Counts rising as bleeding increases (??)

Hi, I haven't posted for a long time. My ITP had settled down, so to speak, with consistant counts of 40K and virtually no symptoms. Now, in the past few days, I've become symptomatic (nose bleeds, period-like bleeding that isn't a period, lots of bruises and petechia). I've had 2 counts done in 2 weeks, thinking I must be dropping, but they come back higher each time-- 60K and 65K. That is the highest I've been without steroids, but I'm bleeding like I do below 30K, even getting a black bruise from the blood draw (same lab I always use, they never leave bruises on me above 30K). I am really confused! The doctor who ordered the last draw (not my hema, his on-call) thought with 65K, not to worry. But the bleeding is increasing. Has anyone had this happen or does Sandi or anyone know what is going on? And yes, I will call my regular hema Monday, first thing. But meanwhile, I'm not sure if I should be worried or not.

Have you changed your diet or OTC meds? It's possible something is making your platelets less sticky these days (aspirin or wine, for example). That would be an explanation for increased bleeding.

I, for one, have never been able to correlate my counts with whether or not the blood draw produces a bruise. I think it's got much more to do with how the needle goes into your arm and how quickly pressure is applied after.

Since you know your count is okay and seems to be rising, try not to worry too much about it until you can talk to your hema on Monday.

Thanks, Tamar. It's more reassuring to hear 'don't worry too much' from another ITPer than from an on-call doctor. : -)
No, no dietary changes, I don't drink alcohol at all and I have an aspirin allergy so I don't take asprin, NSAIDS, or OTCs that contain them. A very childish part of me is saying, No fair! My count is up, so no bleeding!

Jenny:

I'm not sure what to tell you. I don't have any explanations other than maybe counts are dropping. If you're not taking any new medications, there haven't been any other changes. Nose bleeds can be explained by drier weather, spotting can be GYN related, but the other symptoms can't be explained (not by me).

Let us know what the doctor says.

I can relate Jenny, to the symptoms getting worse as your counts rise. I've never been a bleeder,(except for the period from hell!) even at 1! A couple of weeks ago though I was getting the bruises and petechiae and thought for sure my counts were dropping, but when I went for a count they were up from the last count with no bruises or petechiae. I still don't get it. Doubt that I ever will!

Sounds like you are someone who understands my anguish!!!!

Even though I know I have MDS my platelets go up and down whenever they want. And they especially seem to go down when I have an infection but go up after an infection... go figure. There is so much they don't know about why things happen. I've been having bleeding between periods and no one seems to care much. I guess they dont know what to do with me. My counts are 20-30 mostly.

Maybe, your platelets aren't quite working correctly. That's how I feel about mine. I always seem to cut myself in the kitchen - really clumsy. And I always leak through the bandaids for a few hours at least. You would think I would be more careful.

Anyhow, I am just rambling. Hang in there my friend! With you in this. Jules

Jules!? People call you that? I find that interesting! I have a very dear friend, that I haven't talked with in a very, very long time that I call Jules. She would say to me exactly what you said,

Hang in there my friend! With you in this. Jules

That makes me smile.
You really should be more careful in the kitchen!

I really wish we could talk to our immune systems and tell it to stop attacking the good stuff . I just think that if something could trigger the immune system to see platelets as foreign and destroy them, then something can also trigger the immune system to correct itself. Anyway...

I am not a bleeder either but for the most part the petechaie I see have a corelation with my counts. However on a few occasions I have seen petechaie at 65K platelets and no petechae at 16k. For some reason petechaie get me more worried than bruises so I worry when I see them. Also the one method that always lets me know what the platelet counts could be is how black the bruise is when I get my bloodwork done. Under 30's, the needle site is always really black and the band aid they put over it causes petechaie. When my counts are in the 30's and up, the needle site is just faintly red and almost not there.

Hi Julianna, My platelets also go down when I have an infection, and back up afterwards, spoke to my Hema about it an he said that is normal. In fact they have gone up slightly higher than they were before the infection. Benny.

This reminded me of one occasion when I see a doctor about some neck pain.
I suddenly had a big bruise on my right hand the day before, the doctor when he spotted the bruise worried & ask for a CBC. I remembered my plt count came out 10k more than the last CBC. We were both puzzled, we expected it to be down.