Crazy two weeks...

Hi everyone!

Three weeks ago (Monday) I had a CBC- platelets at 270, at 30 mgs of Prednisone.
Between then and now, my father had a heart attack(thank goodness, he is recovering) I had an wicked exam at school, my boyfriend and I decided to go our separate ways and I developed the most persistent cold of my life...(thanks to the steroids, I presume).

The cold peaked one or two days before my last CBC(Thursday)- platelets at 205, at 10 mgs of prednisone.

My question is whether or not that kind of stress compounded with this ridiculous cold (now much better) could be to blame for the lower numbers?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

-Daniela

In theory stress could be related to platelet drops, but it seems more likely it is just the tapering of the prednisone or a natural fluctuation. A great count still.

I'm glad to hear your dad is recovering, that's scary. And what a bad two weeks you've had!
Erica

Daniela - that would be hard to say. It is more likely that the Prednisone taper was the reason, but a combination of factors wouldn't be unreasonable. In any event, it's pretty hard to avoid stress in life - it seems to find us anyway.

Thanks ladies!

Not exactly what I wanted to hear, haha. But at least it's 'normal'

Honestly, don't even worry about the difference between 270k and 205k. They are both quite high, and definitely in the healthy range.

It is patterns you want to watch for, or long term trends. Like, if it goes 270, 205, 145, 110, 70..... That's a downward trend. But one or two blips - man, I hate to say it, but that can be anything! In this case, prob the taper though.

I think the fact that you are at 205k at 10 mg is awesome. I hope these high numbers stick - good luck!

You're right, I just looked at my counts when I was tapering prednisolone and it was up and down but normal counts all the way. The ups and downs meant nothing.. until later.

Okay, I will definitely watch for that.

Thank you!

Stress seems to be good for my counts. I'm off all medicine now. When I was incredibly stressed on March 21 I got a CBC in the morning in preparation for a minor surgery to remove a mole that looked like it could be cancer. My count was 264 and my stress was sky high. It turned out not to be cancer, and I have been relaxed since then. On April 6 I went in for a scheduled hematology follow up appointment and lab. I had very low stress levels. My count was down to 194. If my next test is lower, I will begin to worry, in fact, I will begin to worry before the test, which might help my count.

Dave-
I'm glad the mole was not cancerous! I can imagine how stressful that might be...let us know how your counts hold! I'll be hoping 'up' for you.

My last CBC showed my counts at 211, up from 205(or the same with the margin of error in the lab) and since the 205 test I've tapered down on my prednisone. I'm at 5 mgs now, set to be totally off of the pills on Monday. I'm very nervous, but here's hoping they hold!

Daniela, a rising count on a lower dose of Prednisone has to be a good sign. I was on 5mg every other day for 4 weeks in January and got 4 consecutive counts between 216 and 223. Since going off the drug my count has fluctuated by 70 points, but has stayed good so far. Hopefully yours will too. I wish there was a research team keeping track of us so they could determine the most effective way to taper and see what people whose counts hold have in common. The only research I found showed that 29% of people who remain in remission after stopping prednisone were still in remission at an average of 4 year follow up. 71% needed more treatment before then. It didn't list any predictive factors or say what type of taper anyone did. There is plenty of research left to be done, and I wish I could help with it. Hopefully your count will hold and we will both eventually fall into the 29% category.

I hope you are right, thank you for the positivity.

My brain tells me that it's only logical for there to be a connection between tapering and remission, among other connections...
Right now I am amidst exams with school, but I hope to be able to keep a journal of how my counts do with my activities, eating, drinking and stress. If it yields no parallels, at least it will help me to feel proactive.