Hgb question

I know your Hgb drops in response to tx, My question is does it continue to drop or does it level off at some point?

[Diane12855]

Mine dropped for the first 4 weeks and then it leveled off and stayed between 10 and 10.8 for the rest of my 48 weeks.

Diane

[Bill1954]

During my last treatment my hemoglobin dropped from 17.4 prior to therapy to 11.2 at ten weeks, then rose slightly on its own. I never required Procrit, for what it’s worth.

-Bill

[RobertBeWell]

I went from 17 to 14.2 in 6 weeks and haven't budged since. Same thing with my white counts. They dropped to low normal range and have stayed there, or just barely below normal, the entire time.

I can feel a drop in my stamina, but I've found nothing I can't physically do that I could before TX started, I just have to pace myself a bit more is all.

RBW

[spectda]

We all have a different experience with hgb. It doesn't seem from what you have reported that your hgb would stabilize on it's own. For 25-30% of us who become anemic  (hgb under 10) either dose reduction or procrit is necessary to continue treatment. Procrit will often allow a person to maintain their ribavirin dosage but does come with it's own risks.

My body has been unable to keep up with the destruction of red blood cells and my hgb continued to decline even with a high weekly dose of procrit. Then again I have been taking boceprevir in addition to riba and ifn which adds to the anemia.

If you are taking procrit and you are at the max dose (60,000 units weekly) then there may be a time when your riba dose will need to be reduced.

My body was able to adjust somewhat when I had a period of time in the 9-9.5 range although of course my activity was limited. When your hgb drops quickly often at the beginning of treatment it can be extremely debilitating, but as I mentioned you will likely adjust to it

Good luck,
Dave

[Junebug812]

My hgb started at 13.5 and dropped to 9.7 in 6 weeks. I felt like a mess and required Procrit. That was 4 weeks ago. It elevated 10 11.9 in the last 4 weeks. Now I am taking Procrit (40,000 units) every other week to see what happens. I won't have blood work done until the end of the month so I don't know what effect skipping Procrit will have until then. I feel ok, but not able to do a lot of physical activity.

Good luck!
June

[Gee704]

My hgb started at 14.9 and the rug was pulled out form underneath me by tx week 8 when it fell to 9.6. It pretty much remained around 10 throughout treatment however my dosing was reduced. No procrit as I was in a trial.

Everyone is different though.

[sherritaylor12]

Having the same problem with hgb, and they reduced dose of rib.  Can you tell me what the outcome of your treatment is on reduced dose? Thanks

[spectda]

Hi Gee-
how are you doing?

[Gee704]

Presently I am 8 weeks post treatment and UND. My riba was reduced from week 8 through week 48. Hang in there! I was very concerned too but I held the faith that my body was absorbing the medication well thereby clearing the virus.

Good luck! We are all pulling for you ; )