NSAID's and ITP

Hello;
Mine is a story which I am sure resonates with a great many of you so I won't bore you with the details other that to tell you that I was diagnosed with ITP after a blood test showed my platelet count was 6 (yeah, really) and not the 100+ that most people have.
I was put on 100mg of Prednizone and was on that for 8 months with no success so had my Spleen removed and since then have regularly had good, slightly higher platelet numbers than normal, around the 200+ range.
My question to the group is can I now take NSAID's or not. I have been given different answers by different Doctors. Some say 'don't take them, you will always have ITP, but the removal of your spleen has compensated for that' while others have said 'you don't have ITP now, there is nothing wrong with your platelet count, so go ahead'.
Obviously these answers are at odds with each other and I would love to know what the real answer is (if there is one!)
Thanks much,

I've always been under the impression that NSAID's do not lower platelets. They can thin the blood, so should not be used by someone with a low count. However, any drug (NSAID's, antibiotics, etc) has the potential to cause thrombocytopenia.

I am in remission also, and take NSAID's all the time. I have not had a problem.

I stopped taking them for a long time. I once took two Motrin, drank a glass of red wine and took some fish oil supplements, not all at once but over the course of a day. It was around the time I was first diagnosed so I was still learning that I needed to be more conscious of what I was putting in my body. Later that night I got a migraine with a nose bleed. It wasn't a bad nosebleed but it scared the hell out of me. I went to the hemo for a CBC the Next day and my count was like 75k or something pretty good so they didn't think the platelet level could have caused it. I'm much more cautious about blood thinners now. I was scared of NSAIDs for a long time but they're really the only thing that help with my cramps so I started taking them again. A half dose as rare as possible. So far I've been ok taking them. I read that they make your platelets less effective at clotting blood so that's obviously a bad thing if you're counts are low. I think I read that you generate new platelets every ten days though so I assume the new platelets in ten days won't be effected.

The NSAIDs don't affect the platelets permanently so if you take the drug today it will affect clotting but by tomorrow the effect will have worn off. Aspirin however is different and will affect a platelet for the whole of its life. So even if you have a high count today, if you take an aspirin and your count happens to fall in a week's time, all the platelets that are still around from a week ago will still not clot properly. Then you have poor clotting and a low count. That's why we are told never to take aspirin but NSAIDs are okay when the count is good.

Thanks Anne, and everyone who responded. I much appreciate your input.

NSAIDs - Nonsteriodal antiinflamatory drugs include the following:

Celecoxib, diclofenac, etodolac, fenoprofen, ibuprofen, indomethacin, ketoprofen, ketorolac, nabumetone, naproxen, piroxicam, sulindac.



Ibuprofen - used for arthritis to relieve fevers; and as an antiinflamatory drug it can increase bleeding time.


Please take moment to read side effects before taking a drug. Than remember to way the risks against the benefit of the drug.