I finished salvage radiotherapy on 26th April and had a blood test on Tuesday 1st August. PSA is <0.1 which is great. I also realise it is very early days after radiotherapy.
But for the second time in three months my Neutrophil count is below the minimum value.
My GP has asked me to get a repeat blood test to check Neutrophils again but expressed a concern about the low count and it being as important a marker as my PSA.
I know many have had low Neutrophil counts due to treatment and wondered if there is anything I can do to help it increase?
Are there implications other than risk of infection from having a low neutrophil count?
I am still on HT until at least April 2019 and take Salazopyrin(Sulphasalasine) for psoriatic arthritis.
Many thanks in advance for the collective wisdom of this site. Best wishes, Ian.
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Hi Ian
This disease is a s**t! Gives you some good news and then slaps you with something else. Low white blood cells is a very big deal as they are the major fighters against infection in your armoury. I am currently under-going chemotherapy and get given Pegfilgrastim prophylactically after each session. After my second chemo session my neutrophil level dropped so low I developed a very bad chest infection that require hospitalisation for several days - scary! Hopefully, assuming the repeated test confirms the original diagnosis, your GP/oncologist can quickly instigate a course of treatment to reverse these low levels. You need to be very insistent that this happens soon in my opinion; but you know what they say about opinions?
Keep pushing back...
Boyd
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Thanks Boyd, I am getting rechecked soon and if low will insist on getting treatment to bring levels up. I hope all goes to plan with your chemo. I am seeing my oncologist on 14th August so will find out what his thoughts are. Usually he tells me he is convinced I have micro metastasis although nothing shows up on scans at the moment. Horrible thought. Best wishes, Ian.
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Low neutrophil count is sometimes caused by the HT but I would want to be sure the onco is aware of your test results just in case they are an indicator of activity in the bone marrow and/or bony micro-mets
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
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My husband had very low Neutrophils of 0.3 about a week after his first Chemo session and was admitted to hospital. All the hospital did was to give him antibiotics. He was self injecting Filgrastim. When they rechecked his blood it was then high so allowed home. Could yours be due to some form of infection? Your situation is very different to my husband's but I would suggest asking the Medics what can be done.
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Thanks Lyn, I will mention this to my oncologist a week on Monday when I see him.
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Thanks Lyn, I will mention this to my oncologist a week on Monday when I see him.
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Thanks for the reply. I will bring it up with my oncologist and after retest will make an appointment to see my GP.
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