Suzy623
Member
- Location
- Mobile, Alabama
AVM apparently has to with blood vessels that are very close to the lining (in my case) of the stomach/intestinal tract. When irritated or, apparently when they want to, they will start bleeding which causes loss of blood. But the blood loss is at such a slow pace that it is hard to detect. When I loose blood over a period of time my iron levels drop and it becomes a slower process for the iron and bone marrow to replace the blood fast enough, so I become anemic. There are several places where this happens in my intestinal tract so, although surgery is a possibility, it is a very difficult procedure and has a very long, uncomfortable recovery period (which I am adverse to). The fix is to have blood and/or iron infusions to replace the lost blood/iron. One year I had 2 units of blood and 1 bag of iron during one transfusion and had to repeat that 3 times over a year. Sometimes it's 2 times a year, sometimes it's once a year.
Over the past year (since January) I've not needed a transfusion at all but I'm having the leg cramps, light headed feeling, weak and constantly tired feeling which are usually my symptoms of low blood. Have any of you experienced AVM and have you had the surgery to correct it? The gastroenterologist is the one who told me the surgery and the recovery were painful so I tend to think he's telling the truth.
Over the past year (since January) I've not needed a transfusion at all but I'm having the leg cramps, light headed feeling, weak and constantly tired feeling which are usually my symptoms of low blood. Have any of you experienced AVM and have you had the surgery to correct it? The gastroenterologist is the one who told me the surgery and the recovery were painful so I tend to think he's telling the truth.