I had blood work done on Monday before starting my first Revlimid, Velcade, and dexamethasone (RVD) treatment. My white count had dropped to 2.5 and my absolute neutrophils were 1.4. My white count normally averages around 3.5 to 4. I am unaware of any infection.
The nurse told me to stop taking all supplements except calcium and vitamin D.
How concerned should I be and what can I do to improve these counts?
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Re: Low white blood cell count prior to starting treatment
Hi,
Sorry to her about your difficulties. My sister's white blood cell (WBC) count is consistently low, 2.5 in her case is considered good and she carries on her treatment. Otherwise she would not be able to have treatment at all. She has not yet suffered from any infections.
When her count falls below 2 and she needs to have a new round of treatment, she gets an injection of filgrastim (Neupogen, Zarxio, Leucostim, etc), which improves her counts considerably, and she manages to get through the round (just). She usually has to do these injections before every new cycle of treatment. She did have to interrupt the cycle a couple of times due to low WBC.
She has recently relapsed and is going into hospital for inpatient cisplatin-based chemotherapy. She was instructed to have two filgrastim injections before the hospital admission.
Sorry to her about your difficulties. My sister's white blood cell (WBC) count is consistently low, 2.5 in her case is considered good and she carries on her treatment. Otherwise she would not be able to have treatment at all. She has not yet suffered from any infections.
When her count falls below 2 and she needs to have a new round of treatment, she gets an injection of filgrastim (Neupogen, Zarxio, Leucostim, etc), which improves her counts considerably, and she manages to get through the round (just). She usually has to do these injections before every new cycle of treatment. She did have to interrupt the cycle a couple of times due to low WBC.
She has recently relapsed and is going into hospital for inpatient cisplatin-based chemotherapy. She was instructed to have two filgrastim injections before the hospital admission.
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Gala - Name: Gala
- Who do you know with myeloma?: sister, LgA-k
- When were you/they diagnosed?: December 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 48
Re: Low white blood cell count prior to starting treatment
Hi lrosamond,
A low white blood cell count can be one of the consequences of having multiple myeloma. The disease often reduces the body's ability to generate new blood cells. When this happens with red blood cells, it results in anemia, which is a common symptom of multiple myeloma. But white blood cell production also can be affected by the disease.
Hopefully, your white blood cell counts will come up after you've been on treatment for a while. As suggested by Gala's post, however, there may be a period of time where the treatments you're getting will reduce your white blood cell count even further. So it may be necessary for you to get injections of filgrastim (Neupogen, etc) to increase your white blood cell count.
Good luck!
A low white blood cell count can be one of the consequences of having multiple myeloma. The disease often reduces the body's ability to generate new blood cells. When this happens with red blood cells, it results in anemia, which is a common symptom of multiple myeloma. But white blood cell production also can be affected by the disease.
Hopefully, your white blood cell counts will come up after you've been on treatment for a while. As suggested by Gala's post, however, there may be a period of time where the treatments you're getting will reduce your white blood cell count even further. So it may be necessary for you to get injections of filgrastim (Neupogen, etc) to increase your white blood cell count.
Good luck!
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