Newly diagnosed with ITP.. Advice needed

Hi everybody, I'm new to this group so just wanted to introduce myself

Hello and welcome.

Hello. You've come to the right place. How can we help you?

Welcome.

Hey Sandi. I'm 23 years old and got diagnosed with ITP 6 days after giving birth to my daughter 2 months ago. I'm currently on prednisone but platelets are atill dropping as my dose is.. What treatment may be offered next? Thank you in advance

Doctors all seem to do things differently, so I couldn't guess. It's possible that your doctor will increase your Prednisone dose as your counts drop, he may suggest Rituxan, some will suggest N-Plate or Promacta. You might want to read about the different treatments so you are knowledgeable enough to discuss the options and give your own input. It's not a bad idea to make suggestions to your doctor. Only you know what you can afford and what you want to tolerate.

Kels where abouts in the world are you?

I live in England

Ah a few of us here are in the UK. I'm in London. I'll do my usual thing of pointing out that there are some specialist ITP centres in the UK that you can ask your GP to refer you to if you like. The list is here..

www.itpsupport.org.uk/itpforum/centres.htm

What is your platelet count at the moment and how low did it go?

Thank you for that, my platelet level was zero when I was first diagnosed 6 days afte giving birth, at the minute my platelet levels are 66, but last week they was 43.

After prednisolone I tried mycophenolate which is an immunosuppressant. It worked while I was on it. Some stay on it for years at a low dose with good effect. It's popular with doctors in the UK so you may get offered that next. Or you may get offered rituximab which is a once a week for four weeks infusion that works for about 50% of people who try it. If you're offered it I'd suggest doing the low dose option which works just as well as the traditional higher dose.

Of course your count may stay in a safe range, over 20 or 30 say, so that you don't need to treat again at all.

www.ebmt.org/Contents/Resources/Library/Resourcesfornurses/Documents/ITP%20Handbook.PDF

Have a look at this Kels.

I'm in the East Midlands
Anne

Hello, from me as well. i got diagnosed two months after i gave birth, even though my PLT count was 36 when I was on my eighth month. Two months after I gave birth my count was 1. I was admitted to the hospital and i was given Prezolon ( I think Or some sort of corticoeid) for 7 days and nothing, then i was given dexamethazone for four days, still nothing. Aftewards they gave me mabthera and revolade, and guess what still nothing. Now I changed doctors and I am waiting for the next step to see what will happen...At this point my count is 17!

How long since you started Mabthera? HOw long since you started Revolade?