Worried about My white blood cell count!

I was diagnosed with hepc 2b on 9-15-2006.  I began Pegasys and Ribavirin treatment on 01-09-2007.  In 4 weeks my viral load went from 1.5 million to undetectable and that is great.  On my recent blood work I found out that my white blood count has dropped to 2.4 and I was wondering why this happens and what I can do to fix it and also if this is the reason I have been feeling really crappy.  If anyone has answers please help.

[sfbaygirl]

2.4 WBC is not that low. The number you want to watch is the ANC or Segs these are the ones the dr's look at to see if you may need a booster to help keep your white cells up there. Hopefully you are getting frequent CBC's. It is pretty normal for the white count to go down during tx.

[FlGuy]

It's nice to see you up and about and that you clearly have your wits about you again. John's a good guy

[wyntre9]

First of all, CONGRATS on being UND in only 4 weeks.

That's great news!

I started 12/23/06 and my WBC and other counts have been low since week 2.

My Dr. put me on Neupogen but I still feel like Cr**.

What's your genotype and how long are you scheduled to treat?

wyntre

[sfbaygirl]

Hey there! I haven't talked to you for awhile. How is the new tx going? Looks like I had to drop out of our class, although, I still want to walk that graduation stage with you guys! Still rooting for all our SVR's, although I didn't get to go the whole way, I gave it my all.

I am feeling stronger, although still sleeping over 12 hours a day. I am hoping to get that post tx energy back soon. You felt pretty good for a while before jumping back in the fray, didn't you?

John is an extremely sweet guy and is the most caring person I have ever met. I was so worried about him the first week in the hospital, I told him that I was more worried about him than me. He was almost catatonic he was so stressed. He couldn't put a sentence together. I got him to jump on that treadmill and it helped lower the stress. He is the best thing that ever happened to me and am so grateful he is in my corner. I told him what you said. Made him feel good!

[Teufelhunden]

2.4 is nothing to be concerned about unless it drops. I was in the lows to mid 2's for almost 35 weeks. I took Neupogen weekly and it bumped up my WBC until the doc started reading my ANC latter part of Nov. He said anything below 1000 I'd need a shot but I've stayed above that number since. Your low WBC is probably the reason you feel crappy. Also might want to stay away from sick people. We tend to get sicker and longer when we catch something.  Might want to mention it to your doctor next time you see her...or him. One thing I learned the hard way was water intake. Gotta drink water! Good luck!

[wyntre9]

Just noticed your moniker.

Did ya get it from:

Lia Lia bo bia
banana fanna fo fia
fee fi mo mia
lia

Just wondering.  :)

[friole]

lia - I will chime in here too.  My WBC rarely got above 2.0 during my entire 56 weeks of treatment.  I was on Neupogen, and if your counts do drop lower, your doctor may suggest that you start taking it.  The main thing the doctors will be concerned about is whether you are picking up a lot of infections.  If you are not, there is not a big concern.  The lab number that is more important than the WBC is the ANC (Absolute Neutrophils) also called #NE on the CBC.

wyntre -- I think you re on to something.  Lia - is that where you name comes from?  I love that song and it runs thru my head a lot with certain peoples names.  I can't quite do it with wintre tho

sfbay girl  - you are sounding well, and it sounds like your final decision has been made to terminate at 47 or 48.  Correct?  I think that is the prudent choice.  When will you get a PCR?

bean bean bo bean
banana fanna fo fean
fe fi mo mean
b-e-a-n
(frijole just doesn't fit)

[wyntre9]

Wyntre wyntre
bo byntre
banana fanna
fo fyntre
Fee fi Mo-yntre
Wyntre

You're right

Friole doesn't work unless you shorten it either to;

FRIO
or
OLE

:)

[orphanedhawk]

Did you do neupogen the whole time? Neupogen is getting me down. I'm taking it twice weekly and my wbc stay around 1.5   I keep thinking there's something I can eat to help improve my wbc but I can't find anything on-line, so far.

[friole]

Seems like I read something that was supposed to help with the whites too -- was it wheatgrass or something like that.  Anyway, it looked fairly gross and I doubted its effectiveness.

I used Neupogen from week 16 thru 56 and for the month after txing.  I think the hemotologist would have liked me to do it more, but I wouldn't budge.  Every Monday I would get my CBC and I would wait for the results and talk to the nurse (who was really hepatitis naive, but willing to help and learn).  As long as I wasn't picking up infections, they would let me do it once a week.

You know, I really didn't notice the side effects from the Neup until those few I took after txing.  All by itself, I could really feel the bone aches.

How is it getting you down?  Are you getting any infections?  What is your ANC (#NE)?  What week are you on now?

frijole

[orphanedhawk]

I started neupogen twice weekly, week 8 and I just did week 15 (or was it 16?). I self inject. Besides getting sore from injections, I'm tired and have less energy. Conversely, I do feel better in some odd way. On my CBCs my wbc stay around 1.5 and my absolute nuetrphils stay around 500. I'm doing 90 mg of pegasys and 1000 riba. I weigh 102 lbs and am easily effected by medicines.  
   They are getting me down mostly emotionally. I hate taking them. After  I do, I am irritable and my skin gets sensitive. If I can't eat spicy food and can't be hugged, then all that's left is...chocolate.
     I can hang in there and do whatever is needed but I sure would love to stop the neupogen shots!!