You’re exhausted. Your workouts feel harder. You’re losing more hair than usual. You can’t concentrate the way you used to. You’re cold all the time, your heart seems to race more easily, and by the end of the day, you have absolutely nothing left.
Then you’re told: “Your iron is a little low.”
But living with iron deficiency can be far more significant than that sentence makes it sound.
Iron plays an essential role in transporting oxygen throughout your body. It is also involved in energy production and normal neurological and muscular function. When your iron stores become depleted, the effects can show up in how you feel, think, exercise and function every day.
And importantly, you can have iron deficiency before you develop anemia.
Low iron can look like:
Fatigue that doesn’t improve with sleep. Brain fog and difficulty concentrating. Reduced exercise tolerance or feeling unusually winded. Headaches or dizziness. Hair shedding. Restless legs. Feeling cold. Weakness. Heart palpitations.
These symptoms aren’t specific to iron deficiency, which is exactly why proper assessment matters.
For women, we need to ask WHY.
At Bronte Wellness, we don’t want to simply see a low ferritin result and tell you to take iron indefinitely.
Why is your iron low in the first place?
Heavy or prolonged periods can be an important contributor — particularly during the perimenopause years when bleeding patterns may change. Diet, pregnancy and postpartum demands, gastrointestinal conditions, impaired absorption and other sources of blood loss can also play a role.
The goal isn’t simply to replace iron. It’s to understand why you’re losing or not adequately absorbing it and address the bigger picture.
And sometimes, oral iron isn’t enough.
Oral iron can work very well for many people, but not everyone tolerates it or responds adequately. For some, digestive side effects make it difficult to take consistently. In other circumstances, absorption, the degree of deficiency, ongoing losses or other clinical factors may mean a different approach needs to be considered.
That’s why we’re so excited to now offer IV Iron Therapy at Bronte Wellness Boutique.
IV iron allows iron to be delivered intravenously, bypassing the gastrointestinal tract. It isn’t a wellness IV and it isn’t appropriate for everyone. It requires appropriate blood work, a medical assessment and a prescription.
Our program brings together our Naturopathic Doctors and Nurse Practitioner so eligible patients can move through assessment, prescribing, treatment and follow-up with a collaborative team.
Because if you’ve been living with iron deficiency for months — or even years — being told to simply “take some iron” may not be the whole answer.
You deserve to understand why your iron is low, what it’s doing to your health, and what your treatment options are.
