White count increasing

Have been taking Calquence for 2 weeks. Bloodwork yesterday showed White cell count has doubled. My Dr who I trust explicitly told me this is not uncommon when first starting this med. Has anyone else had this happen?

[Smith123456]

it;s normal with btk inhibitors. your lymph nodes are being cleaned out and pushed into blood stream. wbc will be raised for awhile and then decline.

[Hidden in reply to Smith123456]

Thank you, that makes sense. Makes us feel better 👍🏻

[Jacksc06]

Hi. As i understand it white cell count can indeed increase when starting medications including Calquence. Perhaps the more learned on the forum can advise. Best wishes.

[Dew77]

Hello Charlie, I started Calquence on March 5th. My oncologist said that my WBC count would increase at first and indeed it did. It went from 30K to 45K after 3 weeks of taking the medicine so nothing to worry about. The main reason for starting the Med is the debilitating fatigue that I was experiencing. I have noticed the fatigue to get a little better however my headaches have increased in which the doc says is a side effect of the medication and they should subside in a couple of months. I wish you the best. Cheers

[Hidden in reply to Dew77]

Thank you so much for helping set my mind more at ease. Good wishes to you

[Pageboy]

Hi, yes, that happened to me too. I’m starting month five and after the first month going up, my blood work showed WBC dropping slowly. After four months they have suddenly dropped a lot (121 to 67, a number I haven’t seen for years!) and that’s expected to continue. Don’t worry!

[Hidden in reply to Pageboy]

Many thanks to you. 👍🏻🙏🏻

[budw59 in reply to Pageboy]

I have been on Calquence for 13 days. My nodes in my neck are already gone. I am concerned about my white count. It was 179,000 when started and as of yesterday, it has jumped to 301,000. I have had hardly any side effects and I feel so much better already. Just hoping the white count doesn't go much higher.

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to budw59]

Bud, it's the CLL from your shrinking nodes which have boosted your lymphocyte count and hence your white blood cell count. BTK inhibitors work by blocking the CLL B Cell Receptor, which blocks CLL cell adhesion, so the CLL cells slip out of the nodes into the blood stream where they eventually die. CLL cells are small, slightly larger than red blood cells, so are very unlikely to cause circulation problems. We've had members report temporarily considerably higher lymphocyte counts than you - the highest I recall was over double yours. I've heard of one CLL patient with a lymphocyte count of 1,400,000. Your lymphocyte counts should drop below your starting level in a month or so.

Neil

[budw59 in reply to AussieNeil]

Thanks. So far I’m really impressed on how much better I feel. I was getting choked out from all the nodes in my neck. They were nearly gone in a week.

[Eucalyptus22]

Yes that happened to me too. I started Acalabrutinib at end of October and my WBC shot up to 220k after two weeks. The ' vacuum cleaner ' was going through my lymph nodes and emptying out the rubbish in to my blood.By the end of 4 months all my bloods were in the normal range with no side effects.

Additionally my hbA1c for long term sugar had dropped to 33 from 50. A real bonus.

Good luck with the treatment.

[Hidden in reply to Eucalyptus22]

Thanks for your info and good wishes! Wishing you continued success!!