Multi Vitamins possibly kept platelet count down

Hi Everyone,

My daughter was diagnosed with ITP 10 months ago; she was 6 years old at the time. Her count was as low as 12 when it was discovered and over a ten month period we saw small improvements that would vary between 18 and 42. Around Christmas break my daughter ran out of Multi Vitamins and in the craziness of it all I kept forgetting to purchase more. She went about 3-4 weeks without them and although I didn’t connect the two at the time, her bruising had cleared up almost completely. I put her back on the Multi Vitamin and within days she was COVERED in bruises again! I realized that the only thing that had changed was the fact that she was back on the vitamins. I took her off of them and within days her bruising had started to disappear! 8 days after I took her off the multi vitamins she had an appointment with her doctor and her platelet count was 116!! I told the doctor about what happened before he saw the her platelet count and seemed skeptical at first, but then when he saw her numbers he said he was "stunned" and that he has never had a case like hers before. He advised me to keep her off all vitamins and we will be meeting with a nutritionist next month at her next appointment to talk about her new diet without vitamins I just wanted to share this in case this is more common than thought!

I've never heard of a connection between ITP and Vitamins. Were there any additives or herbal supplements in them? Vitamins alone shouldn't cause ITP.

Many children have been diagnosed after a bacterial or viral illness, antibiotic use or after a vaccine.

I hope your daughter continues to improve. Many times, ITP is acute in children and resolves on its own.

I'd be very interested to know what was in the multivitamin formulation and what if anything else in your daughter's blood work results or other signs/symptoms changed. I agree with Sandi that there is generally no connection. Even replenishing low vitamin levels seems to have little effect in some cases.

Regardless, I hope your daughter's counts remain normal and her ITP resolves.

I don't think the vitamins are the cause of her original diagnosis and was likely a virus. But for some reason when she went off the vitamins her platelet count went up each time. (I didn't get a platelet count the first time, but lack of bruising in that time period) Her doctor said he was going to talk with his colleagues about whether or not they have seen this before. I will ask him what he found out and post the results.

Below is the information from the vitamins


Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 2 Gummies
Servings Per Container: 30
% Daily Value+
Total Carbohydrate 4 g 1%
Sugars 3 g
% Daily Value
Vitamin A as Retinyl Palmitate 1500 IU 60%
Vitamin C as Ascorbic Acid 15 mg 38%
Vitamin D as Cholecalciferol 400 IU 100%
Vitamin E as di-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate 15 IU 150%
Vitamin B6 as Pyridoxine Hydrochloride 0.5 mg 71%
Folate,Folic Acid,Folacin 200 mcg 100%
Vitamin B12 as Cyanocobalamin 3 mcg 100%
Biotin 45 mcg 30%
Pantothenic acid as Calcium d-Pantothenate 2.5 mg 50%
Iodine as Potassium Iodide 30 mcg 43%
Magnesium as Magnesium Citrate 2 mg 1%
Zinc as Zinc Citrate 2 mg 25%
Inositol 10 mcg*
DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) (from fish oil) 100 mcg*
* Daily Value not established.
+ Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Corn Syrup, Sugar, Grape Juice Concentrate, Gelatin, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Maltodextrin, Purple Berry Color Concentrate, Fractionated Coconut Oil, Beeswax (Apis Mellifera), Dicalcium Phosphate, Natural Flavors, Black Carrot Juice Concentrate, Silica, Annatto (color), Mannitol

I am also interested in this question. I saw in some discussion that Vitamin E and Omega 3 thins the blood so it is best avoided when the count is low? Hope somebody can confirm as well. I stopped both on my kid as well for fear of increase in bruises and petechiae.

The observation from aubreyty about omega-3 fatty acids is correct. They are known to reduce platelet stickiness, and in some people can result in bruising. Omega-3s do not reduce platelet count (their effect is on platelet function, much as aspirin's is).

A couple of thoughts here. First, some supplements are produced with poor quality control. It is possible that the multivitamin here contains something not mentioned in the "Supplement Facts" or at a different concentration from what is listed. This seems unlikely as a cause of what has happened, but it is worth bearing in mind.

Second, the amounts of specific micronutrients in the vitamins seem reasonable, but if your child is getting a sufficient quantity elsewhere, the net effect may be too much of that micronutrient. In general, I suggest targeted supplementation based on clinical findings, not using supplements as a bit of insurance against possible deficiencies. Of course, check with your doctor about this (in other words, don't just do stuff based on reading about it here).

All this makes me curious to know if there is something else going on that correlates closely with the vitamin use. Maybe that something, if it exists, is playing a role. I hope you can sort out what is going on.

I agree with Aoi. For some reason, multi-vitamins are popular. People should be able to get all of the vitamins they need from a healthy diet. Unless there is a deficiency, vitamin supplementation is not needed. If there is a deficiency, the dose of the particular vitamin needed to correct it will be far greater than the amount in a multi-vitamin.

For example, drug stores sell Vitamin D in doses of 400 IU's to be taken daily for a weekly total of 2,800 IU's. Anyone who has an actual deficiency will tell you that when it happens, they have been prescribed 50,000 IU's to 100,000 IU's weekly for months. The small amount sold in drug stores will not prevent a deficiency or help one if it occurs.