The body’s iron stores can decline gradually over weeks or months, often without noticeable symptoms. Fatigue, light-headedness, and other signs of anaemia may only become apparent once work performance suffers, sleep patterns are disrupted, or memory is affected. At Chequers Health, we help individuals recognise these early, subtle warning signs so they can begin treatment before their risk of complications increases.

The first symptoms may be rather quiet and often can be ignored:

• Constant exhaustion even with a good rest
• Dyspnea on walking fast
• Paleness especially on the cheeks or in the eyelids
• Easy-to-chip nails or shedding hair more than average
• Cold hands and feet

Physical indicators:

• Occasional light-headedness or sick spells
• Rapid or jerking pulse
• The need to move the legs when at rest, especially during the night
• Recurrent headaches that did not have a cause

Cognitive indicators:

• Difficulty concentrating in conversation or other tasks
• Normal failures of mind, e.g. forgetting of appointments
• Increased work or academic inefficiency
• The general feeling of mental cloudiness

This can only be established by complete blood count and ferritin level, but there are patterns you can watch for that may alert you to a problem early.:  

• Do you get out of breath going up flight of steps?  
• Can you still feel tired even after getting a normal night’s sleep?
• Have you seen a clearly distinct pallor or darkening of the circles under the eyes?  
• Are there headaches and light-headed spells that happen over two times each week?  

Answering yes to these patterns is something that warrants a discussion with your general practitioner.

Immediately, you should contact your doctor in case you felt this:

• Feeling tired or very weak  
• Chest pain or palpitations reported
• Menorrhagia that causes soaking within hours
• The loss of body mass without an obvious cause  
• Any symptom of gastrointestinal haemorrhage, e.g. melena or hematemesis 

Out of this section, move to:  

• Iron deficiency Anaemia: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment Modalities  
• So How Is Anaemia Diagnosed? Blood studies and suggestive markers  
•  Anaemia Nutrition Guide: Foods That Contain Iron and Weekly Menu