A common experience of many new mothers is feeling overwhelmed, tired, and like you can’t juggle it all. During those sleepless nights that stretch through the first year of your infant’s life, the brain fog is real. But when sleep returns and the mom brain stays, should it be something you are concerned about?

There’s evidence that 1 in 3 (Wowzers!) women in their reproductive years have iron deficiency. Many of them undiagnosed. When we think about iron deficiency, the symptoms that come to mind is fatigue and shortness of breath. But there is more to it than that.

The extreme fatigue and shortness of breath typically only show up once the iron deficiency has reached an anemic state (When your iron has become so depleted that your body is no longer producing enough hemoglobin to carry oxygen to your cells and organs). But, iron deficiency can be present long before your body reaches an anemic state. And iron is needed for so much more in your body besides just its hemoglobin.

Iron is also a necessary nutrient for dopamine and serotonin production, as well as needed to produce the myelin in your brain (which helps the speedy processing your brain is capable of).

More and more research is showing that iron deficiency can show up as ADHD symptoms. Symptoms such as short attention span, easily distracted, poor working memory, and difficulty planning. If you’re noticing these symptoms for the first time as an adult and have heavy periods or have had children, it may be time to get your iron levels checked.