Blood

[ChillyAsh34]

My hematocric is low and I have had my hydroxycarbamide reduced ,now a blood test shows i am low in iron and have to have an iron infusion,has anyone else experience this any comments will help

[MPNJoe]

yes i have same problem H is low and iron very low

[ERei]

Same exact thing happened to me. I became profoundly anemic twice!!! Became short of breath & my #s plummeted. Went from HU 500mg every day to every other day. Hope your numbers stabilize & you feel well!

[saltmarsh]

Well that's not fun. I'm 76 and a few years ago while getting phlebotomies and on HU, I became severely iron deficient. The phlebotomies were stopped and I was put on iron tablets for several weeks. That solved the problem for me.

By the way, my new doctor stopped the phlebotomies well over a year ago and I haven't had an iron problem since. Occasionally he'll direct me to resume them for a short period and then discontinue.

It can be somewhat of a complicated issue and forum member Hunter has posted several informative commentaries if you do a search.

Good luck. I know it can be pretty uncomfortable to live with but once it's corrected you'll feel great. Going forward make sure they are monitoring your iron levels periodically.

[saltmarsh in reply to saltmarsh]

Correction - my new doctor directed me to resume the iron tablets

[hunter5582]

Treating a MPN is always a balancing act. HU and other cytoreductive agents can decrease all three types of blood cells, HU can cause anemia; however, iron deficiency is a separate issue. Iron deficiency can also cause anemia. Iron deficiency can also cause reactive thrombocytosis. It would be important to know why you are iron deficient. This is a part of the overall picture of what is going on.

hope you get it all sorted soon.