TOPIC:

Yesterday I had a platelet count of 220k - 2 weeks ago today my count was 97k.
Had total knee replacement 2 weeks ago and was started on 2 baby aspirin a day to ward off blood clots.
Since April 1989 I have not had anything but Tylenol - found it odd that my count went up. Will see what
it is a month from now when I am off the baby aspirin for 2 weeks.

That is really odd. I wonder why that happened, but mostly I'm really happy for you. Having platelets is always good. Hope your knee replacement recovery goes well.

Thank you b2h - I'm 2 weeks and 2 days past surgery & have been told my knee now is where they like it to be at 6 weeks so I'm ahead of the game. Actually I'll give all the credit to my fantastic surgeon [who also happens to be a master carpenter].

It will be interesting to see what my count will be in a month. I'll let you know.

Melinda, a few comments by others that may be of interest on the subject of counts and knee surgery.
By 'Caroline109'
pdsa.org/discussion-group/10-social-chat/3101-who-are-we-missing.html#4868
By 'stebbo'
pdsa.org/discussion-group/6-general-itp-discussion/13089-weekly-aussie-kiwi-itp-chat.html#13502
By 'karenr'
pdsa.org/discussion-group/7-treatment-general/27069-retuxin-in-80yr-old-person-questions.html#30210
By 'cjscheuer'
pdsa.org/discussion-group/7-treatment-general/26850-rituxan-frustration-with-side-effects.html#28556

From my own experience, I know that my counts went up to the dizzying level of 134 (baseline is 12) five days after an appendectomy. What I'd like to know. Does everyone with ITP have counts go up after surgeries like these?

Were you on aspirin after your surgery Hal?

What I find interesting is that I am taking a no-no for ITPers, baby aspirin 2x a day and my count increased. Day of surgery it was 118k? or 112k can't recall, but know the anesthesiologist was delighted as she could give me the spinal. The day after surgery it was 97k. After 2 weeks of baby aspirin it was 220k

I had thumb basal joint surgery on both thumbs - about a year apart - my platelets didn't climb. Now after the flu they did.

No aspirin for me during that time. For that matter, nothing OTC or prescription during that time either. The surgery was laparoscopic.

In my post readings to generate that list, I get the impression that a blood thinner is standard procedure after knee surgery. I think some were taking Warfarin, or a drug like that. Apparently the doctor prescribed just aspirin for you. It would take some digging to find out what blood thinner each were taking.

Hal you asked:
"Does everyone with ITP have counts go up after surgeries like these?"

I'm assuming you mean knee replacement & appendix removal. You didn't have aspirin after your appendix & I did - so was it the aspirin that brought mine up? Who knows if it was the aspirin, the surgery or just dumb luck? I have been put under for 3 other surgeries between 2003 and now - count didn't go up after them.

Melinda, got an email from your immune system today, LOL. The Internet is an amazing thing, isn't it? Here is the gist:

They said they have been busy cleaning and removing all the sliced up tissue cells from the knee surgery. There is A LOT. It has overloaded the system. No time to destroy any platelets - which notoriously hide evil viruses that get in. It's a priority issue. There has been so much to clean up that it will take weeks to get it all. Everyone is working hard, and as you know, we are ahead of schedule on rehabilitation.

They said they are sorry about letting platelets get by unchecked, but do not worry. They will be getting back to them as soon as the knee tissue fully heals and know that you will appreciate that. Like, who needs to be endlessly tired from mono again?

Mono??

Mono, aka Mononucleosis, aka EBV.

I've not had mono - not sure why your said what you did

I'm glad the surgery went well! Good news on the counts...

My platelets were high after both of my knee replacements (one in 2002 and one in 2012). My doc had upped my pred before the surgery so my platelets would be fairly normal during surgery, but one surgeon told me patients were routinely given steroids before some surgeries anyway. My platelets stayed in the normal range for about 3 months after the 1st replacement, 3-1/2 months after the second, though they began to decrease soon after the surgeries. I'm pretty sure the blood thinners had nothing to do with the high platelets. My theory is that the surgery was enough of a shock to my system that my body forgot to destroy the platelets for a while.
(The first orthopedist put me on Lovenox after the replacement, the second on Warfarin--but we discontinued that very soon as my diet made it hard to read and he decided I was low risk for strokes.)
The same thing (3 months) happened to my platelets after an oophorectomy. Ironically, my platelets stayed high only one month after a splenectomy that was supposed to "cure" my ITP!

Karenr

there is a very interesting conclusion.
"The antibodies were busy cleaning and removing all the sliced up tissue cells from the knee surgery".

Could this make room for a natural treatment to contain ITP?
Inyecting every 3 months somehow our on tissues on our body so our antibodies are kept busy.

My counts usually go up when I am sick from a virus- many people have a count crash.
Once I had bronchitis and my counts went up to an amazing 325! I thought I was in remission- yay! but sadly counts were back to 50 the following week. I asked my hematologist- what happened? He said "it was the cytokine response". I only have a vague understanding of this- but I think cytokines are chemical messengers that direct the immune system. Perhaps like the orchestra conductor. When the bronchitis virus had taken hold, the cytokines directed the immune Bcells and Tcells away from making antibodies that mark platelets for destruction. And directed them toward an attack on the invading virus.
I may be wrong here, but thats my very rudimentary understanding. After surgery the immune system was perhaps directing an inflammatory response.? Very interesting, wish I understood it all.

Yes--when I've had any trauma to my body (not just surgery), my platelets seem to go up--and then go back down again. I know some others have the opposite experience.

GrouchoMarx wrote:

there is a very interesting conclusion.
"The antibodies were busy cleaning and removing all the sliced up tissue cells from the knee surgery".

Could this make room for a natural treatment to contain ITP?
Inyecting every 3 months somehow our on tissues on our body so our antibodies are kept busy.

LOL, NO !
But if someone did come up with something, I'm pretty sure afterwards they would say 'there has got to be a better way'.

Oh there is that thing about people buying tapeworms to live in the intestines which is supposed to keep the immune system busy- yikes pretty gross! But I can see how humans have evolved with parasites and worms for 50,000 years and now we are too squeaky clean. -

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy As Hal said, "theres got to be a better way"

GrouchoMarx wrote:

there is a very interesting conclusion.
"The antibodies were busy cleaning and removing all the sliced up tissue cells from the knee surgery".

Could this make room for a natural treatment to contain ITP?
Inyecting every 3 months somehow our on tissues on our body so our antibodies are kept busy.

No the antibodies don't clean up and remove sliced tissue cells - come on!!
Our platelets have antibodies that attach to them - then the areas in the body, ex: spleen and/or liver, detect
the antibodies and destroy them and in the process are destroying the platelets the antibodies have attached
themselves to. It is all a normal happening, the spleen & liver are doing their job.

As to injecting our own tissue into our body to keep the antibodies busy - the antibodies are already busy attaching
themselves to the platelets. I'm sorry but this is just too weird - and I hate to say it but it reminded me of the person
years ago who came on here and claimed to have cured his/her ITP by drinking his/her own urine. You know I just have
to scratch my head at some of the ideas that come up!!

After a month on 2 baby aspirin a day my count on Friday was 118k