can stress make ITP worse

Can stress cause ITP to be worse I am so upset about this that I cannot sleep eat etc...Has anyone had this problem?

I don't know if one thing can cause the other, but i know when i am stressed, my counts do seem to go lower, and i also know for a fact that stress is the main cause for my asthma, so for me stress does seem to make a difference, everyone is different though.

I don't know about stress either. I'm not sure that I know the defination of stress! It's different for everyone, much like ITP! Sometimes I think stress is a cop out, an easy excuse. I dunno. Still working on it!

Stress is not healthy for the body, period. It may or may not cause counts to go down, but it can exacerbate autoimmune problems as well as blood pressure and other health concerns.

Why are you so stressed? Talking about it might help.

The first few months after being diagnosed (7.2010) with Itp I became very stressed. I think it is natural to do so. There's no denying that it can be very frightening and frustrating. No one knowing much about what causes it and the treatments having side-effects that can be worse than the condition itself.
I felt like I had 'the bone pointed' at me (early australian aboriginal practice). Fortuneately I had recently started meditating again and and stayed watchful of the trips my mind started playing on me. Night times were t worse, when I would wake up with some very black thoughts.
I asked my GP for some temazepam but only ever needed to take 1/2 a dose two times. It relaxed me just knowing I had something that would give me some restful sleep. I have administered this drug frequently when working as an aged care RN and found it to be gentle but effective with most people.
I found reading almost everything on this website helpful, although it took me a couple of months to have the courage to register and be able to look at the forums (registration required then). I also found becoming very proactive with improving my health helped me to cope on several levels.
The good news is it does get better - takes a few months. I go about my daily life much as usual and realise that there never were any guarantees in life and and that Itp is just something more to get my head around. I still keep theorising about it and this forum is an ideal place to air theories - I'm going to outline one of my wild theories one of these days; just need to work on it a bit.
I also found guided relaxations very helpful when I was very stressed. You can download free guided meditations from Meditation Oasis - I find her voice very soothing and down to earth.
Best wishes, Sally

Sally, Thank you, you never said what your levels and treatmente are now. I have found it helpful to know what otheres levels are and what treatments they have had.
Shannon

Hi Shannon, I have not had any medical treatments for Itp and counts have varied between 60 - 100. Have you had any treatments?
Sally

Stress is such a grey area.

we think we are stressed until something comes along and we discover we really are stressed.... But the important thing is, is that if YOU feel stressed that it is time for you to have a look at your life and see where you are at etc.

I am not a fan of medication for depression/stress/sleepless nights. I feel doctors hand it out far too easily mainly because their line of work is to hand out treatment and that is treatment that comes in little boxes or tubs etc. Doctors on the whole do not seem to be very good at referring us to the right organisation for us to be able to stop and take stock of where we are at and why we do things etc. Medication in these instances only has its value for a week or so to give us the time and energy to put things into place that help us in the long run.

But back to Stress and ITP. for some it could make the condition worse. I don't think it could cause the condition to happen in the first place. Though I do happen to know that Stress does put our white blood cell count up so it may be that the WBC is up and the body is confused so sends mixed messages... for those who are affected by stress.

It is good news for you if stress is a factor that reduces platelets because in time you be able to learn how to live stress free. Stress is not a fashionable word of our time. It can be serious and lead to fatalities... Learn to manage life and you be stress free! I hope you will find a supportive organisation that will help you manage where you are at right now.
Good luck

If it helps, most of us live quite normal lives. ITP is inconvenient, but it doesn't have to make you miserable.

Hi Sandi, Just curious,how long have you been in remission and how log after DX did you get there?
Shannon

I've been in remission for 6 years. I had ITP for 8 years prior to that and was in and out of shorter remissions during that time.

I vaguely remember reading something on this forum about the adrenals having to kick in when you are tapering off prednisone - can anyone enlighten me please? I have been going over old posts but can't seem to find anything.
The thought I was having is that if the adrenals are involved then stress would have to be a factor in itp.??
Sorry, I know this is very vague but would be interested to hear any comments.
Sally

Stress can affect the adrenals, but does not necessarily affect ITP. Prednisone does affect the adrenals though. The body produces about 7.5 mg's of cortisol per day. When a person takes more Prednisone than that dose, the adrenals pretty much stop producing. As a person tapers, it's important to do it slowly so that the adrenals recognize the withdrawal and begin to produce again when the time comes.

If a person is under stress while on Prednisone (surgery, accidents, etc), they need to stop the taper and maybe even go up in dose so the body does not go into shock.

My thought about stress and ITP is what I've stated before. Chronic stress is not good for the body, period. It can cause:

The effects of stress include the following:

* Stress can cause chronic fatigue, digestive upsets, headaches, and back pain.

* Stress can affect the blood cells that help you fight off infection, so you are more likely to get colds and other diseases.

* Constant stress can increase blood pressure and can increase the risk for stroke.

* Stress can increase the danger of heart attacks, particularly if you are often angry and mistrustful.

* Stress can make an asthma attack worse.

* Stress triggers behaviors that contribute to death and disability, such as smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, and overeating.

* Stress can lead to diminished sexual desire and an inability to achieve orgasm.

* Stress makes it harder to take other steps to improve health, such as giving up smoking or making changes in diet.

www.ehealthmd.com/library/stress/STR_affect.html


Stress may not directly cause platelet drops, but it may cause an increase in antibody production or an exacerbation of autoimmune disorders in general.

Stress lowers your immune system which then makes you prone to viruses which can effect your platlets

That's interesting. Sandi says "may cause an increase in antibody production" and Elaine says "lowers your immune system". Those two statements appear to be contradictory.

In practical terms I haven't found that stress does much except maybe it allowed me to get shingles which tanked my count.

They appear to be contradictory, but the immune system is a huge, complex thing comprised of many areas. Some work together and some work independently.

Here are two long-winded articles about it:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3019042/

"Even with this modification of the biphasic model, neither it nor the global immunosuppression model sufficiently explains findings that link chronic stress with both disease outcomes associated with inadequate immunity (infectious and neoplastic disease) and disease outcomes associated with excessive immune activity (allergic and autoimmune disease). To resolve this paradox, some researchers have chosen to focus on how chronic stress might shift the balance of the immune response. The most well-known of these models hypothesizes that chronic stress elicits simultaneous enhancement and suppression of the immune response by altering patterns of cytokine secretion (Marshall et al., 1998). Th1 cytokines, which activate cellular immunity to provide defense against many kinds of infection and some kinds of neoplastic disease, are suppressed. This suppression has permissive effects on production of Th2 cytokines, which activate humoral immunity and exacerbate allergy and many kinds of autoimmune disease. This shift can occur via the effects of stress hormones such as cortisol (Chiappelli, Manfrini, Franceschi, Cossarizza, & Black, 1994). Th1-to-Th2 shift changes the balance of the immune response without necessarily changing the overall level of activation or function within the system. Because a diminished Th1-mediated cellular immune response could increase vulnerability to infectious and neoplastic disease, and an enhanced Th-2 mediated humoral immune response could increase vulnerability to autoimmune and allergic diseases, this cytokine shift model also is able to reconcile patterns of stress-related immune change with patterns of stress-related disease outcomes."

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361287/