I Had A Gi Bleed That Required 8 Units Of Blood Recovered I Still Feel Weak And Fatigued. How Long Should Recovery Take?

Posted on Tue, 31 Jan 2023

Question: I had a gi bleed that required 8 units of blood. I was discharged with my hemoglobin at 7.6. Four days later it was 8.4. It has been 9 weeks and I still feel weak and fatigued. How long should recovery take. I am a 64 year old male

Answered by Dr. Anders Mark Christensen (16 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
That depends on the nature of the bleeding

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Recovery from a GI bleed is mostly dependent on the nature of the bleed.
Was it a variceal bleeding, bleeding ulcer, or from your colon or rectum? It also depends on, whether you have any comorbidities, e.g. heart condition, pulmonary/liver/kidney disease?

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Anders Mark Christensen (28 minutes later)

The bleed was from the colon. There is no residual bleeding as confirmed by visual observation of stool. Also there was no indication of bleeding seen on radiological scans done after the interventional radiology to stop the bleeding. Pulmonary, kidney and liver functions are normal. Calcium score for heart is 160. Just saw my cardiologist 6 weeks ago. Says he will see me in a year

Answered by Dr. Anders Mark Christensen (14 hours later)

Brief Answer:
It will take some time to fully recover

Detailed Answer:
The bleeding was relatively severe, so a reconvalescence of several weeks is to be expected. As long as you see some improvement, as the days go by.
Thanks.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj