Bloodwork after 6 shots

Posted by ronludington @ronludington, 1 day ago

wbc went down from 8.8 to 4.6
Hemaglobin went up, 13.4 to 14.2
Platelets 299 to 233
Neutrophils 71.7 % to 54.4 % (not sure how this relates to actual count)
What do you think about those numbers.
Still waiting on other bloodwork.

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Profile picture for rashida @rashida

@ronludington what shots are you referring to?

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@rashida kevzara , I should have put that in the title, but it won't let me edit anything.

REPLY

Your bloodwork and Kevzara are a discussion for you and your Dr.
My numbers chged like yours after many more shots and long after stopping prednisone. So, I am pain free when “we” addressed my bloodwork.
Keep asking your dr and this group.

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I would defer to what your doctor says about your labs. To correctly interpret lab values, the context of your entire medical history needs to be evaluated. Your doctor can make a better interpretation than I can.

Normal ranges for WBC can vary depending on the lab. Your 4.6 value falls in the lower part of the normal range. There was a significant decrease from your prior lab value but you need 3 lab values to establish a trend. I would suspect your doctor might recheck your labs again in a few weeks.

Both of your neutrophil percentages are within the normal range.

People on Kevzara often see a drop in neutrophil counts. This is a well-documented laboratory abnormality associated with interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor blockers. I was told that my Absolute Neurtrophil Count (ANC) was the more important lab value that bears watching when people start out on Kevzara and Actemra.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7376291/
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An excerpt from the above link says the following about Kevzara and neutrophil counts:

"WHAT IS THE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE ON THE TOPIC?

☑ Decreased absolute neutrophil count (ANC) is observed within hours following administration of interleukin‐6 receptor (IL‐6R) inhibitors sarilumab and tocilizumab. This decrease is not associated with increased risk of infection. Emerging evidence suggests the effects of IL‐6R inhibitors on ANC are due to margination of circulating neutrophils into a rapidly mobilizable noncirculating pool without loss of function, rather than a decreased overall number of neutrophils in the body."
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While you are on both Prednisone and Kevzara, your infection risk is probably more than if your were only on either medication by itself. I have been on Actemra alone after I was able to get off prednisone 5 years ago. My ANC dropped initially but it has stayed in the low end of normal. More importantly ... I haven't had any serious infections while on Actemra ---knock on wood.

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