Check Your Symptoms

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Select the symptoms you feel
Is iron deficiency affecting the way you feel? Select all the symptoms relevant to you.
Select all that apply.

Mental Fatigue

Everyone gets tired from time to time. If you have permanent brain fog, however, which doesn’t clear after a good night’s sleep, and you’re finding it hard to manage your mood, it could mean that you’re iron deficient. 1

Cravings

Regularly wanting to eat unusual things with no nutritional value such as clay, ash, soil or paper is a sign of being low in iron and you should speak to a doctor.2,3

Chewing ice

Craving and chewing ice (pagophagia) is commonly associated with iron deficiency. People with pagophagia can eat large quantities of ice every day. This can damage the teeth and gums, so it’s important to seek treatment. 4,5

Restless legs

There’s a strong correlation between iron and the nervous system, relating to conditions such as restless legs syndrome. This makes you feel the need to ‘shake out’ your legs (or arms) to relieve throbbing, aching, itching, burning or cramping feelings. It can often happen at night and so affect your sleep.4,6

Cold Intolerance

Iron plays an important role in supporting your body’s ability to regulate its own temperature. Being low in iron can lead to poor circulation, particularly in your hands and feet, which results in cold intolerance.7

Now let’s move on to the symptoms you can see

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Step 2 of 3
Select the symptoms you see
Is your body showing you that you’re low in iron?
Select all that apply.

Hair loss

You need iron for a healthy head of hair. Losing hair in clumps or noticing more falling out than usual when you’re washing or combing your hair could be an indication of iron deficiency. 4,8

Brittle or Spoon-Shaped Nails

Nails with a dip in the middle, like a spoon, are a sign of iron deficiency anaemia. If your nails are brittle or you notice other changes in colour or shape, increasing your iron levels could help.4,9

Paleness

Looking very pale is a sign of iron deficiency and you may notice this in your face, in your nails, inside your mouth, or in the lining of your eyes. A handy test is to pull your lower eyelid down: if it’s pale peach or yellow in colour, this may indicate iron deficiency anaemia. 10

Easy Bruising

Bruising is caused by damage to the blood vessels beneath the skin by a knock or other injury. Do you bruise easily? This has long been associated with iron deficiency. 11

Cracks & Ulcers in your Mouth

You can get mouth ulcers for many reasons, including stress, feeling run-down, and being low in iron. 12

Now let’s move onto symptoms that slow you down.

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Step 3 of 3
Select the symptoms slowing you down
Do you feel constantly worn out, with a series of additional, seemingly unrelated, symptoms?
Select all that apply.

Shortness of breath

Iron is essential for the movement of oxygen around your body. If you get out of breath walking up stairs and can’t exercise as much as you’d like, you may be iron deficient. 13

Susceptibility to Infections

You need iron for a healthy immune system. If you’re prone to frequent coughs, colds and other infections, you could benefit from boosting your iron levels. 14

Headaches

If you’re getting worse headaches than usual and they’re becoming more frequent, speak to your doctor and ask to have your iron levels checked.1,15

Loss of Hearing

Is your hearing getting worse? It’s important to see your doctor, as this could be associated with iron deficiency anaemia, among other reasons. 16

Loss of Energy

Feeling tired all the time and not having the energy to do simple day-to-day tasks is referred to as fatigue. It’s different to the temporary exhaustion you feel from overdoing it. Unexplained and persistent fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of iron deficiency.1,4,17

Irritability

Constantly struggling against physical and mental exhaustion and mood swings from low iron levels feels frustrating and can make you more irritable than usual. 1,18

Memory loss

Do you forget where you just put something or ask the same question more than once because you forgot the answer? Talk with your doctor about what may be causing this short-term memory loss – it may be due to iron deficiency. 12

Loss of libido

Being low in iron can lead to erectile dysfunction or a lack of interest in sex. It’s worth talking to a healthcare professional if you’re experiencing an unexplained loss of libido.4

Find out how we can help

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Well done!

What’s next?

Recognising your symptoms is an important step in checking if you may have iron deficiency.

If you chose one or more symptoms that could relate to you being low in iron, don’t worry, there’s plenty you can do to relieve iron deficiency and its impacts on your life.

To get the most out of the appointment with your Doctor, submit your email to receive the results of your symptom selection and our free Patient Discussion guide.

If you didn’t choose any symptoms but you’re still concerned that you, or someone you know, may be iron deficient, please speak to your doctor to request a dedicated blood test.

References
  1. Fernando B, et al. A guide to diagnosis of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in digestive diseases. World J Gastroenterol. 2009 Oct 7; 15(37): 4638-4643.
  2. Lacey EP. Broadening the perspective of pica: literature review. Public Health Rep. 1990;105(1):29-35.
  3. Bryant B, Yau Y, Arceo S, Hopkins J, Leitman S. Ascertainment of Iron Deficiency and Depletion in Blood Donors through Screening Questions for Pica and Restless Legs Syndrome. Transfusion. 2013;53(8):1673-1644
  4. Auerbach M, Adamson JW. How we diagnose and treat iron deficiency anemia. Am J Hematol. 2016;91(1):31-38.
  5. Barton JC, et al. BMC Blood Disord. 2010;10:9.
  6. Silber MH, et al. Willis-Ekbom Disease Foundation Revised Consensus Statement on the Management of Restless Legs Syndrome. Mayo Clin Proc. 2013;88(9): 977- 986.
  7. Brigham D, Beard J. Iron and thermoregulation: a review. Crit RevFood Sci Nutr. 1996;36(1040-8398):747-763.
  8. Trost LB, et al. The diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency and its potential relationship to hair loss.J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006;54(5):824-44.
  9. Cashman MW, Sloan SB. Nutrition and nail disease. Clin Dermatol. 2010;28(4):420-5.
  10. Stoltzfus R, Edward-Raj A. J Nutr.
    1999;129(May):1675-1681.
  11. Barton J, et al. BMC Blood Disorders 2010;10(1):9 2-11. 6
  12. Scully C. ABC of oral health: Mouth ulcers and other causes of orofacial soreness and pain. Bmj. 2000;321(7254):162-165
  13. Jankowska E, et al. Iron deficiency: an ominous sign in patients with systolic chronic heart failure. Eur Heart J. 2010;31(15):1872-80.
  14. Beard JL. Iron biology in immune function, muscle metabolism and neuronal functioning. J Nutr. 2001:568-580.
  15. Pavord S, et al. BJH 2020; 188:819-30
  16. Schieffer KM, et al. Association of Iron Deficiency Anemia With Hearing Loss in US Adults. JAMA Otolaryngol Neck Surg. 2017;(800).
  17. Favrat B., et al. (2014). Evaluation of a single dose of ferric carboxymaltose in fatigued, iron-deficient women--PREFER a randomized,placebo-controlled study. PLoS One 9(4): e94217. eCollection 2014.
  18. Patterson A, et al. Iron deficiency, general health and fatigue: Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Qual Life Res. 2000;9:491-497.
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RU-FCM-2300568 декабрь 2023