|
A WBC of 2.1 is not necessarily too low on Gleevec. It is normal for Gleevec to suppress the WBC production. You need a doctor who is familiar with Gleevec to tell you what is too low. I was in this trap when I was first diagnosed and my ONC delayed putting me on 400mg because he thought the Gleevec was too toxic for me. That is old school, not Gleevec school! Either educate your doctor, or better still, find one who is a CML specialist or experienced with Gleevec. I have a document in the "Files" section of this group from Dr. Drucker and others explaining this and other important Gleevec issues.
Richard Troxel
visit my new Yahoo 360 page at
-------Original Message-------
Date: 09/20/05 09:54:40
Subject: [CML] Re: new to the cml group (Jennifer)
Brenda,
Thanks for the response. I actually had a rash prior to diagnosis
(it wasn't related). Sorry for the confusion. My wbc (at it's
lowest point) was 2.1. It is now at 4.4. I just hoped to be at the
standard 400 mg. dose. Maybe 300 mg is what will work for me. I
guess time will tell. I live about 30 miles outside of St. Louis, MO
and most of my dr.'s are there. Does anyone know of a good dr. in
St. Louis?
Jennifer
--- In [email protected], "Brenda Morelli" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Welcome Jennifer,
>
> Rash is a common side effect in Gleevec, the minimum starting
dosage is
> 400mg for chronic phase patients so that could be an issue if you
can't
> take it. However, a lot of times the docs will have you take a
> vacation from the gleevec, put you on medicine for the rash and
then re-
> start you. How low did your WBC go? In the beginning mine went
down
> to 2.1 and then slowly went back up. Most folks do fine the second
> time around and have no other issues, others just continue to have
> issues and must look at other treatment options. Keep us posted on
how
> your doing and feel free to ask any questions.
> Brenda Morelli (43)
> dx 5/04
> pcru 5/05
>
>
>
> --- In [email protected], "jenniferabosse" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> > Hi, my name is Jennifer and I was diagnosed on May 2, 2005 after
> having
> > the flu/rash and going in for routine blood work. My wbc were
31,000
> > at dx and got as high as 41,000 before starting Gleevec. My wbc
at
> my
> > last appt. was 4,400. As I have read a lot of information on cml
and
> > gleevec, it seems as if the standard dose is 400mg, but that a
lot
> of
> > people are taking 600 or 800mg. I am currently only taking 300mg.
I
> > started out at 400mg, but have been up and down on dosage all
summer
> > due to my white counts being too low. Apparently I was having
> > myelosuppression from the gleevec. I am so new to this and just
feel
> > like maybe I am not getting all of the correct info. Am also in
the
> > process of finding a new dr. Any insight would help. Thanks!!
| 
