Aplastic Anemia

My daughter was diagnosed with this condition a few months back. Her hema told her she needs to start therapy with a course of B12 injections and steroids for the next 3 months. If that doesnt work then she will require a blood transfusion. I'm hoping this doesnt lead to marrow transplant. My concern now is that she is not so keen on steroids and was looking at another alternative such as naturopath. Can anyone advise please? Thanks

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis. Aplastic anemia is a very different disease and therefore treated very differently than ITP. We do have some information about aplastic anemia at www.pdsa.org/resources/other-platelet-disorders.html . We also have information about complementary treatments at www.pdsa.org/treatments/complementary.html . Some of these, like the stress reduction information and diet are really applicable to anyone wanting to regain their health. PDSA also has diet and lifestyle suggestions at www.pdsa.org/products-a-publications/diet-a-lifestyle-info.html . Again, really good for anyone. In the past I did hear about someone with aplastic anemia who did well on ayurvedic herbs.

If your daughter does take steroids, the book 'Coping with Prednisone' may be helpful.

I hope your daughter recovers soon.

Thanks for your reply. well she wont be taking any form of steroids,,today she had a blood tranfusion and B12 injection, hopefully this can help her platelets as well. We wont know for the next 4 weeks or perhaps longer, what affect it will have on her red blood cells, so we wait again. Hema advised her that he is not so keepn on giving regular blood transfusions and to try avoid. She will be seeing a naturopath as well as she is looking for a more natural alternative. So hopefully this can help her..

Hi Victoria,
Try this link for AA patients: forums.marrowforums.org/
Kind regards
Birgitta-A