What You Need to Know about Low Iron & Menstrual Health

Don’t like reading? You can listen and watch the video podcast (15 min) on iron deficiency.

Have you ever considered that your fatigue, heavy periods, and brain fog could be due to low iron? Low iron levels aka iron deficiency can actual cause heavy periods- a little counterintuitive right?

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but here are some symptoms of low iron levels: sleep disturbances, brain fog, headache, burnout and lack of interest in life, hair loss, joint pain, legs cramps at night, shortness of breath, health palpitations, unexplained anxiety or depression, poor concentration, and if you’re charting your cycles- you might notice raised body temperatures or a lower waking body temperatures on your charts. There are less common symptoms including passing out, vision disturbances, rash/hives, tinnitus, nausea, loss of appetite, etc..

Iron is especially important if you are trying to conceive or pregnant because it has been shown to increase the risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, low birth weight, postpartum hemorrhage, and it affects your thyroid function, which can cause delayed conception. So if you’re pregnant you should have your iron checked prior to your 3rd trimester and if you are trying to get pregnant and having difficulties, consider checking your iron levels.

Labs that you can talk with your medical practitioner about to help you figure out if you have low iron: CBC panel for hemoglobin, ferritin (how your body is storing iron, often not part of a normal test in the US, so you might have to ask for this), serum iron (amount of iron circulating in your blood), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC), vitamin D, and vitamin B12.

Foods with iron that help maintain our levels: coconut oil, cast iron, oysters, clams, salmon, red meat, small fish, organ meats, cooking liver in a healthy fat. HOWEVER, depending upon your iron levels, eating food might not give you enough iron to replenish your levels- you may need additional supplementation or in extreme cases an iron IV. Speak with your doctor about this.

Why your iron could be low: low stomach acid, being a vegetarian or vegan, experiencing postpartum hemorrhage, chronic inflammation, infection, poor gut health, heavy periods, and/or eating the standard american diet.

Getting your iron levels checked are relatively easy. Don’t let low iron hold you back from living a vital life.

Let’s make hormonal health easy.