Question about hemoglobin counts....

My daughter is in the hospital right now receiving IvIg treatments...her counts are up from 2k to 64k but now her hemoglobin is at a 7.9 which is the lowest they have gone...they seem to hang a little low but never gone this low is a part of ITP or lupus or because of the IvIg or oral steriods.....does anyone know.....

We did see counts jump around a bit with IVIG but also with ITP in general. Mostly we saw whites go up and down but we've also seen reds do the same - just not as much. Wouldn't hurt to ask the doctor but I wouldn't be surprised if they blow it off and just say it's normal. Which doesn't help mommy worry.

Well now I have been told she has evans syndrome along with lupus

Just want to share with you that my daughter had a very similar problem as your daughter with the difference that her hemoglobin dropped to 3.6 and platelets at 5-6k. On November 5, 2010 her doctor diagnosed her with ITP (chronic) and Hemolytic Anemia. From this date on my daughter was in and out of the hospital receiving IVIG treatments and taking steriods for about 5 months and seen every 1 week to 2 weeks. Like all mothers we are all looking for a better alternative to treat this disorder. It was very hard for me dealing with this and knowing that this disorder was uncureable, as they say. I tried lots of natural products but nothing as effective as the transfer factors from 4 life, in combination with other products to help speed her recovery and treatment effectiveness. As of last week her results were outstanding, hemoglobin at 12.5, a level we were never able to get her to and platelets at 155k. She has been on this treatment almost two months and is still consuming a high dosage. We hope to start tapering it off in about month once she has her next lab test. We plan on leaving her on a low dosage for optimum health.

thank you for sharing your story...i was just wondering how old your daughter is..my daughter was in the hospital a little over a week ago and is scheduled for labs on thurs....always scary cause it is almost 2 weeks and well she ends up low...but i am still hopeful....the only thing is that last time she was in the hospital she had some sort of a panic attack i think or a reaction to the high dose steriod they gave her before starting the IvIg treatment...she started with a flushed face ...then had pain in her chest and then she started crying that her head hurt and then she said she couldnt breath well needless to say i flipped cause i was like what the heck is going on....alot of nurses ran in to try and calm her down...her respirations went up close to 200 and they checked her blood gases which came back normal and they did an xray which also came back normal so what i dont understand is what happened....she was fine and it just all of a sudden hit her.....i dont know...this really scared me....has your daughter experienced anything like this....she left the hospital with her hemoglobin at 6 and her platelets at 187k ....it just seems like everything gets so out of wack with her treatments....she has even begged me to let her try to heal herself on her own...she says the meds hurt her more....i know that as a mother i have to do what is best for her but what is best for her????thats a question that weighs heavy on my mind......tina

I am an adult with ITP, but I have hemolytic anemia as well. My hemolytic anemia went into remission after a splenectomy but I still have ITP. I know they use Rituxan for both hemolytic anemia and ITP, at least in adults. The thing I wanted to say is be sure she takes vitamins with iron and especially B 12 and folic acid. She is having to make alot of red blood cells and needs these. This was very difficult for me to deal with as an adult, I can't imagine what it is like for a child. I also had a panic attack during treatment once. Breathing exercises and yoga and tai chi helped me for the panic.


Dru

I feel for you. I know what it is going into the doctor for lab test every 1 to 2 weeks and seeing a huge drop on platelets. My daughter is 17 and she did experience at the beginning small anxiety attacks, but not as bad as your daughter. However, what affected her the most was the medication (pred/zant)she was on. Her sleep was interupted, felt tired at all times,weak,and experienced some nausea. On her last visit to the doctor right about April she dropped into tears and did not want to be hospitalized for another treatment. She did not want this to be part of her life and wanted to handle it her way. Her platelets were at 38 and sure enough we had no other option at the moment but to hospitalize her before they dropped evan lower. I really hope you give your daughter the opportunity to try this product. We have had a family member get cured from cancer and this is one of the major reasons I decided to give it to my daughter. Like I said she is now a normal child, looking forward to go back to school this coming year. My prayers are with you and all who suffer from this disorder.

Miranda
smashglow@gmail.com

OMG....so your daughter had very similar reactions to my daughter...i mean we are actually starting to battle her going into the hospital for her treatments...she says she doesnt want to go in anymore...and starts crying and the battle begins.....is that a medication the doctor prescribed or what? can you tell me more....tina

thank you dru....i am defintely gonna try the relaxation techniques....we (her and I) had talked about that at one point but for some reason we didnt follow through with it....i guess cause she was probably going back in the hospital....and i will talk to the doctor about the vitamins and stuff which i really hadnt thought about only because they area always telling nothing but tylenol....tina

no it's not medication the doctor can prescribe for you. however, it is found on the PDR (physicians desk reference)book. it has no side effects,and they are not vitamins, minerals, or herbs. They are molecules that communicate antigenic immunological information interecellarly and from a donor to a recipient. My daughter took the transfer factor plus, plus other products for this disorder. You either need to become a distributor, which I did myself or purchase it from a distributor. It's not available at any pharmacies.

thank you so much....i found it and i will recieve it in a couple of days....i am also going to modify her diet....she is not too happy about that but we will have to work on it some how....

Just a thought, where she said she was interested in healing herself. Maybe you could let her research about healthy diets and different foods that help boast red blood cell production-foods with iron, folic acid, B vitimans. Maybe if she was able to have some control over it, or designed a diet herself she might be happier over modifying it. Her body is having to constantly make new red blood cells, much more than other people and she needs the vitamins and nutrients from foods to help.

thats an awesome idea because she is being rebellious about the whole change and your right...she would absolutely feel better about being in control...i have been doing alot of research about how the body is affected by your diet with ITP and hemolytic anemia and have been trying to gather info for her but i am going to also have her research it like you say....thank you so much...this site is such a blessing...thank you...tina