Diagnosed During Pregnancy

I was diagnosed with ITP back in November when I was 16 weeks pregnant. My doctor said that in most cases things will go back to normal shortly after delivery. I have been taking dexamethasone since the diagnosis. It seems to work for a week or two each time they up the dosage, but then my count falls back down. The lowest so far has been 26000, and I was sent to the ER to have a platelet transfusion and sent on my way. Had a CBC done 4 days later and was at 59000. They are going to do IVIG, just waiting to hook up with a hemotologist as my OBGYN has been treating me so far. A little scared because there seems to be no warning for when your platelets drop so low and my doctor is concerned that the baby could kick me too hard and cause bleeding. I am hoping the ivig works so I can get off the dexamethasone. The stuff is a nightmere! Ive been on "shock" doses since the middle of december and it's ruining my life.
Thanks for listening to me vent and I'd love to hear from anyone that has any advice.

Hi - welcome. My advice would be to see either a hematologist or high risk OB-GYN. You need someone who actually knows how to treat ITP. IVIG is known to be pretty temporary; I wouldn't count on that as a long-term thing, however, it can work well in certain situations.

You should know that "safe" counts do not necessarily mean "normal" counts, and I would ask the hematologist what he considers safe for you. Platelet transfusions usually do not work for ITP and are not recommended except for emergency situations.

Check out the pregnancy section; there are other women there who can help you out.