ITP help needed

Good afternoon all,
My name is Jay and I'm a 32 year old male who has been recently diagnosed with ITP. I have recently finished a course of oral Prednisone to increase my platelet count - oral prednisone for about 6 months - starting at 90mg and slowly weaning off. My platelet count has come back to 'normal', but I have a few questions and was hoping some people out there with similar circumstances will be able to share some of their experiences , as medical practitioners are giving some rather ambiguous information regarding ITP and how it is caused/contracted/developed.

A quick timeline:
In 2013 I had a blood test as a general health check up and was advised that my health was fine - Even though I had a platelet count of 23 (this information was not communicated to me). Frustrating to say the least.

In late 2016 I was "officially diagnosed" with ITP and had a platelet count of 10 - which was a huge concern - I was hospitalised and put on a course of Prednisone which I have recently finished (last 6 months). In addition, my bloods also showed that I had the Epstein Barr Virus (Glandular Fever/EBV). I queried medical practitioners about the EBV and asked if it was likely I had the EBV way back in 2013 which may have triggered the ongoing ITP/Platelet destruction, or if the EBV was contracted around 2016 when my platelet count was 10, thus lowering my immune response and assisting me in contracting EBV.

My query is: Is it likely that my ITP evidence in 2013 (platelet count 23) is independent of my 2016 platelet count of 10 along with the Epstein Barr Virus. So basically which virus/disorder came first? Or do they go hand in hand together? This is very much a chicken before the egg type of question but I am curious to know. In 2012-2013 I was deployed on military operations abroad and have heard that drug induced ITP from vaccinations etc can also trigger ITP. In addition, I am suspicious that I contracted EBV from my general interactions with local nationals/forces in confined spaces over prolonged periods which may have led to ITP through the Epstein Barr virus.

Thank you in advance and I hope this makes sense.

Jay - hi, welcome. There is no real way to know if ITP actually began in 2013 or not. Sometimes counts can go down temporarily in response to an illness, medication or vaccine. The only way to know would be if you'd had CBC's done between 2013 and 2016 that showed the platelet count. It's odd that no one ever told you about the count of 23k. That's actually not much different than 10k since there is a margin of error with the platelet analyzers and counts can fluctuate that much in a day or even from the exact same blood sample run twice. Did you have the 2012 physical for the military? If so, they should have never accepted you with that platelet count. We've had others here who were denied military and fireman positions due to counts under 100k.

Any virus, including EBV can trigger ITP. Is it the cause of ITP in your case? I can't answer that. I don't know. Yes, vaccines can definitely trigger ITP and is listed in most vaccine inserts as a side effect. I have also read that people can get EBV from vaccines, so you have all of these possible connections that cannot be proven one way or another.

ITP is a mystery for most of us; very few of us know what caused or triggered it. It always seems to be important to answer that question when first diagnosed, but most people end up accepting that they will most likely never know. Knowing doesn't change anything.

If you have a normal platelet count after Prednisone, consider yourself lucky. Most people end up dropping as they taper and it's rare to get a remission from it. Hopefully, you will have a long remission....that's the best anyone can hope for.

Thanks Sandi,
I've had many physicals during my military tenure from 2004 onwards- unfortunately Full Blood Counts do not form part of Australian military health checks - only on enlistment - and I rarely had any health problems until recently, so very limited blood tests done during my career. I have heard ITP can be triggered by various means. It sounds like the majority of my exposure/vaccines/EBV etc may even have compounded to trigger my ITP....or possibly not haha. It's all very vague. I appreciate your help and thank you. Would you know of any resources regarding military personnel exposure to conditions/chemicals/vaccinations and ITP? if not, all good. Thanks again.

Jay - go to Youtube and type in Vaxxed and military. You will get quite a few videos of people in the military telling their stories. I don't know if they had ITP or not, but there are stories about military vaccines and vaccine injury. I've heard a few stories about civilians ending up with ITP after vaccines, but don't specifically remember any from the military.

thank you.

I forgot to mention my platelets have started to drop again which is unfortunate, so back to prednisone again. If anyone has any further information or their own experiences, especially experiences centred on military employment and ITP please share. Thanks again.