told to stop interferon

[jt57]

Had cbc today.  wbc 1.8
                        anc  .8
                        hgb  9.2
                        plt    40

My GP called my hep dr. and he said to stop the interferon and have cbc next week.  In my opinion, I think we should be discussing reduction in dosage, not stopping.  But I have had this sort of issue with my dr. in the past....

What do you guys think?

Jean

[jt57]

Again, as I said, my GP called my hep dr., and my hep Dr. said to stop the interferon.

My GP isn't making ANY calls on my treatment.  Just monitoring my blood draws...

Jean

[jmjm530]

You really need to find out from your hepatitis Dr. the reason he wants you to stop the interferon. Is it your WBC? Is it the ANC? Is it the platelet count? Is it something else?
Because if your help Dr. for stopping treatment based on the blood values alone, he may be doing it unnecessarily.

In this case, you should try for a second consultation with a liver specialist (hepatologist) ASAP.

Do you knowif your current Dr. is a hepatologist or is a gastroenterologist? As stated many gastroenterologist simply do not know enough about treating hepatitis C.

[epiphiny]

Getting another blood test on the day of your shot is a great idea, as numbers are at their highest on that day.  That is what I do as well.  And the one day the counts were low is the day I did it 20 hours earlier.

[jmjm530]

sorry, missed your last post, and I now see that the issue is the platelets. Again, if it were me treating, I'd speak to another liver specialist to confirm that I needed to stop treatment.

[jt57]

yes.  he wants to stop because of my platelets.  and he is a hepatologist.  But he is very quick to say, "stop treatment".  I've been down this road with him before.  at 11 wks.  I am now at 20 wks.  My platelets are the lowest they have been.  I say reduce.  Not stop.  But I'll see what the cbc says on Monday, and then make my decision.  How much of a reduction do you usually make?

Jean

[jmjm530]

Here is what Dr. Dietrich in our expert forum says on the subject
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/586333

Can't speak for him, but based on what he said in the link I just gave you, my guess is he would say continue on full dose. By the way, are you undetectable and if so at what week? Also, what's your genotype?

It's good that you're seeing a hepatologist, book from someone with experience there -- I've seen at least a half dozen over the years -- they are certainly not all created equal. Could be wrong, but it sounds like this fellow is a little too quick to pull the trigger. Perhaps, you want to find a more aggressive hepatologist. On the other hand, there may be other factors involved, so again this is just a general statement.

Good luck!

Jim