neutrophils

[Easywriter2222]

My Dr told me today to stop treatment and not take my Redipen Shot tonight because my neutrophils have dropped to 0.5. He is priscribing Neupegin but I probably wont get it until next friday the 16th of May 2008. I still want to take my shot but my wife is worried about it. My white blood count is 1.4 and myred blood count is 3.18 and my plateletss are 49,000

Any suggestions?

Anyone.

[jmjm530]

As "FL" suggests, hard to make a call without all the individual facts. That said, many of us  here have either been offered the helper drug Neupogen at similar ANC levels (it works very fast),  or allowed to continue on full peg even without Neupogen. My medical team, for example, rarely reduces/stops the Peg (or even uses Neupogen for that matter)  for low ANC.

During treatment my ANC dropped close to "300" and no dose reductions and no  Neupogen, Two weeks later my ANC was above 1000 as my NP predicted, telling me that ANC tends to bounce around a lot. The other thing to keep in mind is that some newer studies find no association between low ANC and increased infections on interferon treatment, as had been commonly thought.

Again, these are just general statements and your med team may have their own reasons, or they simply not be up to date on the newer protocols. Is your doc a hepatologist or a GI? GI's tend to be less experienced, and at least here, often seem to pull the plug on things a little too soon. If this is the case, maybe you need to consult with a hepatologist ASAP.

All the best,

-- Jim

[FlGuy]

How many weeks into tx? Undetectable yet?  since when?  To me, suspending Peg is not a good idea.  .5 (also converts to 500) is low but others have continued as low as .3 (300) and don't have a problem.  Neup works quick when used.  Can't see why there needs to be that delay.  My doc said, 'you need Neup.'.   5 Min later tech walks in with it.  Since you've been around a while I'm guessing you're pretty far into tx.  Be real unfortunate to let up on it now.  It's tough to give the virus a break when you have your foot on its throat. If it was me and I was otherwise healthy, I'd opt for the Peg.  But, you have medical advice otherwise.  You also have the virus, doc doesn't and he has an obligation to be procedurally accountable in what he tells you.