79 year old male with MDS: Worried about increasng fatigue

Good morning, @ron79mds. With MDS (myelodyplastic syndromes) the blood stem cells aren’t able to mature into healthy blood cells, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets. When that happens you may end up with lower counts in one or more of the groups of cells.

From your mention of taking Aranesp, which helps promote the production of red blood cells, and having to take iron infusions it looks like it’s your red blood cell production that can’t keep up to normal levels on their own.
The encouraging news is that your last labs showed an increase with your hemoglobin and hematocrit so the red count has increased!

Your original post asked about what’s next with treatments. Each person’s MDS experience is unique to them, of course. MDS is classified as to risk level for progression. Treatments for each type can have different treatment options. Right now your doctor is concerned with keeping your red blood count near normal. As you’ve probably noticed, when your red count is low you’re likely much more fatigued and become winded easier. The red cells carry oxygen throughout the body so when their numbers aren’t up to normal you’ll definitely feel the difference.
The gradual improvement seen in your labs, after being on Arensep, may reflect that the medication is helping to increase your RBC, along with the iron infusions. Your doctor will be looking for trends with your bloodwork and can make adjustments in your meds based on the results. If at some point you start to lose ground with the numbers, your doctor may switch to another medication to help control the progress of disease.
The key is to not let ‘what if’ bog you down. Depending on the risk level, you may find this works for you for quite a while before any med changes are necessary.
When you had a consultation with your doctor was there a risk level discussed?

@ron79mds, how are you doing? Has the fatigue improved?