Why treating your iron deficiency matters.

So often patients come in because they’re feeling fatigued, irritable or having hormonal issues; and when I point out that they have iron deficiency they say, “Oh I have had it for years”, or “It’s been worse in the past”, and they feel it has very little to do with their current concerns.  

Treating your iron deficiency really matters! 

Low iron can contribute significantly to fatigue, insomnia, restless sleep, depression, anxiety, hair thinning, headaches, dizziness, brain fog, brittle nails, heavy menstrual bleeding, etc.

Even if your iron deficiency didn’t necessarily cause obvious symptoms for you in the past, it may be contributing to symptoms currently as you enter postpartum, or perimenopause, or other health contributors change.  

It’s not uncommon for menstruating people to experience iron deficiency. And it’s not uncommon to need supplementation longer-term if you have heavy cycles. If you’re diagnosed with deficiency, we need to make sure that your supplements are working, and that the levels are improving. Not every person will respond to every supplement equally. 

We also want to understand if you’re not responding to supplementation why that might be happening. Are there more significant digestive or absorption concerns?

I strongly recommend that everyone with a menstrual cycle gets their iron tested annually. A few heavy cycles can shift the iron levels quickly, and that can be hard to catch up from.  

And if you’ve been diagnosed with deficiency, make sure you do your 2-3 month post supplementation bloodwork to make sure it’s working! We don’t typically see quick changes, but we definitely want to see improvement!

In Health,

Dr. Janine