Do I need to worry?

I was disgnosed with ITP when I was 16, my summer before senior year of high school. It hit me hard. I was hospitalized for three days, had two IVIG's and a bone marrow biopsy. My count was down to below 15,000. I'm now turning 18 and haven't been checked up on since. I sometimes have my suspicion that it may be acting up again and my numbers dropping, but never really bother going back to the doctor. Can me just letting it go affect me in the long run and cause serious damage?

It's a good idea to see a doctor for a yearly physical. During the physical, you'll get a CBC and then you'll know what your platelet count is.

"Letting it go" will not cause you damage in and of itself, but if your platelets are low and you have an accident, it could be much more serious with low platelets than without.

It's probably a good idea, like Tamar said, to have a count done yearly. Other than that, you really don't have to worry unless you start having symptoms like bruising, bleeding or petechiae. No, it won't hurt you in the long run.

I went into remission once for two or three years and during that time, never had a count. My GP sort of insisted that I have one at my physical and my counts were in the low 30's. I never knew it and it was no big deal. I was upset with him though because I'd really rather not have known about it. At that point, I had to start monitoring again until counts dropped further.

But no, no serious damage will occur if you have no symptoms.

Are any other symptoms common? When I was initially hospitalized for it I didn't have the purpura or real easy bruising like most people do. I had bad fatigue, neck pain, and headaches but I don't know if that had anything to do with my ITP as it did with the virus I had.

It was probably the virus, which might have been the trigger for ITP also.