.
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.
Low red blood cells – hemoglobin level less than 120 g/L (grams per litre). Low iron level – ferritin under 30 μg/L (micrograms per litre), or under 200 μg/L with iron saturation less than 20%.
During stage 5, iron deficiency affects tissues, resulting in symptoms and signs. Diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia prompts consideration of its cause, usually bleeding. Patients with obvious blood loss (eg, women with menorrhagia) may require no further testing.
In patients with chronic inflammation, iron deficiency anemia is likely when the ferritin level is less than 50 ng per mL (112.35 pmol per L). Ferritin values greater than or equal to 100 ng per mL (224.70 pmol per L) generally exclude iron deficiency anemia.
Your body can't absorb iron.
Conditions like celiac disease,ulcerative colitis, or Crohn's disease can make it harder for your intestines to absorb iron. Surgery such as gastric bypass that removes part of your intestines, and medicines used to lower stomach acid can also affect your body's ability to absorb iron.
Are there any side effects from the iron infusion? Side-effects and severe reactions are very rare. However, you should be aware of what they are. The most common side-effects are: • headache • dizziness • flushing • feeling sick (nausea) • reactions where the needle is inserted (site of the infusion).
An iron infusion may be given if a person's blood counts are so low that taking iron supplements or increasing their daily intake of iron-containing foods would be ineffective or too slow in increasing their iron levels.