Itchy eyes and skin

My 12 yr old son has had ITP with very low counts for 4 months. After a round of prednisone he developed hives and then has had itchy skin ever since..occassionally itchy eyes too, like an allergy.But he never had allergies before. Do u think its possible that predn. suppressed his immune system and while it did that triggered allergies? Am i crazy or what..just trying to figure this out.
Any ideas?

Is he still on the prednisone? What did the doc say about the hives? I don't know about itchy skin from allergies. Never heard of that, unless one is allergic to laundry soap or something like that. I didn't get hay-fever allergies until I was about 27, then they just went away about 5 years later! It's all a mystery to me! Let us know.

KMC,

He could be having a very bad reaction (long term) to the prednisone or the damage it did to his immune system could have kicked in the allergies. Large grocery stores that have nutrition sections (Fred Meyer, Kroger) will carry the Sulphur pellets I told you about. Give them a try. They are the only thing that help my son without hurting him. Stay away from benadryl. Anyone with a platelet issue shouldn't touch the stuff. There's also a homeopathic remedy called histamine that you can get from Amazon and some other places that you might be able to try. But the sulphur would be #1. Health food stores will also carry it.

patti

OH my gosh, you are kidding? I have never heard that they should stay away from Benadryl..why? I am definitely going to get the Sulphur pellets tomorrow. He's been taking benadryl almost every night for 2 months. What does it do to people with ITP?

Patti,I forgot to say "thanks"

kmcadams wrote:

OH my gosh, you are kidding? I have never heard that they should stay away from Benadryl..why? I am definitely going to get the Sulphur pellets tomorrow. He's been taking benadryl almost every night for 2 months. What does it do to people with ITP?

A *rare* side effect of benadryl is low platelets. But isn't it lovely that they give benadryl as a pre-med before treatments for itp? The issue is, ANYONE who has a propensity to a blood issue (which would mean anyone with itp) would be highly unwise to use benadryl. They are going to be more susceptible to the *rare* side effect of low platelets. My son didn't crash to zero until his last round of benadryl and we couldn't get him up for nothing until we did the homeopathy. I also wonder now if the IVIG didn't work because they pre-medicated him with it. We were supporting his body so he wouldn't bleed using natural therapies, but that wasn't bringing his platelets up.

I will private message you and tell you how you can stop the effects of the benadryl.

patti

KM:

Benedryl does not necessarily do anything to people with ITP. Many ITP'ers take it with no problem. As with any drug, thrombocytopenia can be a side effect. It is also a side effect of antibiotics, over the counter drugs, etc. and some herbal/natural remedies.

If you have a blood issue (itp) and want to take benadryl, then by all means, please do so. But let's allow people to be warned that it IS a side effect and people with low platelets OUGHT to be careful. I have 3 pages of drugs that can cause low platelets. Which one of them do you want to take to see if it lowers YOUR platelets? It is FAIR and WISE to advise a parent that something they're giving their son is KNOWN to cause low platelets and can in fact make matters worse then they already are.

Oh, if you need living proof, my son is. We discovered benadryl WAS aggravating his condition and keeping him at zero. What is wrong with warning another parent this could also be an issue for them? Particularly since the child isn't responding to treatment. The benadryl could be why. As it could be for others who seem to not be responding to treatment if they're using one of the drugs known to cause platelet issues. Had you even considered that? Has anyone who's not responding considered that?

If I had a blood issue (and I really cared about healing), touching any one of the drugs on this 3 page list would be the last thing I'd consider. Including Vincristine and a number of other used to treat itp. Would you like me to post the list?

Now when I gave the warning page of this site, the PDSA, which mentioned vitamin E and fish oil wasn't it you who said you didn't believe everything the AMA said?

I would like to see the 3 pages of drugs that can cause low platelets - or you could just give the source so we could go find it.

medicineworld.org/physicians/hematology/thrombocytopenia.html

Patti - I just feel that you are overreacting on the Benedryl. It's a common pre-treatment.

As I said, ANY drug has the potential to cause thrombocytopenia. I have said that many times on this board; it's no secret. To separate Benedryl out from the rest of the drugs seems unnecessary. It's doing nothing but possibly scaring a person away from something that might benefit them. Everyone reacts differently to medications and just because one person has a bad reaction does not mean another person will.

As far as I'm concerned, you might as well include the whole PDR on the list of drugs that can lower platelets. A 3 page list is far too short.

Sandi wrote:

Patti - I just feel that you are overreacting on the Benedryl. It's a common pre-treatment.

As I said, ANY drug has the potential to cause thrombocytopenia. I have said that many times on this board; it's no secret. To separate Benedryl out from the rest of the drugs seems unnecessary. It's doing nothing but possibly scaring a person away from something that might benefit them. Everyone reacts differently to medications and just because one person has a bad reaction does not mean another person will.

