Unique situation-high hemoglobin

[LauraJ]

My husband was dx w/AA in 09/2003, had ATG, cyclosporine, some severe complications (sepsis for one). In spring of 2004 his doctor put him on Halotestin (off other meds) and for him it worked. Life slowly got back to 'normal' & he was taken of the Halotestin. Platelets & whites always low but a few times his Reds have actually gone too high. His blood thickens up & he has to have a phlebotomy. Most recent HGB was 16.9 (02/19) which for him must be too high so they did a phleb. He still feels awful though.. His white ct was 3.8, platelets 120,000.
We are going thru some extremely stressful times with our daughter right now. Any idea if this stress could be causing problems or how to even begin to handle it besides hiding everything stressful from him (as if I could).? I don't think I have ever heard of anyone with an AA dx actually having too much HGB????

[Marlene]

So he was taken off of all androgens? Polycythemia Vera (sp) is a side effect of them.

What does your hematologist think? Based on the link below, PV can be primary or secondary and I would think they could rule out some possible causes.

Stress always plays a role in health but that doesn't mean it's causing the PV. But if it's a factor, you have to recognize what the stressors are so you can deal with them better. Like you said, you can't hide things.

One of the secondary causes is lack of oxygen. So if he has sleep apenea that would be a place to start looking.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/957343-overview