signs of anemia??? - Anemia Message Board

cjones15 · 10-16-2004, 11:34 AM

Sorry if this is long but I'm very confused and just need som guidance. I am 26 years old and farely healthy mom to 2 beautiful girls. Approx. 2 months ago my knee started hurting. It wasn't very bad and I ignored it. About 2 weeks ago mentioned something about it to my chiropractor and he thought I might have a tear. They sent me for an MRI. The MRI came back the I had two spots in my knee (one in the femar and other in the tibia) showing patchy red marrow and hyperplasia. My primary doc ordered some blood work and it confirmed hyperplasia, and very low iron. My iron level (I don't know the right word to call it) was a 3 and they said normal is around 12 or something. The MRI also suggested I get a nuclear bone scan to rule out a tumor. I had that done and it came back negative. My doc thinks my knee pain is coming from the anemia but the hemotologist he consulted with doesn't think so. The hemotologist put me on iron three times a day and then I go in 4 weeks to have my blood rechecked. Has anyone else had joint or bone paine from anemia? I have always been anemic but nothing like this. I don't know what to think. My knee has been a lot worse over the past week. I take 2 vicadin every 4 hours for the pain. Can anyone suggest anything or tell me what I need to look for?

Thank you so much!!

Marimac · 10-23-2004, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjones15

Sorry if this is long but I'm very confused and just need som guidance. I am 26 years old and farely healthy mom to 2 beautiful girls. Approx. 2 months ago my knee started hurting. It wasn't very bad and I ignored it. About 2 weeks ago mentioned something about it to my chiropractor and he thought I might have a tear. They sent me for an MRI. The MRI came back the I had two spots in my knee (one in the femar and other in the tibia) showing patchy red marrow and hyperplasia. My primary doc ordered some blood work and it confirmed hyperplasia, and very low iron. My iron level (I don't know the right word to call it) was a 3 and they said normal is around 12 or something. The MRI also suggested I get a nuclear bone scan to rule out a tumor. I had that done and it came back negative. My doc thinks my knee pain is coming from the anemia but the hemotologist he consulted with doesn't think so. The hemotologist put me on iron three times a day and then I go in 4 weeks to have my blood rechecked. Has anyone else had joint or bone paine from anemia? I have always been anemic but nothing like this. I don't know what to think. My knee has been a lot worse over the past week. I take 2 vicadin every 4 hours for the pain. Can anyone suggest anything or tell me what I need to look for?

Thank you so much!!

Anemia can cause bone pain. Usually, bone pain from anemia is caused when the marrow stores are being called on to produce additonal red blood cells at a intense rate. That could translate to knee or joint pain. The vicadin pain reliever could sabotage the efforts of the body to replace the red blood cells. But most doctors do not know a lot of pharmacology and will prescribe medications due to patient complaints about pain. A simple tylenol will produce pain relief from bone pain. However, pain from torn muscle or ligament may cause enough pain to warrent narcotic pain relief.

cjones15 · 10-25-2004, 06:11 AM

Thank you so much for your help!!! I was taking ultraset which to my understanding is like tylenol and it did help in the beginning but it stopped working at well. The vicodin does help a little bit but I'm not sure if it actually relieves the pain but I can sleep better at night. I have made myself cut back considerably on it because I really don't like taking pain medications. I have an oncologist appointment today and a hematologist appt. next week. Thanks again for you great help!