Well what next

[popys]

Hello you lovely, lovely people. you gave so much support, just about receiving my husbands medicine. He has just had his 3 month blood review and the the doctor was a little off hand. Tried to talk about the fact that it is a horrible time for doctors etc. Anyway, she explained that his WBC went to 300,000 blimey (2 months ibrutinib) then went down to 100,000. Does this resonate with anyone?

[cajunjeff]

Well there is not much information you have provided. There are many lab results other than wbc that inform if our treatments are working.

It is very normal with ibrutinib that you would see a spike with his wbc, followed by a decline. The limited results you report seem perfectly normal to me for someone starting out on ibrutinib.

Ibrutinib works very well for the majority of people who take it as a first treatment. Good luck going forward.

[popys in reply to cajunjeff]

Thankyou so much for your reply. What other info would you need to see? The trouble is that he doesn't want to know so I cannot get the information. Nightmare!! I know that all his other bloods are good?

[cajunjeff in reply to popys]

Cll can cause wbc and lymphocytes you go up while causing hemoglobin and platelets to go down. Ibrutinib can help get all numbers back in normal range. The fact his wbc is still elevated so early in his treatment is expected. When we start Ibrutinib our wbc usually spikes up as Cll cells are chased from our lymph nodes into the bloodstream. Then wbc goes back down as what appears to be happening with your husband.

If your doctor says other labs are normal, that’s fantastic. Sounds like he is doing great to me.

[popys in reply to cajunjeff]

Thankyou xx

[Canuck901]

Yeah you would see a spike at first before it drops that’s normal , did you see that spike yet ?

[Flyfisher70]

Yes, my initial response, which was expected, was a dramatic increase in WBC, then a gradual and steady decline.

[Mystic75]

Hi Popys,

Here is a good explanation from the CLL Society:

'Many patients become alarmed when first starting ibrutinib because the first lab tests after starting this medication often show a dramatic rise in the White Blood Cell (WBC) count. This is, in fact, a sign that the medication is working as lymphocytes in the bone marrow and lymph nodes are driven into the circulating blood where they can be affected by the drug.'