Hello,
I too have Polycythaemia Vera. I was diagnosed just over one year ago when I had an extreme blood pressure episode with tingles in my arm. I thought I was having a stroke. In the course of investigation they found my haematacrit was 56% and my ferritin level was 9 and the JAK2 gene had mutated. My haematologist suggests I have had this condition for a long time. I am 70 years old. I do get tired but find if I exercise I do feel better for a while. I am on 100mg aspirin daily. To begin with I had 6 phlebotomies over 3 months which brought the haematacrit down to 44%. I then had one at 2 months and another at 6 months. I am now on a 4 monthly schedule. Things that I have found that I think have helped are intermittent fasting and blood thinning foods like tomato juice, cinnamon, dates (I’m into natural remedies). This hasn’t helped with the low iron count though which hasn’t changed and I am now experiencing shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat. I am not sure what I can do to manage that. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.