TOPIC:

Hi everyone,
I've been on here for the past 6 months reading everyone's posts- (but never posted myself) trying to get familiar with all that is going.
My son was diagnosed 7 months ago with a count of 1,000.
Had 3 rounds of IVIG which only lasted a few weeks each time.
He's been hovering between 40-60's for the past 5 months without needed any further treatment- Except for 3 different times.
The first time he jumped to 221 after having the flu and taking tamiflu and then dropped back down. The second was during the summer when he was between 80-90's - and dropped back down as soon as the weather wasn't so great- and this last time jumped to 155 after taking augmenten for strep and now dropping again.
My question is..
Did anyone else have this same effect with either antibiotic and or vitamin D.. Or could be just a coincidence?
I get so excited when I hear those high levels, only to be dissapointed a few days later when I start to see the bruising again.

My count goes up when I get the flu and down when I get bacterial infections. So it may be the infection rather than the antibiotic although some say that antibiotics change their count too. It's hard to know which it is but it's pretty normal.

As for vitamin D, there's a theory that autoimmunity and low D go together but it's only a theory at the moment. My haematologist now tests for D levels a couple of times a year. It's worth doing I think. I'd be wary of treating without testing as too high a D level is said to be harmful.

I've had a similar experience. My hematologist enthusiastically has me supplement vitamin D as well as B12 and folate because I am quite deficient otherwise, but this has no effect on my platelet count. However, my best count in the past five years came last December as I was recovering from a cold/flu; it hit 163, which was very exciting.

I sometimes say that my count goes up when my immune system is too busy doing something else do be bothered with platelets. I doubt it's that simple, and I haven't read anything in the research literature to suggest it is, but the correlation is hard to ignore.

Since tamiflu is an antiviral and augmenten is an antibiotic, whatever your son is experiencing may have more to do with what his immune system is up to than with the meds he's taking. Either way, I hope his count continues its upward (if erratic) trend.