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thinking of stopping BC
- amberyard
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- Lowest count 0-1k highest count 1,247,000 11/2/21. 189,000 N-Plate 527 Weekly CBC
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- Katsim
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I read your other post. Really sorry to hear you're having a crappy time right now.
I was on the pill for 6 months last year and it improved my count (along with steroids). My consultant reckoned that the estrogens somehow "thicken" the blood. Not very technical language I know, but stopping it could affect your counts so I'd check with your dr first if you can
Kat x
Lowest count 1. Highest count 207 (ivig) Indium scan showed predominantly splenic destruction. No meds currently, just seeing how things go.
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - it's about learning to dance in the rain".
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- amberyard
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- Rob16
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- amberyard
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Thanks Rob
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- sharonb
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I have heard of the progesterone cream which may be a better choice then the shot. Heard it helped a friend with similar chronic conditions.
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- amberyard
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- amberyard
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- amberyard
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- Katsim
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Sorry to hear your counts dropped - but great that they're back up to 39!
Last year, when I was first diagnosed with a count of 1, I only responded to ivig. I was on 60mg pred, but not really responding. My consultant decided to wean me slowly off steroids - in April I was on 20mg and decided to go back on the pill for a bit. Suddenly I started to respond to the steroids - lowering them led to a lower count & increasing them gave me a higher count. My last ivig was around the beginning of April last year - I didn't need it once I was back on bc.
Once I got the measure of it 15mg pred + bc = counts of around 50. If I stopped either bc or pred my count dropped to low double figures within a few days (13ish) and I started taking both together again. I'd see this drop during my pill free weeks too - but just got used to the fact that it would happen.
My haemo saw all my recorded medication/count figures and couldn't give me any answers.
In your case - it could have been either the bc or dex that has increased your counts and you will only know with time & carefully timed blood tests when you do stop bc. It's frustrating! I've told you all this so that you can see that bc can impact on counts - it saved me from other treatments for a good while. It does seem to be quite a rare occurrence though - my haemo did a small tally with some of his own patients who had taken the pill & stopped and there was only me that had such a measurable impact. It's a weird one!
I'm now off both pred and bc with a count of 50 - it just spontaneously jumped and then has levelled off as I've weaned off medication. If your counts are being boosted by bc, it doesn't mean you're stuck on it forever.
Hope your counts stay in a good, safe range
Lowest count 1. Highest count 207 (ivig) Indium scan showed predominantly splenic destruction. No meds currently, just seeing how things go.
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - it's about learning to dance in the rain".
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- amberyard
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Recount next week to see where they are at with out the Dex in my system. I will see what the week of the placebo pill in the BC pack does. But I have always told my doctor that my counts drop when I'm on my period, and of course they look at me weird.
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- Ann
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- lili
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The explanation is that the steroid hormones in birth control have a similar structure to prednisone and both are destroyed by the same pathway in the liver. This means that if you increase the amount of steroid hormones in your body by taking birth control, then the prednisone will not be destroyed so quickly and will have more effect. It's like increasing your dose. Often you can feel the difference in prednisone side effects when you take the placebo pills to bring on your period.
I've found that most doctors don't know this, but you can look it up online and see how these things are destroyed.
Of course it's also possible that the hormones do affect the platelet count in some way and they may fluctuate according to your cycle.
Lily
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- Rob16
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On the other hand, progesterone is a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. Nonetheless, it has a net immunosupressant effect via other mechanisms.
So, the effect of discontinuing birth control may depend on the type of birth control used, whether estrogen or progesterone based, or a mix of the two.
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- amberyard
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