Vaccination Questions

My CBCs have been holding at 47,000 without any meds, which is allowing me to get all of the vaccinations the doc wants me to have in place prior to immune suppressants or the need for a splenectomy. I'm awaiting a Shingles, whooping cough and tetanus, but this morning's count dropped to 28,000. Doc is OK as long as I don't go below 20,000. My shots, in groups of three are being spaced a week apart.

My questions are:

-Should I be worried about the Rituximab triggering the Shingles et all, once the Rituximab is given?

-Will having newly taken vaccines make me more vulnerable to side effects during the infusion?

I would think 'no' to both of your questions.

None of those are the common pre-splenectomy vaccines, however. Rituxan can make vaccines less effective.

If your count dropped to 28 after you'd had some vaccinations, that'll be why. Vaccinations sometimes trigger the destruction of platelets along with the formation of antibodies against the disease being vaccinated for.

I thought ITPers weren't supposed to have the shingles vaccine. At least, I was told I shouldn't have live vaccines because of my ITP.

Karen I was told the same thing.

I was told that when I was on immunosuppressants but not otherwise.