How long?

Hello everyone, I went to the Dr last week and after a 4 day pulse of dexamethasone my count went from 11000 to 66000.

I have two questions.

1. How long will dex work after a pulse like that? WIll it continue for a week or two and then your body is on it's own or will it stop after your last dose?

2. It has been 3 months since I was diagnosed. How long and how many different treatments should I give this on average to go into remission? I read that chronic is not until you have had it 6 months I am thinking that I should at least give it that long before I EVEN THINK about a splenectomy. Is my thinking in the right place or as my DR says I am just grasping at straws.

Oh and by the way I am going to go to another Hema. At Vanderbilt Research Hospital in Nashville. I decided that my HEMA just did not know enough about ITP. All he wants to do is take out my spleen. and I do not bleed or even bruise bad at counts of 8000... So I am thinking I am pretty safe to just treat for a while rather than a spenectomy. Again am I just grasping at straws or is my thinking on target?

Thanks to all of you for being here. I of course believe that ITP is going to go away by the grace and mercy of GOD Himself. But in the mean time I want to use wisdom and be safe. I guess because I do not bleed and do not bruise big I think I am okay...

Shannon

Shannon:

1. The answer to that is different for everyone. Some people have counts that stay up for a while and some people drop right away. No set answer.

2. Chronic is defined as having ITP for 6 to 12 months. I personally feel that 6 months is not long enough to be labeled chronic. As for how long and how many treatments you should try before considering splenectomy, I never thought of it like that. In my case, I was willing to just keep going with treatments until I was tired of the whole thing. I did end up with remission before I was about ready to throw in the towel (about five years of ups and downs). I was always glad I didn't give in, knowing what I know now.

I would not say you are grasping at straws. Not at all. Everything you are doing is reasonable and common. I do not believe that splenectomy is the one and only true fix and if you don't do that, you are wrong or hurting yourself in some way. It's okay to try all available options if you want to.