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Parents of Children with ITP
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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ?
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TOPIC: Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ?

Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64591

  • JoeS12
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My grandson got a severe nose bleed shortly after we brought a dog into our home in November 2017. His platelets dropped to 7,000; he had 4 transfusions since. When he left for camp, his platelets were 167,000 after a transfusion. After a week at camp where he did vigorous excercise including running and swimming, we had him tested and his platelets increased to 214,000. We thought that sonehow he was cured. After being home, for a few weeks, he was feeling tired and we had him tested again, only to learn that his platelets dropped to 60,000. Does anyone know of a correlation between environment and or dogs and low platelet count in children ?

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64592

  • maria3132
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Yes, allergies can be to blame:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/25580738/

I was just going through your posts and wasn't sure of the history - was your grandson diagnosed last November or earlier this summer, and when did the dog come into the picture?

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64593

  • Sandi
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  • Sandi Forum Moderator Diagnosed in 1998, currently in remission. Diagnosed with Lupus in 2006. Last Count - 344k - 6-9-18
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How soon after contact with the dog did he get the nosebleed? What were the four 'transfusions'?

Environment can have some impact, but most likely not immediate.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64598

  • JoeS12
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He got the nose bleed about 5 months after they got dog.
I'm not sure what kind of transfusions he received. I didn't know that there were different types of transfusions.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64599

  • maria3132
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Interesting theory. Let me ask you this, do you like the dog? ;)

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64600

  • JoeS12
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Why do you ask whether they like the dog ? I'm just wondering whether anyone else experienced a platelet problem after they got a dog.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64601

  • maria3132
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Just being light-hearted. I posted the study above which does point to allergies increasing risk of ITP. If you suspect the dog is the issue, you may want to get a test done for allergies but know those are not necessarily conclusive.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64607

  • Hal9000
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Hello Joe,
Just off hand, if it was an allergic response from the dog, I would expect a strong response. My sister is allergic to dog hair. Does your grandson sneeze a lot when he is around the dog?

I'll have to add. They stuffed me full of platelets by infusion/transfusion for an appendectomy - my count was just 12 on hospital admission. One week later my count was 134. Next test was a month later and I had returned to 12 by then.

With this in mind, perhaps if they give him a bunch more platelets his count will rise again. In which case, you can keep the dog without worry in the ITP allergy department.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 11 months ago #64609

  • JoeS12
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Thanks for your reply.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 10 months ago #64615

  • Sandi
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  • Sandi Forum Moderator Diagnosed in 1998, currently in remission. Diagnosed with Lupus in 2006. Last Count - 344k - 6-9-18
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Joe:

I'm asking because 'transfusion' usually refers to platelet transfusions. If your grandson had those, they don't last in people with ITP so I'd expect counts to drop quickly. Sometimes though, people confuse the word 'transfusion' with 'infusion'. People with ITP are sometimes treated with infusions of IVIG or Rituxan. These are treatments and people respond differently to those. I was wondering exactly what he had so I could help. It makes a difference.

I seriously doubt the dog had anything to do with it. ITP is usually triggered by an illness, a drug like an antibiotic or a vaccine. Sometimes it happens for no known reason.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 10 months ago #64622

  • JoeS12
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Thanks for your message.
My grandson has had three (3) IVIG treatments.
I forgot to mention that when he was at sleep away baseball camp in August, he did 10 hours per day of vigorous exercise, and what has been perplexing is that his platelets increased from 140,000 (when he left for camp, immediately after a treatment, ) to 214,000 when he returned. After being home for a few weeks and doing very little exercise, his platelets dropped to 60,000. Since he is an avid baseball player just starting High school, we need to stay on top of this.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 10 months ago #64625

  • maria3132
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I think someone else here has seen improvement from exercise. My son seems to get worse after running around in hot weather.

I just came across a discussion regarding a possible linked between cat allergies and ITP. The short story is that it seems unlikely. Here is the long story : www.aaaai.org/ask-the-expert/autoimmune-thrombocytopenia-cat

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 10 months ago #64626

  • Sandi
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Joe:

Exercise may play a role, but if he had a treatment right before camp, it would be normal to see a rise like that after an IVIG treatment with a drop in counts weeks later. IVIG usually doesn't last long.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 10 months ago #64627

  • JoeS12
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I may not have been clear. His count was 60,000 before he received a transfusion. His count immediately after the transfusion went to 140,000. Several days later he left for baseball camp for 7 days. Several days after he returned he was tested and his count was 214,000. We made the assumption that either the exercise or being in a different environment caused the increase.
Thanks

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 10 months ago #64628

  • maria3132
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Sandi's explanation is most likely. The counts continue to climb for days after IVIG. They could have been 350k by the time he left for camp, and
then on the way down when you caught them at 214k.

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ? 1 year 10 months ago #64632

  • Neve24
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  • Neve, 21, diagnosed in 2004 with ITP, relapsed 2013, relapsed 2017, chronic since then; last count, sept. 3rd, 2018: 4000 (on Imuran)
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Hello, sorry to hear about your grandson.
I have to agree with Sandi and Maria. When I got my IVIg infusion in May (my count was 5k), two days later (wednesday) my platelets were 90k, on Sunday that same week they were approx. 450k, and by tuesday (a week after the infusion) they were almost 600k, it took me 2 months to get to 10k... So it is quite possible that your grandson's platelets climbed to 350k and then dropped slowely while he was at camp as Maria mentioned.
I wish you the best!

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Grandson 14 with itp; could cause be environment ?

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