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Iron is critical for producing hemoglobin, a protein that helps red blood cells deliver oxygen throughout your body. So without it, everything suffers -- and can lead to anemia. Check out these symptoms of iron deficiency and, if you have them, see your doc and request a ferritin test, which measures your body's iron stores. You're exhausted. The most common symptom of iron deficiency, it's also possibly the most difficult one to detect. "Women are so used to having frenetic lives and feeling tired," says Nancy Berliner, M.D., deputy editor of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. "They often just dismiss being tired as part of life."