Stress and ITP

Following my counts religiously (in our family, everything has a spread sheet), there are some interesting trends of note. It seems that my little platelets tend to dissappear whenever stress is near. Obviously stress, with all its effects on blood pressure, blood flow, etc should probably be a factor in disorders associated with the immune system and bleeding. Work had been really bad for the past few weeks, I've taken a lot of it home emotionally, and on top of that, my counts, which were FINALLY stable, plummeted... which led to more stress and sleepless nights. Last week, I discovered this site, had several good solid cries and days of feeling sorry for myself, then a ridiculous, calm- SO UNLIKE ME. I accepted that this was what it was, stopped worrying about work, and just let it ride. WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT, my silly platelets were up to 134,000 yesterday. Now, don't get me wrong here- I cycle up and down like crazy for a variety of reasons which my doc and I have discussed at length... but wow- any body have a similar situation? Looking back on it, the times when they have completely bottomed out were when I was SUPER stressed out- losing a job, doing major surgeries with associated complications, work stress in general...

I agree that stress can definitely affect the immune system....no question there. But for me, stress has never correlated with highs and lows.

Yes, what Sandi said, it seems like stress hits some people's counts and not others. I haven't noticed my counts varying with stress either. But maybe I'd need an instant count when I am super stressed to catch it, maybe the effect can be short lived.
Erica

Stress has never affected my count either. I've had high counts at my most stressed and low counts at my most relaxed so no correlation for me.

I feel stress has an impact on my Platelet counts. Moving was quite stressful for me and really affected my counts. Some can handle stress without a problem, but for others it can really impact their health.

Oh I didn't say that stress hasn't impacted my health. I think it's one of the main causes for a lot of my Lupus flares. It has not affected my counts though. If it did, I'd have low counts all the time!

Oh my yes, stress impacts my health. But I just haven't seen it impact my platelet counts.
Erica

Here's a theory.. I think that stress causing a symptom is the opposite in a way of the placebo effect meaning that if a placebo is known to cure a symptom then stress will also cause it. As with headaches say, we know that stress causes them and we also know that a sugar pill will often alleviate it.

With ITP, in all the double blind studies that have been done for the various drugs, placebo has never had any effect whatsoever. Therefore my conclusion has been that stress will have no effect either.

There will always be some outliers like Dean who knows that stress affects his counts but the theory will stand for the vast majority.

I'm not quite grasping that theory. Maybe my brain just isn't functioning this early in the morning.

I don't feel that my real drugs help much so a placebo certainly isn't going to do anything. I bought some Zyflamend based on a recommendation by Dr. Oz. I really wanted it to work and had a lot of hope. It did nothing. I never did understand the placebo effect and how some people actually respond to a sugar pill. Maybe people who are naturally skeptical like me don't have a chance when it comes to placebos.

But back to the main subject....I do think that stress can cause an increase in the production of anti-platelet antibodies which would in turn lower platelets, but I don't think the drop would happen overnight.

I do agree that stress could be a factor that triggers ITP. For me, stress and anxiety seem to be the only culprit - I've always eaten well and exercised. But my job involves long hours and my sleep is affected by that. And I become anxious quite easily. For quite a few years, I used to get by with 2 to 4 hours of sleep on weeknights and crash on weekends. I think the cumulative effect of all that resulted in my ITP.

Hello Tyler, what makes you think it's stress and not that ITP just happened and the stress and ITP are separate things?

I'm sorry Sandi didn't understand my theory, it makes perfect sense to me! :laugh:
Placebos are interesting. Studies have recently been done that showed that even when people knew it was just a placebo they were taking, it still worked. Now that's just weird.

Hi Ann, my understanding is that low platelets could be caused (besides other things) by a weak immune system. And stress is a factor that causes immune system to weaken. My count during my first CBC two months ago was 49K, and last month was "higher than last time" (as per my physician). I see a couple of petechiae on my arms this month so I am freaking out right now. I'll see a hematologist next week, and I am trying to make sense of what went wrong with my body. Stress is the only thing that comes to mind.

If you search Pubmed for the three words, “Stress” “autoimmunity” and “review” there are over 300 articles. One is attached.

When I was in college, during Christmas break, after finals, often I would get whatever winter bug was going around. We always attributed this to the stress of final exams suppressing the immune system. So if stress suppressed the immune system, shouldn’t that help autoimmune syndromes like ITP?

I think it’s not that simple.

I do know that when I was diagnosed about 10 years ago it was after a few years of lot of major life stressors (some of which were desirable): moving across the country, starting a new high-stress job, a sad divorce, falling in love again and becoming a stepfather. I also know the flare-up about a year ago, when my numbers plummeted and nothing seemed to budge them, was after an extremely stressful event. So it looks like stress has been a factor, but I cannot prove this.

So my take is to be proactive in reducing stress. I pay attention to the sources of stress in my life. I’ve learned to meditate. I try to get enough sleep. I exercise. Hey, in the worst case, even if it isn’t a specific trigger in my ITP, life is richer with the ability to handle stress productively.

Mark

Tyler99 wrote: Hi Ann, my understanding is that low platelets could be caused (besides other things) by a weak immune system.

I'm not an immunologist and don't know what's what but my simple understanding says that my body making antibodies against my platelets is not a sign of a weak immune system. It's doing its job, just against the wrong cells.

Ann is right about that. Autoimmunity is not the result of a weak immune system. It's the result of an immune system that is either over-functioning, over-reacting or or misfiring...pick your word. That is why immunosuppressants tend to work. They stop over production of antibodies.

I don't think anyone is arguing over whether or not stress affects the immune system. I think we all believe it does to a degree.

You have to define stress. Stress is many things to many people, all with varying degrees.

Prolonged stress, where you do something for multiple weeks or months is the real culprit IMO. I have done several international moves and flareups all coincided with each occasion. The hazzle of moving to an unknown country and acclimatizing is very stressful. Many Americans I have met in expat situations quit after 2 years or less. We did it for 12 years so I have seen enough in my time.

I also found many stressful weeks compounded with lack of sleep (say ~4 hours per night) is also a killer.

When you are young, you can cope with this. It was almost a requirement in my University days. But as you age, your body cannot handle the prolonged stress the same way.

Stress can take many forms. A 4 hour per day commute with a lack of good sleep will do it. Endless near all nighters will do the same thing. That could be another example of prolonged stress.

Stress has a major negative impact on your body's ability to produce blood products.

The bottom line is get lots of sleep. Do not short change yourself as it is more important for your health than you think.

cheers,

john

I have been working nights since the fall of 1994, diagnosed with ITP around 10 years later. I sometimes wonder if that had anything to do with it.

John you are right - what is stress for one may not be stress for the other. We all handle things differently. I honestly don't feel stress has had anything to do with my ITP or drops [but I'll clue you, it will take something very serious for me to get another tetanus booster - not the trigger of my ITP, but what sent my counts to the gutter about 13 years into it].

I became an expat not long after diagnosis - moved overseas on 60mg of prednisone, a count going up & down like a yo-yo and not knowing who my hematologist would be [and actually he was fantastic!!].