Feeling tired when you wake up? You may be low on iron

Do you often find you feel lethargic or tired even after a good nights sleep? If you find it hard to shake off the tiredness, even after a few hours you may find you have low iron. Feeling tired as a result of a iron deficiency is more common in women of child bearing age. Often our diets lack those foods that give the iron our body needs to function.

Why do we need iron in our diets?

Iron is essential to help our body transport oxygen around our body. Red blood cells contain haemoglobin which contain two thirds of the iron in our body and when working normally gives our organs and muscles the oxygen they need to function. If your body lacks iron your red blood cells won’t work as efficiently and there will be less oxygen transported which can lead to a number of side effects. These side effects can often range from subtle to severe. Here’s what you may expect to see if you’re low on iron:

• Fatigue- the most comment symptom of low iron is feeling tired on a regular basis, no matter how much sleep you get.

• Pale skin- if you’re low on iron this may be due to lower levels of haemoglobin being produced which gives your blood its redness. Without as many red blood cells to give it its rosy colour, your skin will appear more pale.

• Headaches and dizziness – If you’re low on iron, your body is not getting as much oxygen as it’s needs which means you may feel dizzy especially if you get up quickly.

• Restless legs syndrome- you may find you’re kept awake at night because your legs feel irritable and restless. This is often because lower iron levels mean your levels of dopamine drop which can limit the muscle control in your legs.

• Quickened heartbeat or heart palpitations- if your body isn’t producing enough iron, then your heat has to work harder to produce oxygen to circulate around your body.

• Cold hands and feet- if your body isn’t producing as much oxygen as it needs, it will prioritise your vital organs so your hands and feet will receive less, thus resulting in colder hands and feet.

• The lining around your eyes may be pale- typically the lining just below your eyes should be red. If it’s pale this may be a sign you’re low on iron as there’s less haemoglobin being produced.

• Dry skin- with lower levels of oxygen from low iron, your skin will start to suffer as it becomes weaker. Over time weaker skin can lead it to become dry and dehydrated.

• Picking up more infections and viruses- if your body is low on iron for a long period of time this can start to effect your immune system working effectively. This may mean you pick up more bugs then you would otherwise.

Whilst the effects of low levels of iron may seems very worrying, they can be easily rectified by amending your diet.

There are a number of foods you can eat that are rich in iron, these include:

• Red meats such as beef or liver
• Mussels
• Pumpkin seeds
• Lentils
• Spinach
• Pine nuts
• Tofu

You can also take a iron supplement if you don’t think you can fit enough red meat or green vegetables in your diet.

My personal experience

Whilst I do try to incorporate red meats and vegetables into my diet, I probably don’t eat enough to get sufficient levels of iron. I would often wake up in the morning still feeling tired. This sluggish feeling would last for hours throughout the day. I read that sleep inertia was a thing most people got after waking up so thought it was normal. I occasionally had heart palpitations and recently my skin seemed a lot more dry then usual and it was really hard to shake off. I soon found I was waking up a lot in the middle of the night. These are all common symptoms of low iron as mentioned above. I was literally tired of feeling tired so after some research I purchased a combo iron supplement. I wanted to avoid a pure iron supplement as they can lead to side effects like constipation which of course no one wants. The supplement I chose – Iron+ Complex features iron, Vitamin C, Vitamin B2, Vitamin A, folic acid and Vitamin B12.

So does the Iron Complex+ help me stop feeling tired?

I’ve been taking the supplement for almost two weeks now and I think it’s definitely have some effect. When I wake up I don’t feel as tired and the feelings of sluggishness do wear off a lot quicker. I also feel I’m getting better sleep at night and I’m not waking up as often.

If you feel like you’re low on iron, I hope this article helps you come up with some solutions to stop you feeling tired. If you think your friends and family would benefit from reading this article, please give it a share on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

Before you go why not try the 30 day self care challenge or how to start a daily gratitude journal.