common colds and counts

Hi all,

Been a while and have yet another question. Its been about 12 weeks since my wife's last rituxan infusion. She's been pretty sick most of this time period with colds, upper respiratory infections, sinus infections etc. Recently her counts have been trending downward.

Has anyone had such an experience where their counts had decreased as a result of a cold or cold like symptoms? Seems like the rituxan has worked (for a while at least) and she's starting to have her platelets drop. I know they bounce up and down but the past few counts seperated by a month and now two weeks are trending downward. Any thoughts?

People here have reported both effects of colds and viruses - increases and drops in platelets. I've had a few drops during my Rituxan remission that were probably due to minor illnesses.
Erica

For me, when my body undergoes some sort of shock (surgery, illness), my platelet-devouring organ appears to get distracted, and my counts almost always have gone up--and up a lot. I know this isn't true for everyone though.

karenr wrote: For me, when my body undergoes some sort of shock (surgery, illness), my platelet-devouring organ appears to get distracted, and my counts almost always have gone up--and up a lot. I know this isn't true for everyone though.

That is how it has worked for me as well. Although colds will knock me out of remissions.

Thanks everyone who have responded...we're paranoid that her remission may be a bit short lived. Attached is a spreadsheet we've been keeping since her diagnosis (10/22/2012). She started the Rituxan treatments on 11/14/2012 and showed a great response almost immediately. Perhaps if they drop again to where she needs treatment again that she'll be able to use the Ritixan again. I know obviously what she's got for counts now is great, like I said, we're paranoid it will continue the downward trend.

Thanks again.

Jay

Jay:

You never know what will happen, really. After my second Rituxan round, my counts went up to over 150k. Twice they fell into the 60's and twice they rebounded on their own. I've been in remission the last 8 years.

My husband's count always drops if he's sick or fighting something. Always.