Why does sickle cell disease cause jaundice?

Red blood cells in sickle cell disease can be destroyed earlier than usual. Bilirubin is made as haemoglobin from those cells is broken down. When bilirubin builds up, the whites of the eyes and skin can look yellow. Jaundice is a common presentation of Sickle Cell Disease, and its intensity may change over time.

A familiar degree of yellowing may reflect ongoing red-cell breakdown, but it is still worth reporting a noticeable change. Jaundice can also occur for reasons involving the liver, bile ducts, medicines, or infection, so new symptoms should not be assumed to have one cause.

Tell your usual sickle cell clinician about new, darker, or persistent yellowing. They may review your symptoms, examine you, and arrange blood tests that look at bilirubin, blood counts, and liver function. Take medicines as prescribed and avoid stopping a medicine on your own because of yellowing.

Note whether the change is linked with dark urine, pale stools, itching, abdominal pain, fever, vomiting, or a pain crisis. This detail helps distinguish ongoing haemolysis from problems that need a different assessment.

Get urgent medical help if jaundice comes with severe abdominal pain, fever, repeated vomiting, confusion, fainting, breathing difficulty, or feeling acutely unwell. Seek prompt advice for rapidly worsening yellowing, very dark urine, or pale stools, particularly when these are new for you.

Ask what may be driving the bilirubin rise, whether your liver and gallbladder need checking, and which changes in urine, stool, pain, or fever should lead you to urgent care. Ask how often your blood monitoring should be reviewed.