DollyPardonMe Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 My husband (who has been on Iressa since July 1) went to the Dr. today (he has been so very tired) and somehow picked up a bacterial infection while in the hospital. Well, as if he doesn't have enough to worry about, he developed diarehha, and it wouldn't stop (this started when he was in the hospital about 1-1/2 weeks ago). So I took him to the Dr. yesterday and they wanted a stool sample. Took that to the lab and this morning they called and said he had a bacterial infection. As I said above he is so very tired so they took a blood test and his WHITE blood count is very low. They will start Ansep spelling???? (a procrit like shot given every 2 weeks) tomorrow. He had to have the shots when he was about 3 treatments into chemo with taxol/carboplatin a little over a year ago. My questions is has anyone else had low red blood counts from Iressa? EDITED (SHOULD HAVE READ WHITE NOT RED!!!!!! SORRY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 My mommy had the shots, Ansepol or something like that, her blood count was done and she is on Iressa too. Her diarehea has also been very severe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAnn Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 Dolly, I have been on Iressa since May and have not had low blood counts, however I am very very tired. I'll bet the low counts are from the diarhea. Good luck with the shots and hope the infection clears up. TAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patut Posted August 26, 2004 Share Posted August 26, 2004 My hubbie is on Iressa and has to have procrit shots and extra iron as he became very anemic which made him tired. He gets a shot every two weeks and his last blood test showed his anemia is under control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay A. Posted August 26, 2004 Share Posted August 26, 2004 I did not have low white cell counts while on Iressa. I did receive injections of Aranesp for low white cell counts while undergoing conventional chemo treatments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAnn Posted August 26, 2004 Share Posted August 26, 2004 Dolly, Usually low white blood counts do not cause fatigue. It means that the body can not fight off infection. I had this happen while on chemo, but not Iressa. I had Nupogen (sp) shots to bring my white cell count back up along with antibiotics. Have they put him on antibiotics for the bacterial infection? Keep us posted.... TAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollyPardonMe Posted August 26, 2004 Author Share Posted August 26, 2004 Yes TAnn they put him on antibotics. They make him sick sometimes. His white count was 1.2 and the red count was around 3 or so. He had a bag of IV fluids on Monday and also another bag of IV fluid today. His blood pressure is low too. They give him the fluids to help with dehydration and raise the blood pressure. Now if we can keep him from not getting sick and drinking more fluids -- we will be on the right track. I'm hoping for a much better weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJAS Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Sorry to hear about the low blood counts. Steve has been getting the maximum dose of Aranesp for months and, surprisingly, when he went in last week for his weekly blood counts, they told him his numbers were so high that they couldn't give him the Aranesp, because the insurance wouldn't cover it if they were that high. He has been on Iressa for almost one month. He still gets pretty fatigued, but it's hard to tell how much of that is left over from WBR. Hope you get this figured out and things improve soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted August 27, 2004 Share Posted August 27, 2004 Iressa is not SUPPOSED to cause low white counts, but who knows Below is info in neutropenia. http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1640.htm It says netropenia can be cause by Nutritional deficiencies include vitamin B-12, folate, and copper deficiency Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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