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← Return to Hydrea and joint pain
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Hello @1pearl. We talked a while back. I've been diagnosed with PV about 8 or 9 months ago and opted for the Wait & Observe route, together with a healthy lifestyle and diet. Is that the case for you too? I have been extremely fit and healthy my whole life which I think might have something to do with 55 years of daily yoga and meditation + gym + still riding (and loving) my motorcycle at age 76. Wondering though... Are most participants on this bulletin board suffering from the side effects of hydrea, while people who have had no such side effects remain silent? And are there other people like me who are maybe willing to do an occasional phlobotomy but choose to stay away from heavy-duty drugs and they too remain silent observers on this bulletin board? I would very much like to hear from them.
Replies to "Hello @1pearl. We talked a while back. I've been diagnosed with PV about 8 or 9..."
@gajokos
I’m right at two years from a PV diagnosis. Like others I only found out that I had PV as a result of a routine blood test. However, I had been having vision, disturbances, headaches, and night sweats, which were starting to be intrusive on my regular life. My primary care physician did not catch any of the warning signs and I was lucky that I didn’t have a stroke or something. So if you’re feeling OK and there’s nothing off about your general health, the wait-and-see method is just fine. That wasn’t going to work for me. So I take Hydrea. Alternating 500 or 1000 mg daily. I am 73 years old and a lead an active life. I do have occasional joint pain and maybe bone pain and a bit of fatigue, but that may just be part of being 73. So I don’t complain online about those occasional side effects. And I also don’t mind a phlebotomy once in a while. Although I have not had to have one for over a year now.
I moved into a new house a couple of months ago. I didn’t like the kitchen so I tore it out and replaced it by myself with no help. I got it done in about a month. I also just wrapped up my 40th year as an architecture professor in New York City. I will be back next year, and probably for the foreseeable future.
I suppose all of this puts me in the camp of do whatever works and keep moving.
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Hi @gajokos ,
Great to see your post! I am happy to hear that you are doing well as you always have, probably in large part to your healthy lifestyle, etc. I am right there with you preferring the watch and observe route. You ask very good questions. It would be very nice to hear from the silent observers on this site.
Happy riding!