Hi, @pmlind4. I’m sorry I missed your post earlier this month. As a refresher, here is what you wrote: “My husband was diagnosed with MDS 6 months ago. He has had 2 rounds of chemo treatment. His oncologist wants his platelet counts at 20 or above. R has blood drawn every M,W,F and every time he has needed platelet transfusions and sometimes red blood transfusions. R is tired most of the time but he has been advised not to take iron supplements. He had a stem cell transplant 5 years ago when he had myeloma. He is 78. Is there any natural way to increase his platelet levels and get his bone marrow working again?”
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Your husband (and you) have been through quite a bit over the past few years with the autologous transplant (using his own cells) to treat his multiple myeloma and now coping with MDS. Life can sure throw us some curveballs…

I wish there was more encouraging news about natural ways to increase platelet levels or getting a compromised bone marrow to work again. It would be a dream come true for so many of us. There are some foods which may promote an increase in platelets and other blood cells, being basically just part of a healthy diet and not a miracle cure.

When there is a blood cancer involved, there is more at play than diet. In MDS, bone marrow itself is no longer able to produce healthy cells…sometimes red/white cell or platelets. If there are cancer cells (blasts) circulating in the blood, then these can also crowd out whatever remaining healthy cells there are. Chemo is used to help knock down the cancer cells in hopes of allowing blood cells to regenerate on their own. Even then, sometimes the marrow just can’t quite ‘catch its breath’ in producing enough healthy blood cells. Your husband is requiring red blood and platelet transfusions to compensate for this lack of cells. And right now, at least from my own experience with AML, there’s not much else that can be done to increase cells naturally.

There are meds on the market which may help to boost or encourage platelets and red blood cells in certain cases. But these aren’t always options due to the type or progression of a disease.

Your instincts are right about anemia/low energy and thinking iron supplements. However, there can be danger of an iron overload with iron supplements, which could be compounded by the blood transfusions.

Your husband has had 2 rounds of chemo treatments. It can take time between rounds for blood numbers to climb. Has there been improvements in his cancer markers? Was there a reference to blast cells in his blood tests?
Have you talked to your husband’s hematologist oncologist, PA or NP about the fatigue?