Im new to this

Hi, I have never participated in a discussion forum before so hope im doing this right. I was diagnosed two years ago but I have IPAH and that has been my main focus. I looked around in frequently asked questions but there was one I've been curious about, how do people hide the bruises? I've got them all over my arms, legs, neck and chest. It short sleeve season and I look like iv been in a fight. Also I seem to get more bloody noses (that last days) after eating anything with garlic, grapes and alcohol. Do these affect others too? Ok so a couple questions. Thank you

Rh, what I figured out was that easy bruising is brought about by very slight pressure from a hard object (eg metal, wood) on one's arm/leg/etc. So I avoided even slight pressure to solve the issue. With higher counts, one would normally experience pain (an ouchie) for a bruise to occur. Not the case with easy bruising. Light force alone can do it. But everyone is different. Perhaps you are experiencing something more on the lines of spontaneous bruising. I dunno. You might find daily vitamin C will improve the dissipation of bruises a small bit.

For the garlic, grapes and alcohol. I never identified anything that had a material impact on easy bruising/symptoms. But once again, your mileage may be different.

Garlic thins the blood . You can search internet for that . I once took garlic in my food , I found blood in my stool and admitted to hospital and led to platelet transfusion (count=1 )

Everyone is different. Even when I was low in counts, the only time I didn't eat something was if I didn't like it. Like grapes. We use garlic a lot and I have (had) no issues.

I love garlic and onions and have not stopped using them when cooking. And about 6 months ago I started drinking white grape juice - and I do eat grapes of all colors when they are in season and good. I don't think I've had any problems with these - as Cindy said, we are all different.

My husband was just diagnosed with ITP two days ago. He started prednisone yesterday. We are still trying to wrap our heads around this. He had a sinus infection that persisted and they did routine bloodwork and found platelet of 19,000. I’m thankful that we’ve found this group. There’s so much to learn and I’m pretty sure I will eventually stop crying, pull the boot straps up and take this all in. We are starting with some diet changes to help boost his platelets and immune system. I am relieved to know this is something that we can live with and finding you all gives us both hope.

A warm welcome to you and your husband. It is shocking and worrisome at first, but hopefully your husband has or will have a wonderful hematologist who will help make ITP gradually fade into the background of life. You don't have to 'pull the boot straps up.' You can simply be with him and yourself and take time to accept, adjust, learn...
(You may want to start a new thread)

Thank you for the welcome. His regular doctor had him in a hematologists office the next day and he’s been started on prednisone, ultrasound on his abdomen next week just to be sure nothing was missed in the physical exam. His doctors have been amazingly supportive so far. You are right it’s going to take some time to adjust and certainly it will be an ongoing education. We are already looking at diet changes, stress reducing and remembering there is joy in life. He’s been my heart for 38 years, facing life together. We are going to do everything we can to see many more years together. Thank you again for being there and for the welcome.

That's great he has such supportive and responsive doctors. Joy is so important. It doesn't matter who one is or the circumstances, so am happy to hear you will both be laughing and smiling more.

Im in the hospital my platelets crashed to 7 my iron to 12. So got iron, platlets, IV med and steroids im up to 16 talking of doing a bone biopsy as soon as my platelets are over 30.

Rh wrote: Im in the hospital my platelets crashed to 7 my iron to 12. So got iron, platlets, IV med and steroids im up to 16 talking of doing a bone biopsy as soon as my platelets are over 30.

How about hemoglobin, wbc and rbc?