Diagnosed on Memorial Day

I'm a 59yo male. Woke up that Sunday 2 weeks ago a bruised lip then noticed little red spots all over my body. Went to the emergency room a blood test revealed my platelet count at 4. An appointment was set up with a hematologist, and I was put on a 4 day regimen of dexamethosone, which raised my platelet level to 121. Went for. CBC last week and my level dropped to 13. I was put on 60 mg a day of prednisone. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the hemo, who wants to discuss Rituxin. My hemo has diagnosed this as ITP with only blood tests. I have also had other immune related disorders, Rheumatoid arthritis and Gillian Barre. I recovered from the Gillian Barre after a month hospitalization and have been symptom free of RA for 6 years.

I'm glad I found this site. It's answered many of my questions. I'm still very concerned, nervous, jittery, maybe from the prednisone. Is discussing Rituxin after only 3 weeks too soon. Is this a usual process to treatment?

There is no particular order or timing as far as treatments, but most doctors would wait to see how you respond to Prednisone before moving on to another treatment. Doing two treatments at once can sometimes confuse matters because you don't know which one you really responded to. There is no reason you can't hold off on Rituxan until you see how things go with Prednisone. Rituxan is a heavy duty treatment and if you don't really need it, it can be avoided.

Thanks Sandi, I'll bring that up with the Dr tomorrow

I'd ask him why he wants to do Rituxan now if your counts are safe and responding to Prednisone. If you're not responding to Prednisone, it could be an option. Good luck!

Saw my hematologist today to discuss Rituxin. After 6 days on 60 mg a day of prednisone my platelet count went for 13 to 177. Tomorrow I'm switching to 40 mg a day of prednisone and a CBC test next Wednesday. We agreed to see how I managed on lessening my dosage of Prednisone before starting Rituxin. He said I could take Xanax to help with the prednisone effects. Has any had success taking Xanax with prednisone? Dr. said the lower dose of prednisone may help with my anxiety .

Xanax can take the edge off a bit. The lower dose should help too. I hope he plans a slower taper after this one!

I'm sorry you spent Memorial Day in the hospital dealing with that. I agree with Sandi one treatment at a time. Give the prednisone a chance to work first before inquiring about Rituxin. She is right, there is no order of treatments, my best advice is research them all and ask lots of questions if the prednisone does not work. Really know what you are getting into. If I hadn't been rushed and did my research I probably would have continued to try Nplate at a higher level before moving straight into Rituxin.