drop in platlets

[pcds]

Hasn't been a problem before but my weekly labs was 81.  Been well over 120 while treating.  I've had a horrible flu  this week and taking lots of ibuprofen and some tylenol everyday I've been so sick.  Any connection?  

[apache53]

I have been off the hep c meds since the 2nd of this month. I was starting to feel good and a couple of days ago all of a sudden I feel dizzy, pukey, like I am going to throw up but don't and headaches! I took tylenol and that did not help. Just keep swallowing lots of saliva. What is going on here? I am scheduled to go back to work on the 24th of this month. Has anyone else experienced this?  apache

[HectorSF]

The lowering of platelets is normal during treatment. It is a side effect of interferon. If they didn't drop that would be odd. You have plenty of platelets. There is no reason to be concerned. Platelets help the blood to clot. When you get a cut and stop bleeding it is because platelets gather are the cut and stop the bleeding. Nothing to do with the flu. As I said this is normal. If this is your only issue with treatment then you are doing very well.

Although this isn't an issue for you. I would like to point out that
Ibuprofen like other NSAIDs, reduce the ability of blood to clot and therefore increase bleeding after an injury. It also causes kidney problems and fluid retention. These are all issues for cirrhotic patients. That is why people with very advanced liver disease i.e. decompensated cirrhosis/ESLD should not take Ibuprofen or any NSAID. People with cirrhosis should only take Tylenol for mild pain relief.

Best of luck with your treatment!

Hector

[sandysf]

If your blood was being checked a couple times per week (I am not suggesting this is necessary) as mine was for a few weeks, you would see the bounce in platelets.  Within a couple of days of my peg shot, my platelets dropped to low 70's (I am stage 0, grade 1) and then by end of week they bounced back up to low 100's.   I started at 223.   So I wouldn't sweat the platelets at this point, depending on the day of blood draw they could vary widely.  

[lynda607]

Platelets bounce around, 80's are still good.  Next CBC may show higher or even lower.  Sounds like the usual hammering from the interferon.  An aggressive doc doesn't seem overly concerned if the platelets drop in the 20's but you can't participate in any blood sport. :)

[coeric]

interferon can also nuke platelets by slowing platelet production. the following discusses a platelet pathway that may be altered by interferon.

Megakaryocytes possess a functional intrinsic apoptosis pathway that must be restrained to survive and produce platelets

It is believed that megakaryocytes undergo a specialized form of apoptosis to shed platelets. Conversely, a range of pathophysiological insults, including chemotherapy, are thought to cause thrombocytopenia by inducing the apoptotic death of megakaryocytes and their progenitors. To resolve this paradox, we generated mice with hematopoietic- or megakaryocyte-specific deletions of the essential mediators of apoptosis, Bak and Bax. We found that platelet production was unperturbed. In stark contrast, deletion of the prosurvival protein Bcl-xL resulted in megakaryocyte apoptosis and a failure of platelet shedding. This could be rescued by deletion of Bak and Bax. We examined the effect on megakaryocytes of three agents that activate the intrinsic apoptosis pathway in other cell types: etoposide, staurosporine, and the BH3 mimetic ABT-737. All three triggered mitochondrial damage, caspase activation, and cell death. Deletion of Bak and Bax rendered megakaryocytes resistant to etoposide and ABT-737. In vivo, mice with a Bak−/− Bax−/− hematopoietic system were protected against thrombocytopenia induced by the chemotherapeutic agent carboplatin. Thus, megakaryocytes do not activate the intrinsic pathway to generate platelets; rather, the opposite is true: they must restrain it to survive and progress safely through proplatelet formation and platelet shedding.

[coeric]

sorry to read about your flu bug.  sometimes it seems we just can't catch a break.
this is from wikipedia
For instance, aspirin irreversibly disrupts platelet function by inhibiting cyclooxygenase-1 (COX1), and hence normal hemostasis.  The resulting platelets are unable to produce new cyclooxygenase because they have no DNA.  Normal platelet function will not return until the use of aspirin has ceased and enough of the affected platelets have been replaced by new ones, which can take over a week.  Ibuprofen, another NSAID, does not have such a long duration effect, with platelet function usually returning within 24 hours,
i wonder if the flu has any effect on platelet number?
my platelets took a big drop in the first week of triple  therapy going from 106 to 67.
eric

[crossroadsec]

My dr said this week that my spleen was a little enlarged. No pain. But when I asked, there was a lot of detail about that being part of the problem w my platelets... The blood backs up from portal valve? It's typical tx symptom and I guess the worse stage ur liver is in, the more quickly they drop?
Sry. I don't hold onto those kinds of details like some experts on here do.... Wish I could. But that may be a topic for research.  Yoiura r still high... I was at 69 I'm April. 22 last week n back up to hi 30/ or 40s now. Did ur dr give you a limit on how much to take? Karen :)