As far as I'm concerned, you might as well include the whole PDR on the list of drugs that can lower platelets. A 3 page list is far too short.

I am NOT overreacting regarding benadryl. If someone is not responding to treatment, is being given benadryl on a regular basis, then this issue is worthy of exploration for the patient at the bare minimum. If for no other reason then to rule out that it could be interfering with treatment. Or, in some cases, to realize that it is in fact interfering with the platelets coming up.

Well, you can include the whole PDR if you like, but not all drugs effect platelets. However, all drugs do have side effects. Does not common sense suggest that if you have an issue with low platelets it wouldn't be wise to take something that could potentially lower them or prevent them from coming up? That's common sense. Perhaps you really don't care about this, but what if some other parent does? Like me? If I had known this in the beginning when I got on here I would have immediately checked it out and discovered 3 months sooner that benadryl was in fact an issue for my son with ITP.

Something is not right when you think it's okay to ignore this might be hurting someone and maybe they don't know it.

[url] medicineworld.org/page5.html [/url]
From Medicineworld.org: Disclaimer
"THE INFORMATION PRESENTED AT MEDICINEWORLD.ORG IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE USED TO MAKE ANY TREATMENT DECISIONS.
THIS INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE SUBSTITUTED FOR MEDICAL ADVICE.
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Benedryl is not on that list, at least not that i could see and i checked it a few times. It does help side effects of other drugs and allergies though, id rather have that than suffer!
Julia

Using Benedryl is protocol for some treatments. It can prevent a potentially life-threatening reaction.

benadryl.pharmacymonitor.com/benadryl-description-and-side-effects.html

It's probably snobby of me to be suspicious of lists with misspelled words, but I was an English teacher for 34 years, and I can't help it!

I've previously expressed concern about this list because it includes acetaminophen as an anti-inflammatory.

Rituxan can also cause thrombocytopenia.

In RITUXAN clinical trials of relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular, CD20-positive, B-cell NHL, the most common Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions that occurred more frequently (>1%) in patients receiving single-agent RITUXAN (N=356) were lymphopenia (40%), neutropenia (6%), leukopenia (4%), infection (4%), anemia (3%), chills (3%), and thrombocytopenia (2%)

www.rituxan.com/lymphoma/hcp/dosing/index.m

Danazol:

The following reactions have been reported, a causal relationship to the administration of Danazol has neither been confirmed nor refuted: allergic: urticaria, pruritus and rarely, nasal congestion; CNS effects: headache, nervousness and emotional lability, dizziness and fainting, depression, fatigue, sleep disorders, tremor, paresthesias, weakness, visual disturbances, and rarely, benign intracranial hypertension, anxiety, changes in appetite, chills, and rarely convulsions, Guillain-Barre syndrome; gastrointestinal: gastroenteritis, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and rarely, pancreatitis; musculoskeletal: muscle cramps or spasms, or pains, joint pain, joint lockup, joint swelling, pain in back, neck, or extremities, and rarely, carpal tunnel syndrome which may be secondary to fluid retention; genitourinary: hematuria, prolonged posttherapy amenorrhea; hematologic: an increase in red cell and platelet count. Reversible erythrocytosis, leukocytosis or polycythemia may be provoked. Eosinophilia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia have also been noted. Skin: rashes (maculopapular, vesicular, papular, purpuric, petechial), and rarely, sun sensitivity, Stevens-Johnson syndrome; other: increased insulin requirements in diabetic patients, change in libido, elevation in blood pressure, and rarely, cataracts, bleeding gums, fever, pelvic pain, nipple discharge. Malignant liver tumors have been reported in rare instances, after long-term use.

www.drugs.com/sfx/danazol-side-effects.html

yes, and I wouldn't do those drugs either.........

Interesting article Patti. I noticed penicillin being a drug that was noted. I wonder, and I know there is no way to really know, if my allergy to penicillin was an indicator of the onset of ITP? I was never allergic to penicillin up until about 2-3 years ago. Because I had frequent nasty sinus infections, I was always taking antibiotics. My ENT would switch them around so as not to have the infections get "used" to any one strain of AB. However, one round during Christmas 2-3 years ago I got violently ill from penicillin. Nasty fever, major itching, and puking. Ever since then, I've had the same reaction to penicillin. I obviously don't use it anymore, especially since I started my candida diet (I'm off all AB and all prescription drugs, and not to mention haven't had a sinus infection since I've started, whereas I would get one every 1-2 months prior to the diet).

But I wonder if that incidence of "becoming" allergic to penicillin had any hand in starting a chain reaction or being directly involved in contributing to ITP? The time frames certainly coincide. Meaning that my blood tests starting showing low(er) platelet counts some time after that incident. What do you think? I know I am speculating, but I'm sure someone out there has to have done so more extensive research on stuff like this other than anecdotal evidence like mine.

