Not sure if I should stop med

Hi all:) I am new to this forum and found this website in my research this weekend trying to figure things out.. Lol two years ago my doctor was concerned about my low platelets.. It was a 97.. Redid the test.. Dropped to 91.. Referred me to a hematologist.. Talked to me about it possibly being itp....I never followed up.. ...I know I know.. Lol fast forward two years.. I'm now at 85... And the past two years my doc has had me on amlodipine For high blood pressure... Which he doubled this week because my Bp is high... So I did as he said.. And then saw my results of my platelet count and am reading online that amlodipine in some people it can cause your platelets to drop... My doc office was closed by the time I realized this and I'm wondering if by doubling the med if it can make those number go down.. And is that okay? Lol I'm trying to decide what is worse.. High Bp or low platelets...lol

I think at this time it's "trying to decide which is worse" - a heart attack or low platelets. I would never stop my bp meds without consulting my doctor - in fact on the info given to you about your bp med is probably "don't stop taking..."

85k is a good count and my hematologist would tell me there isn't a difference between 91k and 85k.

I would call and make an appointment to talk to my PCP about the bp med & any concerns I have and go from there. There are many bp meds out there - usually someone has to take 2 different ones to get their bp down, some 3 different ones. I, if this were me, would not stop my bp med cold turkey like that - I know people who have had heart attacks and don't care to have that happen to me if I can avoid it.

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a692044.html
Do not stop taking amlodipine without talking to your doctor.
I don't see unusual bleeding or low platelets for Amlodipine at this site, this is where I go to check on mediations. Is your med straight Amlodipine or a combo of it and something else?

Keep us posted.

Jez:

I agree with Melinda 100%. Your counts are not that low, and in this case, I'd say that controlling your BP is much more important.

Platelet counts fluctuate a lot and if you'd have them checked again tomorrow, they could be 95k. I wouldn't even consider a change of 85k and 91k to be a drop, just a normal fluctuation (unless you see a downward trend).

This may or may not be related to the BP meds and making a change might not matter. If you're concerned about it though, yes, see your GP and talk to him about it.

An added thought - most drugs do have the potential to cause thrombocytopenia. If you check a PDR, you'll probably see it as a side effect pretty often. Even ITP treatments list it.

So far I'm just taking the amlodipine:) And I'm not sure of the credibility of the sites I saw that on.. Some sites list it and some don't..I have been all over the internet researching.. lol im definetly going to be taking your advice.. I'm not going to change anything. My concern was if this med was causing the lower than normal count,I wasn't sure what doubling it would do.. But it's totally not worth the risk:) I'm going to call my doc Monday :)thank you so much sandi and Melinda for your great advice!!

I look at www.drugs.com

It gives a very comprehensive list of side effects. You have to scroll down to the list for health care professionals.

This is from that site. I looked up Prednisone, the number one treatment for ITP.

Hematologic

Hematologic side effects have included thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, and, platelet alterations resulting in thrombolic events.

www.drugs.com/sfx/prednisone-side-effects.html

Thrombocytopenia is a very common side effect.

Awesome site sandi!!! Thank you so much... It's amazing all the side effects.. And how it can effect people so differently! Thank you so much for the resource:) I think I need to stop taking excedrin ....Lol I'm Looking up everything:)

Excedrin! Uh yeah - you don't want to take aspirin with lower than normal platelets! I'd say start there. Taking anything else?

Hey Jez,
After you have talked to your doctor about your blood pressure medicine, talk to him/her about diet and blood pressure. Most doctors are not very well informed about nutrition, but there is lots of evidence that you can avoid high blood pressure with a plant-based (or even a low meat) diet.

Check out this video by Dr. Greger.

nutritionfacts.org/video/how-to-treat-high-blood-pressure-with-diet/

You might also be interested in his NY Times best selling book: "How Not to Die"

I'll definetly check the video out! Thank you so much.. I have recently been trying to lower it naturally.. I started walking again regularly and have lost 35 pounds since the beginning of the year.. So altering my diet is right in line with what I'm trying to do:) I actually was a little disappointed when I went to my visit cause I was hoping to lower or eliminate the meds but I had to double it.. I'll definetly check it out

The only other things I take are calcium and a multivitamin.. What is recommended in place of the excedrin? like for headaches:)

I've just looked on 2 Uk websites for heath professional, both state that Amlodipine as has a less than 1% chance of causing ITP

I have migraines from time to time. I don't have ITP. My teen had it. I know Excedrin can stop my migraines, but it is LOADED with aspirin, and Sandi is absolutely right. That's a no-no for you. Excedrin also has caffeine, which can raise blood pressure, so it would be contraindicated for you for two reasons. If your headaches are regular headaches, your doctor will probably approve acetaminophen. (It probably lists thrombocytopenia, too, as many drugs list that, but I think that would be rare with acetaminophen.) If your headaches are migraines, there are preventive medicines available that you could discuss with your doctor, keeping ITP in mind. There are known connections between migraines and ITP, discussed from time to time in this forum. If your headaches seem to have triggers, develop an awareness of that, and try to avoid those situations. For me, it is a combination of sleep deprivation, suddenly going without caffeine (I consume too much caffeine daily), low blood sugar (bad habit of skipping breakfast), and weird lighting. By avoiding that, I find I don't get the headaches.

Norma

When considering side effects it's important to keep in mind that statistics represent what happens in a population. A number like 1% does not represent an individual's risk of experiencing that particular side effect. So even if a medication has low platelet counts as a side effect, it's probably not the case that you'll experience that side effect (excepting the exceptions, of course).

My counts have remained very stable even when I've been on several medications that have thrombocytopneia as a side effect. And my doctors are thrilled when my counts are in the 80s, 90s, or higher. Controlling BP is arguably much more important than a platelet count that hovers around 90. But definitely talk to your PCP, consider your options, and keep copies of all your lab work and such so you can see what if anything changes over time.

In addition to drugs.com, I also like rxlist.com as well as the NLM's resources for checking out meds. I use these sites regularly because I take a lot of drugs.

Thank you so much:) I went out and got some Tylenol i have some issues with my neck that cause a lot of headaches. They are pretty much just regular headaches and excedrin has always worked the best for me but I'm going to make the switch:) i just started seeing a chiropractor to help me with that;) it's been really helping:)thank you Norma:)

I didn't realize how small the percentage was that makes me feel a lot better. Thank you so much:)

Thank you aoi:)

Thank you! I'll definetly check those sites out!