Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) Symptoms and Diagnosis

You may not have symptoms in the early stages and may only be found after having a blood test for another reason.

Symptoms of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) can be similar to other conditions and not always obvious. Symptoms are mild at first but can get progressively worse.

If you do have symptoms, they can include:

• Feeling tired, weak and breathless when doing light exercise (anaemia due low healthy red blood cells)
• Getting ill or taking a long time to recover from illnesses (due to a low number of white blood cells)
• Unusual bleeding such as nosebleeds, heavier periods or bruising more than usual (due to the low number of platelets)

To help manage your symptoms of MDS, your team at the hospital should offer you treatment. This is known as supportive treatment.

This may include:

• Blood transfusions - This is to increase the number of healthy blood cells.
• Growth factors - These are drugs that help your bone marrow make more blood cells.
• Antibiotics - This is for infections as when your white blood cell count is low, your body will find it harder to fight infections.