WBC count too low. Doctor says to stop treatment! It's my choice to make right now...

[cieritaqt]

What do I do? My doctor is on vacation, and the on call doctor says to NOT DO my injection #3 tonight and stop taking Riba. My white blood cell count is 400, or 2.5, not really sure what the difference is, but it is low, and I am at risk for infection, basially have a low immune system. Anyway, I have my injection and Riba on hand, and I can either take it through the weekend, or stopp all TX and go to see my specialist on Tuesday and see if she will start me back up again. I feel great, I am so mad, and confused. Should I go against doctors orders and continue TX? What would my doctor do? I am on day 14, this is not fair. Please someone post something tonight so I can make my final decision. I'm so torn and indecisive.

[cieritaqt]

well, my doctor called! She says she would not have asked me to stop TX. I made the right decision, and I am feeling healthy as ever today. glad I continued TX on schedule!

[ann61]

I just read your post.  My wbc dropped to 1.3 and my doc did not reduce or stop drugs.  I started neupogen and l felt a million times better the next morning.  My doc has been treating hcv for nearly as long as its been around and she is pretty aggressive.  I share her philosophy.  

Not an easy position you are in.  Good luck!

[eureka254]

Just a couple of after-thoughts:  well-advised to follow up with CBCs first thing next week, as well as getting clarification on the "latent" TB... if you had a positive PPD your doc should be ordering a chest x-ray.  If you suspect you might have been *vaccinated* for TB (a possibility if you spent any of your childhood outside the US), your doc can also order a blood test to check for that as a cause of positive PPD.  Wishing you all the best. ~eureka

[researchmonkey326]

I would never tell you to go against doctor's orders but my WBC and ANC were low the entire time I treated.  Neupogen was not an option.  I had a reduced dose of peg every few weeks - down to 135 units rather than the 180.  My ANC dropped below 400 several times and the reduced dosage always allowed it come back up over 500 for a few weeks.  Stopping treatment completely for this reason was never mentioned by my doctor.  Hopefully you will see your own doctor quickly and get this resolved.

[James10500]

I know a guy who's WBC is 1.8 in his eigth week. You bloods get slammed at the beginning of tx but generally stabilize.  Good luck, try to stay away from people, as to minimize the chance of catching something.

[cieritaqt]

Hey you. Thank you all for your kind thoughts and insight on this matter. I made the decision to inject at 1pm. I did call the Pagasys nurse hotline last night and learned some important information. The drug company on call nurses are quite informative so far. I also have a friend who is a young doctor and with all of the posts from you guys, i decided to keep on fighting for SVR! I am only on day 15, I don't want to stop, my doctor comes back from Vacation Tuesday, so I will have a long conversation about my options then. For now, I am home, away from germs and clean and safe :)