It's been a long time since I've posted. Thankfully, my husband has been living a good life since surviving 6 months of FCR back in 2013.
His blood counts have never returned to "normal" (all low, some fluctuate from low to lower). We still see the onco/hemo doc every few months. Over the last two years or so his platelet numbers have dipped quite a bit. Doctor is running a bunch more tests, but had no immediate ideas as to what is going on.
My question is this: since retirement and the pandemic, our daily glass of wine has expanded to become two or three glasses, sometimes four for him. Could this be the culprit?
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dwolden
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I'll venture a pure guess. I drink a few glasses of wine a night ( I say "few" because its variable and sounds better than several). I can put a whole bottle down easily some nights, and there is no sugarcoating it, that's probably not a healthy choice on many levels.
My guess is the answer is yes, it possible 4 glasses of wine could decrease platelets, but if its a big dip, something else is likely the cuplrit. That's just a guess.
You did not say what color wine you drink. the link below is to a study involving the effects on platelets in rats. Evidently the rats do better with white wine than red.
What is most interesting to me is not the results of the study, but the fact someone designed a study giving rats white and red wine. Was it a cab or a merlot the rats drank? What vintage were they given? They are rats, so I hope cheese was included.
Depriving the rats of alcoholic beverages for 18 hours was associated with an increase in the platelet response of 124% in those receiving 6% ethanol, of 46% with white wine but a decrease of 59% in those with red wine.
Alcohol definitely affects platelets as well as other blood components. Some people will be affected more than others, and genetics plays into it. This article talks more about the "alcoholism" spectrums' excessive effects, but highlights the various blood components & how they are affected in "non-techy" language. IMO cutting back to no more than 1 again will improve parameters. And a break of days/weeks here & there will help even more. IMO one reason there are various "conclusions" regarding alcohol as a negative to health or not, is due to various people reacting differently. Some populations cannot metabolize alcohol efficiently and get more toxicity than others. Plus, any meds one is taking that have anything to do with the liver complicate this. Especially OTC acetaminophen/paracetamol.
Definitely not a good idea to drink that much & I think daily even one is becoming a habit for him. Could he stop if he wanted? Substitute something else for awhile? You may need to change your choice of drink too to in order for him to attempt any change.
I bet if he told any of his doctors that he drank 2-4 glasses a day, they would tell him it was way too much & can definitely effect his health. Not only for CLL but for other possible health issues.
I had 3 rounds of FCR and in remission since 2018. I didn't drink at all during chemo as per hematologist's orders & since chemo works in the body for years after, I drank maybe 3 or 4 glasses the whole year. I didn't want anything to effect my remission.
I barely drink now. Tastes different and lost interest in it.
I am offering ideas, and he has agreed to scale back a bit. I agree I can help by example and am cutting back to one glass a day, and skipping other days. We will try!
This doesn’t answer your question, but I heard a specialist on the radio a few years ago and based on his research he suggested just 1 drink a day, and having a 48 hour break once a week. I follow that religiously, although to be honest I rarely drink even 5 drinks a week. That is kind of ironic, since I am an avid home brewer 🤣 I was going to sell my brewing equipment right after my diagnosis in September, but once a few folks on the forum convinced me I may be around a few years I decided to keep it. I give most of my beer away, as according to recent studies there is a linear dose risk with alcohol and cancer. (I don’t give any one person too much!).
I still choose to have some, as life is about picking one’s poison as they say. My advice would not be to eliminate it, but he should think about cutting back.
On the FCR in 2013, wow!! I would give me eye and all other teeth for a remission that long, that is something to celebrate!
Thank you for your wise and kind words. We are grateful every day for this long remission, but he earned it: the chemo and its aftermath pretty near killed him.
As your question indicates, you are already aware that the blood is responsible for gathering, delivery and measure of all things necessary to maintain normal function of the body, as well as the monitoring, gathering and dispersion for removal of anything harmful in the body. The body meaning "A complex network of cells and organs that define a whole person". Consider also that the brain being the base station for measure and directing is effected with immediacy. Thereafter, every function of measure and response in the body is relative to the alteration provided by the presence and level of alcohol.
There are innumerable scholarly publications detailing the effects of alcohol on the body, however, as you study keep in mind that we also have blood that is unique having CLL whether treated or untreated.
Although alcohols effect on you body is much more complicated than what can be discussed in one article, here is one article to start with - nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-t...
In a nutshell - The buzz you feel is booze killing your brain cells, and by the time the rest of your body speaks out, there is trouble in paradise.
Another once said If I must then "Quality not quantity".
I'm not sure what you mean by a glass. A niece of mine gave me a Christmas gift of a glass, it would hold a whole bottle of wine with room to spare. I also have glasses that hold less than 10cl. Bars serve 125ml or 250ml, 1/6 or a 1/3 of a bottle. Alcohol is not healthy but from an instinctive view point there are probably a whole range of different factors that have seen a significant change with lockdown and may be the cause. However, probably greater significance its a change in CLL. A return to more healthy 'diet' and exercise is probably beneficial to remove it as potential cause.
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Blood viscosity and wbc count
Blood Count results and their direction!
Illness for two months, low white blood count just at 1. 
Re: Extremely High White Blood Cell Counts (Over 150,000)
Fasting - to lower white blood cell count
