anyone know anything about white counts?

ringosmommy

Okay, so I am playing dr google, which was my specialty during my years at Internet Medical School.

It's my basophils that are low.  I just read on some website, that they secrete heparin and histamine and contribute to hypersentivity issues or some such nonsense.

is that the SAME histamine that anti-histamines deal with?

Could the fact that I am admittadly ADDICTED to Sudafed, an anti histamine be causing my low white count??

Cori

ringosmommy

well, son of a bitch, I just read on two different lay persons websites that anti histamines are medications that cause low white count.

I never go three days without an antihistamine in my system.

wtf. 

Melonda

wtf? That's weird, but umm why do you take sudafed so regularly lol?

ringosmommy

well, I shouldn't be bashing the pseudoephedrine bc that's not the problem.  the formula I take is mixed with an antihistamine.  From the day I started chemo I had blinding headaches.  The nurses recommened sudafed and the shit is like magic.  I take it, and voila, headache gone.  I suffered from headaches my whole LIFE and I never considered that they might be allergies.  When I had my thoracic MRI last year, they automatically scan up to the base of the skull.  They noted a recurrent cyst in my sinus's.  It has probably been there my whole life.  It fills up and gives me blinding sinus pressure which only sudafed relieves...

But I would say without any doubt that is the cause of my low white count.

Cori

ChiTownSherri

Physicain, heal thyself!!

 seriously though, check with the dr!!

ratbait

Cori, I'm having surgery this month to cut out my nasal polyps. Go see an ENT.



Regarding allergies, I have had great success nutritionally healing. Fish oil, two pills a day. Then, cut out all soybean, corn, and canola oil from your diet. Pretty much means you have to make your own salad dressing, but it worked or me.

PattySprout

hijack -

ratbait - totally laughing that you cut out soybean, corn, and canola oil. 

ratbait

Patty, I'm so glad you see the humor in it.  Soybean oil in particular is so ubiquitos it is really hard to cut out.  If you eat at any restaurant, you get it.  So totally cut out isn't quite right.  But severely limited is.

I'm all for feeding corn and soybeans to animals.  Or using them to make ethanol.  Gotta love ethanol - good for the environment, good for farmers, bad for big oil, good for farmers, bad for Saudi Arbia and Iraq and Iran, good for the United States....but I digress. 

The dietary fat thing is one of the reasons I personally am not so sure about the vegan thing.  I can think of very few foods more evil than margarine.  Partially hydrogenated piece of *****.  

But then again, I banned margarine from my kitchen when I was 21.  Lot of good it did me. 

PattySprout

Ratbait - I have never knowingly eaten margarine, ever.  But, I eat more than my share of oreos as a teen. And funyuns.  Perhaps cancer is caused by oreos and funyuns. 

ratbait

Yea, I've been known to consume those in my youth also....

ringosmommy

well, I never ate a funyon EVER but I am thinking there is a connection between oreos and cancer.  now, I will say i have always had place in my heart for sour cream and onion potato chips...

ratbait, tell me more about the ent.  how did you end up there?

cori

lulululu

wondering if there is a link b/w poptarts and cancer,  i was shocked last night when i realized i'd eaten 8 of them since sunday night. 8 poptarts in less than 72 hours just doesn't sound right! 

ratbait

I go to the ENT because I have small eustacian tubes and have to get ear wax cleaned out every two years or so.  I've tried the doc in a box, but it takes them about an hour or so to get the wax out and I leave with a massive headache and in pain.  Go see an ENT and it is done in three seconds. It hurts, but only for a brief amount of time.

The ENT looks at your ears, nose and throat and tells me I have polyps in my nose.  I first learned about this in my twenties, but ignored it.  They can cut them out, but many times the polyps grow back due to allergies.  

Once I redid my diet, allergies went away.  So I decided it would be nice to be able to breath and not be stuffed up so I went back to the ENT and asked about the polyps two years ago.  Was all ready to get them fixed, had the CT for planning, and then developed pneumonitis and just couldn't deal with the nose at the same time.  Plus, I didn't feel 100% comfortable with the doc.

So I waited two years, the wax builds up, and this time to go see a different ENT.  Ask about the nose, he looks and refers me to the surgeon.  This is all the surgeon does, so I'm starting to get excited.  Go see her, bring the old CT and she says she thinks she can help.  I have a huge aversion to radiation, so ask her if the old CT is good enough and she says yes.  I take this plus the fact I've maxed out my deductable as a sign that the universe is telling me to get the thing fixed.  So I schedule the surgery.

My polyps were so big I can't breath out of one side of my nose.  The idea of being able to use both sides of my nose is pretty exciting.

Surgery is supposed to be fairly easy.  I will have it on Friday,and  will likely be back to work on Monday.  She can do it under a local, but prefers to do it under a general.  It is easier to keep the airway open under the general, and she gets better results and can control the bleeding better.  I'm a bleeder, so general it is.

 Will let you know at the end of the month how it goes.  Am told iIt really helps eliminate the sinus infections, and friends who have had it don't regret it a bit.