Treatments Rituxsan, PResdione what next?

Hello Everyone, I got diagnosed with ITP last year. My Platelets count has gone up and down sine then. This pass spring I had my Spleen remove and I am still going up and down 281, 2 weeks ago to 49,000 as of yesterday. My eyesight is started to bother me . My Hema thinks it because of the Prednisone What can I do ? I am very frustrated with my treatment, my unstable platelets just everything has a whole. Any suggestions on what I can do at this point and time. What have any of you taken to keep your platelets up? If you have been taken the steroids for a while has your eye sight been bothering what have you done to maintain your eyesight and your what do you do to maintain you sanity with all of this up and down?

HI Laskew, Glad you found the PDSA forum! there is a lot of good information here.
There are better treatments than prednisone but most everyone begins with pred. What is your dose of prednisone? How long have you been on it? You will need to carefully taper off of it- don't quit without tapering because your body is likely dependent on it. When did you get Rituxin? Did it do anything?
I like the drugs called TPOs. They were especially designed for ITP. they are Promacta, its a daily pill. And Nplate is an injection thats given weekly in the doctor's office. But possibly you have counts that are high enough that you don't have to take anything, just monitor them? I don't know but some people can just "watch and wait" after they've had a splenectomy. You would have to see what your counts do when you taper off of prednisone.

For your eyes, I would get checked out by an ophthalmologist. An ophthalmologist will be able to tell you if you have glaucoma or cataracts from the prednisone. And if its something else, they would be able to tell you what it is. good luck!

Thank You, for your response. I take 60 migs of prednisone daily. I have been on since June. I started Rituxsan last week and I one more treatment. I have an appointment with an eye doctor in 2 weeks. Thank you, again.

Hello! Rituxan can take time to kick in...usually 4 to 12 weeks after the first treatment. Don't give up on it too soon! If that doesn't work, Posey had a good idea with the TPO's.

Prednisone can cause problems with the eyes; it usually goes away when the dose is tapered unless you're starting with glaucoma or cataracts. Hopefully not, but those can be treated if caught early. Good thing you are going to see the doctor! There isn't much you can do in the meantime but wait it out.