Large Swings in Platelet Counts

Hi all. First time poster.

I’ve known I’ve had low platelets for about 6 years or so now. My counts jump all over the place. I’ve never had any treatments yet, and they have been at 47 up to 151 and pretty much everything in between. Does anyone else have these large swings?

Hello Mr T,

From what I've seen around here, those that have wild count swings are 'row 1' in my ITP treatments table. Which is basically, those that respond to steroids. A few have found external influences like allergies to be an issue. With most though, what drives the swings isn't clear/obvious. Perhaps something internal, like the immune system fighting off the flu, or a Shingles outbreak, or a bacteria or fungus driven Pneumonia. Can't ask one's immune system what the problem is to know.

A simple four day 'Dexamethasone pulse' (aka Dex pulse) might work well for you if row 1 is the case. That is a bad part about ITP. One doesn't know if a drug will even provide benefit until one gives it a try.

Oh, one question comes to mind. When the counts jump around. Is that from week to week or from half year to half year? I guess I was presuming the former and not the later.

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