Do you suffer from headaches no matter your diet and lifestyle? Chronic headache or migraine can actually upset your life, particularly if the cause is unknown. A headache is not a disease but rather a symptom of another disease.
One of the most frequent, undiagnosed causes is iron deficiency. Iron deficiency is a condition in which your body does not have enough iron, an essential mineral, to make hemoglobin. It is usually caused by a poor diet, chronic blood loss, or underlying gut issues, or regular menstrual blood loss. Iron deficiency is most common in women of reproductive age.
If you are suffering from headaches, wondering: Does iron deficiency cause headaches? Let’s look at the science and the solution to get rid of it.
Link between Headache and Iron Deficiency
The science behind headaches and iron deficiency is increasingly clear on this.
Oxygen deprivation and neurotransmitter failure occur due to iron deficiency. Your brain needs a lot of oxygen to run, and if it thinks it is running out, it sends a signal to the blood vessels in your head to dilate and widen to push more blood. This sudden expansion puts physical pressure on the sensitive nerves, which causes headaches.
Also, it’s important to understand that the answer isn’t simply a lack of oxygen. Iron is required by your brain to produce the important brain chemical, dopamine, which regulates pain. Iron deficiency triggers a decrease in dopamine, which has been clinically proven to worsen migraine headaches.
In fact, research indicates you don’t even need to be officially diagnosed with anemia in order to experience these headaches.
Many patients exhibit normal hemoglobin, but their ferritin is low. Research proves that patients with ferritin levels below 50 ng/mL experience more severe headaches. When these patients are given iron supplements to raise their ferritin, study after study shows their headache frequency drops dramatically.
It is important to realise that if your headache comes back again and again, it might be a problem that has nothing to do with your head. It is a blood and a brain chemistry issue.
What Does an Iron Deficiency Headache Feel Like?
The nature of the pain may differ from person to person. An iron deficiency headache is not the same as migraine, although it can be mistaken for migraine. A migraine is a neurological condition, while an iron deficiency headache is a vascular symptom that occurs when your brain is deprived of oxygen and dopamine. But low iron is a medically recognised cause of migraine, so low iron can trigger a migraine attack.
It can resemble other types of common headaches, so be familiar with some patterns.
Heavy pain: You might feel a heavy, throbbing pain on one or both sides of your head. It is often accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and vomiting.
Tension-type pain: For others, the lack of oxygen may cause a dull, persistent pain in the head. It can make you feel like you have a band of pressure around your head that makes it difficult to focus.
Dizziness and Lightheadedness: Sometimes, other signs that may also occur that you should look for are brain fog, difficulty breathing, or dizziness after standing up too quickly.
Ear Ringing (Tinnitus): Many individuals with iron deficiency headaches also have a ringing or buzzing sensation in their ears. This occurs because the blood vessels in your inner ear are sensitive, and poor blood circulation and lack of oxygen also impact them.
Who is at High Risk for Iron Deficiency Headaches?
Some populations are more vulnerable to the effects of iron deficiency and may experience headache:
Women of Reproductive Age: This is the most vulnerable group. This group has been shown to have a strong association between low iron stores and increased headache frequency.
Heavy Periods: One of the most common causes of iron deficiency is heavy menstrual bleeding. So, if you experience a headache and the pads or tampons get wet within a few hours, it’s always important to have your iron levels checked.
Pregnant women: Iron needs are almost doubled during pregnancy. Headaches are a common symptom of iron deficiency during pregnancy and are often not recognized as such.
Vegetarians and vegans: If you rely exclusively on plant foods for iron, you should be very careful. Plant-based (non-heme) iron is only absorbed about 3% to 5% efficiently. It is harder for your body to absorb than iron from this diet, so you run a greater risk of being deficient.
Adolescent girls: Teenagers experience rapid growth spurts and begin menstruation, which requires a tremendous amount of iron. Because their diets are often lacking in nutrient-dense foods, adolescence is a very high-risk period for iron-related head pain.
Athletes: Athletes, particularly female runners, are at a surprisingly high risk. The physical impact of running actually destroys red blood cells in the feet, a condition called foot-strike hemolysis. Sometimes, intense training also increases gastrointestinal blood loss.
How to Get Rid of Iron Deficiency Headaches
These types of headaches cannot be treated long-term with ibuprofen and/or Tylenol. Painkillers only mask the pain for a few hours. They will do nothing to correct the issue of your brain lacking oxygen. These headaches can only be resolved if the underlying issue is resolved. This is what you should do:
1. Get the Right Blood Test
It is a bad idea to simply assume that you have a low iron level and begin to consume random supplements. Excess iron will harm your liver.
You should plan a visit with your primary care provider and request a Complete Blood Count with a ferritin test. Ferritin indicates what iron you have stored in your body. Many traditional healers only examine your hemoglobin which can still be normal even if your iron tanks are empty.
2. Take Iron Safely
If the doctor has confirmed that your iron levels are low, the doctor will advise you to start replenishing your iron. This can be achieved through diet, by increasing the amount of iron-rich foods such as lean red meat, dark leafy vegetables, and lentils, and by using a good iron supplement as directed by your health care provider.
It is always best to take your iron with Vitamin C, which can help you absorb up to 300% more from an iron supplement, such as a glass of orange juice.
3. Stay Highly Hydrated
Headaches are worse when dehydrated, particularly if the blood volume is already low due to anemia. It is important to consume plenty of water throughout the day to ensure the blood circulates freely.
4. Treat the Cause of the Blood Loss
For women with heavy periods or those with digestive disorders such as stomach ulcers or inflammatory bowel disease, the body cannot replace iron as fast as it is being lost.
So, it’s not going to be sufficient to just take a pill. You must talk to your provider about heavy periods or any gut problems to prevent you from losing iron in the first place.
When to See a Provider About Headaches
Most headaches are harmless, but some are a warning that something is wrong and needs immediate medical treatment. If you have any of these symptoms, you should get an evaluation:
- Intense headache
- A different pattern of headaches
- Headache with fever, stiff neck, rash, or confusion
- Sudden vision changes
- Weakness
- Numbness
- Speech difficulty
- A headache that starts after the age of 50
- Recurrent headaches that are interfering with your sleep
- Headaches that are progressively getting worse, even with treatment
Bottom Line
The answer to the question: Does iron deficiency cause headaches is clear and backed by science. Iron deficiency results in chronic head pain that is not completely treatable with headache medications. It is seen that anemia is associated with a 76% higher risk of chronic headaches.
You shouldn’t ignore these warning signs. If you have headaches, along with fatigue, cold hands and feet, brain fog, and heavy periods, you may have a good reason to test iron levels. You can get a simple blood panel (ferritin, serum iron and CBC) to determine if your pain is being caused by iron deficiency.
At Kairos Integrative Care, Lola, one of our nurse practitioners, provides comprehensive lab testing, chronic headache evaluation, iron deficiency management, and integrative chronic disease care.
We see patients in Houston, Sugar Land, Richmond, and nearby areas (77046 & 77478) and accept major insurance plans, including Blue Cross, Aetna, Ambetter, Cigna, and more. If you can’t make it in person, telemedicine visits are also available across Texas.
If you have been experiencing a headache on a regular basis, book a consultation with us to find the root cause behind it.
