Low Iron

So I went to donate blood this week, and was turned down for low iron. I descended upon the grocery store to get foods high in iron, but by the labels I did not get enough. So I proceeded to the supplement section, and it was right at the pharmacy counter. The pharmacist insisted on being helpful, even though I only planned on getting one of the Centrum or 1-a-Day multivitamins. I left with two bottles (bogo) of pre-natal vitamins. Huh, ok, I guess*.

I just looked up the symptoms of low iron...and well now many things that I thought were a result of being crazy busy with school and slightly wacky in the head are clearly both real and serious. Glad I got the vitamins.

• Fatigue
• Listlessness, weakness, decreased work productivity
• Impaired learning and cognitive function
• Poor memory
• Decreased attention span and increased distractibility
• Impaired reactivity and coordination
• Irritability
• Dizziness
• Difficulty swallowing (because low iron may cause a thin membrane to grow across the esophagus)
• Night time leg cramps
• Skin itching
• Sore tongue
• Heart palpitations on exertion
• Shortness of breath
• Cold extremities, with decreased resistance to cold and poor regulation of body temperature
• Tendency to recurrent infections
• Numbness & tingling
• Vague gastrointestinal symptoms: belching, gas, nausea

*I'm not actually this apathetic about my health, his reasoning made sense.