Taking IVIG, NPlate, prednisone and adding Rituxan

In January I was diagnosed when I went to the hospital with a platelet count of 3. My numbers have since been up and down between 3 and 100. We can't seem to find anything that works. It's getting so frustrating and I'm very nervous for the Rituxan. My sister is having a baby in a couple of weeks. Am I okay to be around him? It's the first nephew and I want baby cuddles!

There is nothing contagious about ITP or any treatment for it, and no danger of exposure, so hold that baby all you want! The only concern might be the other way around, as you are more vulnerable to infection, so you may want to avoid sick babies for a while.

My wife had Rituxan and it was a breeze for her. She works in an infectious disease clinic and has not been sick at all. She did not get a complete response: her counts are lower than normal, but high enough not to need further treatment. We are very happy with the results.

That is so great to hear! ! Thank you so do much for responding!

I'm glad she was able to stop taking it!

Gshelton wrote: I'm glad she was able to stop taking it!

There are usually only 4 treatments. Patients can choose to use it again after a year or two but normally only ever do one or two rounds.

Good luck to you - I hope it works!

Gshelton - I need to correct myself, I went back and looked at what I wrote in August 2014 and Ellen did have an unpleasant reaction to Rituxan. She was glad she had her infusion on a Friday, so she had the weekend to recover before work on Monday.

She got a new platelet count today - 67, the best since August 2014.