Looking Pale
Haemoglobin is a red-coloured pigment. If you are iron deficient, there may be less haemoglobin in your blood and you may look pale. For some, this is most notable on their face, nails, inner mouth and the lining of the eyes.
If you pull your lower eyelid down, the colour of the lining should be a rich, red colour. If it is a very pale peach colour or yellow, this may indicate that you have iron deficiency or iron deficiency anaemia.
Shortness of breath and a Racing Heart
During exercise, it is normal to experience some shortness of breath and a racing heart because there is an increased demand for oxygen in your body. If you are iron deficient, your blood may not contain enough oxygen for your muscles to do everyday activities such as walking.
Your body tries to make up for this by increasing your breathing rate to get more oxygen into your body, and by increasing your heart rate to help move the oxygen around your body.
Sore tongue or dry mouth
Iron deficiency can affect the surface of your tongue making it feel sore for no apparent reason.
Likewise, you may have an uncomfortably dry mouth even if you have been drinking plenty of liquids.
Cracks and ulcers in your mouth
Iron deficiency can also cause the appearance of sore, red, flaky cracks at one or both of the sides of your mouth. This feels more extreme than when your lips are chapped due to cold weather.
Mouth ulcers are sore white patches on the inside your mouth. There are many reasons why you might have mouth ulcers, including biting the inside of your mouth, stress and being run down, but another reason could be iron deficiency.