Steroids affect Platelet levels & HYdroxy doesn't equal worsening MPN

[katiewalsh]

Thought you might want to know this. I got worried   today when my platelet levels at my local lab had climbed up with no apparent reason. Fortunately my great MPN expert at Moffit Cancer Center was available through his nurse and I learned 2 things.  My being on Prednisone can affect my platelet levels and, of most concern to me, an increase in the amount of Hydroxy required to keep platelets down has no bearing on whether the disease is progressing; independant of whether the rise in platelets is related to Prednisone.  Apparently it's the amount of blasts in your marrow or blood that indicate disease progression.  Hope this helps someone

[cannonfire]

Did your white cells increase also? I just finished 2 rounds of steroids and my white counts went from 10.8 to 12.5. Unnerved me , but I read that steroids can also cause an increase in white cells.  Has anyone else seen this?

[katiewalsh in reply to cannonfire]

Yes, mine jumped from 7.3 last week to 11.1 this week and my ANC (do you know what that is?) went from 6.1 to 9.2.