I have just been diagnosed as borderine anemic /low blood count and I noted that sinemet is sometimes associated with hidden gastro-intestinal bleeding. My blood count has been falling slowly over the years I have been taking the drug. Whether this is due to appetite/weight loss or hidden blood loss is difficult to say but has anyone else experienced this or excessive symptoms of anemia such as tiredness, weakness, lack of energy… Can anything be done to counteract it such as a periodic intravenous blood top up??? I am reluctant to change medication as Sinemet is otherwise effective.
Hi Grober.
I can’t exactly answer your questions, however my wife was diagnosed with anaemia in August. She had an abdominal scan and then a camera down her throat and neither found bleeding. You probably ought to find out if you have an internal bleed. My wife recently saw a private haematologist who thought the anaemia likely to be related to her chronic illness (Parkinsons). He ordered blood tests to check on her liver and something else, but nothing abnormal was found. He insisted iron tablets wouldn’t help. She’s since seen a NHS haematologist who wants her to take iron tablets. A problem with those is that they might affect the P meds. She takes them when she feels up to it, so 1 a day, occasionally. Her iron count tends to be borderline, and various other blood counts too low.
My wife doesn’t generally feel particularly tired or lacking in energy. Neither our local P consultant or the neuropharmacologist she sees have suggested she changes meds.
I’d have expected your GP to try and trace the cause of the anaemia. Sorry I can’t help. I’ll be interested to see if you get more informative responses.
Thanks for responding to my post-that was kind of you. I am emailing my GP today. Problem with Parkinsons its symptoms mimic many other conditions so its all too easy to miss an underlying problem!
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My wife’s DBS couldn’t proceed when they found she had anaemia. If that’s a possibility for you down the line then you need to do something. It took 4 months for her to see an NHS haematologist (hence the private one who we wish we’d seen earlier).
And yes, it’s easy for everything to be blamed on P when you could have some other problem. It took a while for my wife to get a full blood test and find the anaemia in the first place. Many symptoms might be due to P, but they might not!
Good luck