Pentoxifylline and aplastic anemia

[fetus]

I had bloods done recently and both red count and white count where just low. I did some search and found that one of the Side effect of Pentoxifylline is this thing called
"aplastic anemia" that does just this to blood count. I AM STOPPING Pentoxifylline. This frustrates me for sure. But there is nothing else I can do.

Has anyone heard of this?

[pizzaman]

That's scary. I recall someone recently saying Pentox reduced their white blood cell count. I think it was George.  

[George999]

It is temporary, my white cell count is fine now and my red cell count is back to borderline normal.  Pentoxifylline depresses bone marrow.  It is NOT TOXIC to bone marrow.  There is a huge difference.  Bone marrow toxicity can cause permanent damage.  This is not the case with Pentoxifylline.  I had low white cell counts for a long time and the doctors, nevertheless, continued with the Pentoxifylline for as long as I needed it.  And if I were to have another flare up, I would not hesitate in taking it again.  Once you are off it for an extended period, everything eventually goes back to normal.  - George

[fetus]

My White Cell Count was 3.9 x 10 9/L Normal range indicated as (4.0 - 11.0)

My Red  Cell Count was 4.3 x 10 12/L Normal range indicated as (4.5 - 6.5)

My Platelets where 221 x 10 9 /L Normal range indicated as (150 - 400)


I read that with Aplastic Anemia ALL THREE NEED TO COME BACK LOW.

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My doctor has told me that I am extremely anxious about all this. And suggested I had to make a decision if
I wanted to continue with TRENTAL. Yesterday when I wrote to him again, we replied that I should just stop the TRENTAL and continue with ALC 500mg twice daily and Vit E 500UI daily and suggested occasional 1/4 Levitra, and said there was no need to do anything else.

I definitely have bombarded him ALL MY ANXIETY and I think we just said enough is enough. For sure TRENTAL has made be worrie of its possible side effects.

What I read today about ALL THREE count needing to be low for it to be APLASTIC ANEMIA, tend to indicate that I dont  have this....

Any ideas or comments...

REGARDS

[George999]

I think you are overly worried about this.  It is a common side effect with Pentoxifylline and not one that is found to be harmful in the long term.  Of course if you are suffering from some sort of infection, it is wise to take a break from Pentox until things are cleared up.  But the sort of mild anemias and leukopenias that Pentox typically causes are not serious enough to become disturbed about.  - George

[funnyfarm]

If you have complete faith in traditional doctors and allopathic medicine then as you mentioned, you have nothing to be concerned about.

However if you think your system being out of balance may impede healing or worse, then it would be best to discontinue.  Eastern practitioners would warn you that the stress (emotional and pharmacological) are detrimental to recovery.  

If I was in your shoes I would also feel conflicted and this may explain some of your anxiety.  

Another option would be reducing your dosage and monitoring the blood counts.

[Hawk]

Festus,

The numbers you post are BARELY outside of the normal range.  Do you really think it would make any difference if they were up one tenth of one point?  Both me and my doctor have white counts that tend to be in that same range, just below normal unless we get an infection then they of course soar.

The range is not divided into "Healthy" and "Alarming".  It is "normal" meaning normal for "most" people under normal conditions but not for everyone.  Unless you had blood work prior to pentox you don't even know if this represents a drop.  

[George999]

Part of the problem with these out of band readings is that they were never really seen in years past because most people never went to a doctor unless they were seriously sick.  Now many of us get tested very routinely and all sorts of anomolies pop up.  The problem is similar to that posed by MRIs and cat scans.  You can take the healthiest person in the world and I can almost guarantee that if you do enough tests, you will find something "wrong".  I often have blood work numbers slightly out of band.  The normal response is to see if they return to a normal range and if not make sure they don't keep drifting in the wrong direction.  Once those two criteria are satisfied, trust me, there is almost always NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.  - George