Aspartame and low platelets

[ItsRalphy]

I'm trying to find a trigger for my latest platelet count drop. Lately I've been low in energy and trying to lose weight. I started drinking sugar free caffeine drinks and at a routine blood test found my platelets dropped from steady 70k to 27k. I have found some info on Internet search but of course reliability is an issue. Does anyone here have any information or been affected by this? Thanks

[jonathan1970]

I had wondered if energy drinks might have even caused my ITP as before I got diagnosed I was drinking them in all honesty to excess. This is the first time I have heard anyone else spot a link having read people apportioning responsability for their ITP to lots of other things. Just thought I should post to thank you for raising this and to affirm that although it might be just coincidence consumption of energy drinks in large doses preceded my ITP. I dont drink energy drinks anymore, but thats just a personal choice, best wishes for higher plateletts in the future

[ItsRalphy in reply to jonathan1970]

Thank you for your views. It's nice to know there is someone else with the same suspicions. I will not be touching another energy drink again! (See my recent post). Wishing you well. Itsralphy

[Rafiq]

Hi Ralphy,

I am informed by a specialist nurse that caffeine could be an issue, although I have not been able to find any evidence for this. The Addenbrookes' study found no evidence between diet an ITP although we should be careful about the usual suspects e.g cranberry etc. The PDSA (US) site is helpful regarding what should be avoided. In my personal case (it may not be the same for everyone) I am reasonably sure that fresh coconut juice ( supermarket £1.00 for a coconut) and papaya help keep my platelets in double figures. Nothing to be alarmed about, but since 2007 my platelets fluctuate between 0 and 20. My haematologist and I have agreed that unless I have bruising or bleeding the clinic will not intervene.

Best Wishes.

Rafiq

[ItsRalphy in reply to Rafiq]

Thank you for your views, I have been on the PDsa website to get the list of thing s to avoid. Though these things may not cause itp they can aggravate the condition and I am thankful to have this info. I wonder why my dr didn't give me this list? It must be scary to have levels 0-20! I do feel lucky to to have had an easy ride so far. Best wishes to you too Rafiq and maybe some luck too... itsralphy

[ITP_1992]

It's not necessarily Aspartame that has caused you platelets to drop. When I was last admitted to hospital (over a year ago) I began searching for food/ingredients that cause platelet count to drop. I had read somewhere that Guarana and Ginseng are enemies of platelets, and most energy drinks contain these as they are natural caffeine.

[ItsRalphy in reply to ITP_1992]

I've def. added guarana and ginseng to my personal banned foods list. It's not worth the risk! Thanks for the info immy_87. Wishing you well! Itsralphy

[mikelly321 in reply to ITP_1992]

pdsa.org/about-itp/warnings... Lists aspartame

[ItsRalphy]

Thank you to Jonathan1970 rafik and immy_87 for your helpful information. I have today been for follow up blood tests and am happy to say they are back up to 64k. The only things I have changed between now and the last bloods two weeks ago was I stopped having the caffeine energy drinks. Is this a coincidence? Maybe, but I have decided to exclude caffeine energy drinks and anything containing aspartame from my diet. It's just not worth the risk. I have been reading through so many people's experiences and feel so lucky to have had a comparitively easy ride with no major episodes. I'm finding so much useful information on this site and I just hope that others find the same feeling of support for a condition that raises many questions but does not yet have as many answers. Wishing you all good health for the future. Itsralphy

[Danison1337]

I also consumed at least 1 litre of sugar free energy drinks per day for the last years and my platelets dropped down to 50-120k. i ditched them for the last couple of months, hope they will get stable again.

[Lynwoodley]

Hi I was also drinking about 7-10 diet drinks a day, I only found out about 5 weeks ago I had ITP. I had never heard of it. I only went to the doctor as I was always tired, my short term memory was terrible and I kept bruising badly, my count was 33. I started exercising . My diet was terrible I stopped the diet drinks, alcohol and white bread , white rice, potatoes, cakes and sweets etc. I generally changed my whole diet by eating healthy and drinking water, and taking vitamins a bit boring but for every negative there is a positive I have lost 2 kilos, my count has gone up weekly and is now up to 52 so hopefully it will keep going up, I'm not sure if it will but I feel less tired and am not bruising as badly now