Joe,
OR, both the itp and the penicillin reaction were due to a third thing going on with your body.
Erica

Actually, Joe, I agree with the penicillin connection and it would be very worth antidoting it to see if you see a change in your platelets. We could not get off of zero until we antidoted the benadryl with Luke. That got us to 10K. Then we did the same with prednisone and that got us to 36K. From there we did full h-pathy to heal.

Lindy, I haven't been on any anti-biotics for well over 9 months now. My last blood test was maybe 4 months ago, but my diet started 7 months ago. And I haven't touched penicillin for over two years, so I couldn't stop penicillin since I'm not taking it and by now it is surely out of my system Plus I take lots of pre- and probiotics, vitamin supplements, and other nutritional thing and I'm eating a sound, whole nutrition diet.

I'm hoping that in 2-3 months when I go back for my next blood test, my count will be up because I've exponentially increased my health through my diet, plus a whole 9 months of no anti-biotics.

Also, could you clarify what you mean by "antidoted the benadryl"? Do you mean you took him off the benadryl, or gave him something that counteracted it, if so what?

Joe,

In spite of what most people think, the medicines we take don't "leave our system" as one would think. Remnants of them stay in our cells and collect there. My son had LOADS of benadryl from the time he was a toddler b/c that was the only answer my doctor had for how reactive he was to everything. <smacking forehead > He didn't have any for about 6 months prior to his ITP and then he did have one dose 3 months prior to our antidoting it. It matters not how long it's been since you took a substance. If you noticed changes in your health after it, it's worth antidoting. Antidoting is a homeopathic process of using the substance itself to clear the body cells of any remaining drug (for lack of a better description). I believe April may have described that process on this board at one time or another?????? Maybe she'll chime in. I can't remember it she has or not.

Because allergies are an immune response and in light of what you have seen health wise, I think it's clearly worthwhile for you to look into.

patti

Hi Joe,

When Patti said she "antidoted the Benadryl", she meant she used a method called Tautopathy, a branch of homeopathy.
It's used when a drug, a vaccine or some poison has caused a bad effect. The substance is prepared in a specific manner, in a method called "potentization", where it's serially diluted and succussed (or shaken vigorously), in order to render it non-toxic, as well as to bring out the dynamic energy in the substance. Then, a small amount of the remedy is given to the person, and it basically cancels out the bad side effects. Usually the remedy only needs to be given once or twice, sometimes in more than one potency--it should not be repeated frequently. And, it's generally just one small part of treatment, but can quickly and effectively remove unwanted side effects or "blocks". After that, your body may be able to heal itself more easily, or you may need the help of an individually chosen homeopathic remedy , what some call a "constitutional remedy", to complete the healing.


Does it work? I would say in my experience it does, especially if there's a clear-cut etiology after using a particular drug or vaccine, or, if a person has taken a lot of a particular medication for a long time. All drugs have effects other than that which they were prescribed for. This is an absolute. You can check the PDR, or you can easily do a google search to see if a particular drug has your condition as a known side effect. For ITP, you need to look for "thrombocytopenia". For some people (not all, by any means), these drugs can keep their body from getting back to normal. I've also found that those who already have ITP, tend to be more sensitive to substances that affect the platelets. They are simply more susceptible, and if there's a 2% chance of a particular effect happening, they will tend to fall into that 2%.

Although it does seem improbable that a drug that was given 2 years ago could still be effecting you, I wouldn't totally rule it out. There was a homeopathic doctor, Tinus Smits, who died about a year ago, whose specialty was working with autistic children, primarily using tautopathy. He developed a whole system of antidoting every vaccine, antibiotic, topical creams, even the plastics from heated baby bottles! He had documented btw 300 -400 of these cases, where the kids have gone from being severely autistic, to be either greatly improved or typically normal, just through this tautopathic treatment. Nearly all these children had been given the vaccines many years ago, but their parents saw that their problems started within a month or two of getting a certain group of vaccines. Other homeopaths use a combination of giving the vaccine remedies when they suspect a certain one, due to the particular symptoms or etiology (i.e., losing all language overnight after a vaccine, suddenly developing seizures, etc.), alternating them with their constitutional remedy.

If you go to the Natural Treatments section, I started a thread called something like, "How to Attenuate (weaken) Side Effects of any Medication". It tells you how you can make a remedy yourself, from any drug or substance that you're reacting to. Of course, with something like Penicillan, where you would not have been given the drug to take home, you would need to find the already potentized remedy. Only a doctor can order these remedies here in the USA.

I wish you well. It sounds like you're on the right track.
April