After decades of quiet my ITP returned, but I’m not fighting it alone!

I was diagnosed with ITP at 11 and immediately my doctor warned us of the connection between lupus and ITP.

Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body.

My lupus diagnosis was definitely not an easy one. It took me almost 8 years to finally have a confirmed diagnosis.

I had heard of lupus but never ITP, so I remember feeling shocked and scared of the unknowns.

Hi, I’m Michelle, I’m 31 and I’ve had ITP since I was 4 years old. My “normal” blood count for my whole life since has never naturally been over 5 and I usually hover around 2-3.

I was diagnosed back in South Africa where my family were living at the time. After three years of treatment there having immunoglobulin intravenous transfusion it was just not a long term solution- this was back in the 90’s though when ITP was really rare and not much research had been done on the disease.