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Old Fri Jul 29, 2011, 02:52 PM
Lisa V Lisa V is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Waimanalo, Hawaii
Posts: 401
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan Jay View Post

Now, some doctors have discussed a very strange phenomenon of taking the Cyclosporine dose all the way down to 25 mg...to the point where it's no longer detectable in the blood. The patient holds his counts fine; then they take that last little dose off, and then the counts start to fall. So there are many cases out there of patients who take 25 mg daily just to keep the little demons in check.

Ryan, is there a study or something in writing that cites this phenomenon? I'd be really interested in finding out more about this, as it tends to support my gut feelings about the way certain medications can work.

Also, wasn't there just a recent study that found evidence that a sizable percentage of patients (30%?) will relapse with a quick taper but that this can often by averted by a long, slow taper? I forget what forum thread this was on, but it seemed like it came out only about a year ago. And now they're saying it makes no difference? I don't know what to believe anymore, but as someone whose husband relapsed after a fast taper, I'd go with the slower the better. Maintaining that last 25mg sounds like a good plan to me too.
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-Lisa, husband Ken age 60 dx SAA 7/04, dx hypo MDS 1/06 w/finding of trisomy 8; 2 ATGs, partial remission, still using cyclosporine
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