A blood transfusion can potentially help with extreme fatigue — but only if low hemoglobin (anemia) is the cause. During induction therapy, fatigue often has multiple contributing factors, so it's worth having your care team investigate what's driving it. Some reversible causes of fatigue that doctors can look into and Show Full Answer
A blood transfusion can potentially help with extreme fatigue — but only if low hemoglobin (anemia) is the cause. During induction therapy, fatigue often has multiple contributing factors, so it's worth having your care team investigate what's driving it. Some reversible causes of fatigue that doctors can look into and address include:
- Low hemoglobin (anemia) — a blood transfusion may help here
- Thyroid issues — treatable with medication
- Adrenal suppression from steroid use — manageable with adjustments
- Low testosterone levels — can be treated
Unfortunately, fatigue tied directly to myeloma itself or its treatments is harder to resolve until the disease responds to therapy or treatment ends. The good news is that as myeloma responds to treatment, fatigue often improves too. In the meantime, some things that may help include light exercise (even just short walks), good sleep habits, and proper nutrition.
It's really worth raising this with your oncology team — they can run blood tests to check if anemia or another treatable cause is behind the exhaustion.
August 23
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