Signs and symptoms

Signs

• Change in stool colour, including black and tarry stools (sticky and foul smelling), maroon-colored, or visibly bloody stools if the anemia is due to blood loss through the gastrointestinal tract.
  
  
• rapid heart rate
  
  
• low blood pressure

• rapid breathing
  
  
• pale or cold skin
  
  
• jaundice if anemia is due to red blood cell breakdown
  
  
• heart murmur
  
  
• enlargement of the spleen with certain causes of anemia

Symptoms

• Fatigue
  
  
• weakness
  
  
• shortness of breath
  
  
• lightheadedness
  
  
• palpitations (feeling of the heart racing or beating irregularly)
  
  
• looking pale

• A red, sore tongue and a reduced sense of taste, this is usually only a symptom with folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia.

If severe anaemia

• chest pain, angina, or heart attack
  
  
• dizziness
  
  
• fainting or passing out
  
  
• rapid heart rate