Hi - new here

Been a crazy week. I was on Cymbalta for depression and anxiety for about 6 weeks and seemed fine before then - no clotting, bleeding or bruising problems about 2 months ago when I had a minor procedure and a year ago my platelets were at roughly 300. Tuesday noticed a weird rash and went to the dermatologist and he said it was bruising and not to worry unless I got more or they took more then a week or two to go away. Next morning my gums started bleeding. Got in right away for a blood test and my platelets were only 29. They took me off all my unnecessary meds (so I was only on synthroid and a beta blocker) and on Friday when I met the hematologist, my count was down to 6. I freaked out. Not to mention that they didn't tell me the doctor works in a cancer center so I couldn't help but feel they were hiding something from me. I went on Dextramethasone for 4 days and had a test today pending IVIG treatment. I was hoping the steroids would at least get me above 30 so I could avoid the IV, but amazingly, I jumped to 128. My next appointment is Friday for another blood test and to see the doctor. I have such a sense of relief at this point and will be very interested in how I proceed for the future. I know this is a lifetime condition, but I am curious about the future, traveling, frequency of monitoring etc. I'm excited to have such good numbers today after such bad numbers before. I'm glad I found this group. It is helpful to know there are others out there.

Thanks,

Melissa (43)

Melissa, glad you found us too. You're at the very beginning of a journey. It might be short or it might be long. If you're fortunate, your ITP will have been caused by your other meds and now you have stopped many of them the condition may simply go away. However, I suspect it'll be a while before the MD will consider that outcome. So don't be surprised if they want more tests - some of which might scare you to death. By now you perhaps know ITP is a diagnosis of exclusion - exclude all other testable causes and when left with no answer - it's labeled ITP.

You might have responded to the Dex or it might have been because of other reasons. Not everyone responds positively to steroids (I don't even register a blip after pulse protocol or long term taper).

You're right on regarding the hema in the infusion/treatment center and all the cancer patients can really get you to thinking. I guess they figure ITP is blood related so there's no better specialty to handle it - they just sometimes forget to mention that a lot of patients there might be dealing with cancer.

Melissa, I'll be praying for a fast recovery but don't hesitate to ask specific questions here and ask often. Even if it's ITP it's not the end of the world by any means. It simply means we have to monitor periodically and follow some precautions. Monitoring will depend on the MD but don't be surprise if there's frequent CBC's for a while while they plot your platelets.

Hello Melissa - glad you found us. ITP is sometimes acute, so you could get lucky. Even if it is chronic, most people achieve a remission at one point or another; it may not be something that you have to deal with constantly for the rest of your life. I was diagnosed in 1998 and have been in remission for the last 6 or 7 years. It happens.

Dex can go either way - some people get a huge jump followed by a crash and some people are able to sustain the count. If your counts do drop, try not to get discouraged. It's still very early and you have a lot of treatment options available.

Hematologists are oncologists, so we all visit the cancer centers. You get used to it. After a while it's not so scary.

Read as much as you can and learn. Knowledge is your best defense.