Living With PV: A Helpful Guide

Polycythaemia vera is a rare, chronic blood disorder that increases your body’s number of red blood cells. The condition can be debilitating and life-threatening if not treated properly. However, living with PV doesn’t have to be complicated! In this guide, we will cover five things you need to know about living with PV:

Common Signs and Symptoms

This condition is unique to each person, so you must understand your body and the symptoms of polycythemia. Some common signs include blurred vision, fatigue, headaches, and nosebleeds.

How it’s Diagnosed

There are a number of tests that can indicate the presence of polycythemia vera: blood counts, spleen size, bone marrow biopsy, and flow cytometry. These tests will help you get a clear diagnosis from your doctor about PV!

Treatments

If living with PV becomes too difficult or dangerous to manage on your own, there is hope for treatment options. This varies depending upon how severe your symptoms are but may include more frequent phlebotomies (bloodletting) or medications such as hydroxyurea. The only way to know if these treatments work for you is by speaking to a specialist at an accredited facility near you.

Living with PV as a child.

As living with polycythaemia vera is rare for kids, it can be tough to find other children who have gone through something similar or know what you are going through. It may help if an adult in your life understands living with this condition and has experience living as someone living with this condition. If not, make sure to talk openly about it, so adults around you understand that they need to support you throughout everything. You will also want to take lots of vitamins daily, such as A & D, along with getting regular check-ups from a specialist near you.

Living with PV as an adolescent or adult.

Living with this condition is not always easy, but there are many resources available to help you along the way. It is important that you are open about living with this condition so you can get the proper treatment you need. It is necessary to avoid strenuous activities in hot weather, have a large amount of water every day, protect yourself from getting sunburned, and eat healthily. Additionally, make sure to exercise regularly, get your blood checked regularly, and avoid injury to the spleen.

Living with polycythaemia vera is not always an easy task, but it can be managed! It’s important that if living with PV becomes too difficult or dangerous for you on your own, seek out treatment options from a specialist near you. There are also helpful resources online, such as this blog post which may have some information that can aid in managing symptoms of living with PV!