Advice on imuran/azathioprine medication.

[e_kennedy]

Hi.

My daughter is now 7. She was diagnosed with itp on 10th may 2013. She at that time had a platelet count of 8. I live in ireland and have not met anyone close to where we live who has this condition. She has had a bone marrow biopsy and aspirate which came back normal. All her other blood results are normal so they do not know what is causing it. Over the summer last year the specialist put my daughter on a 3 month course of presnisolone which she had side effects from (increased weight, increased energy and appetite & very bad behaviour). The steroids increased her platelets to just over 40. She was weaned off the steroids and placed on azathioprine in august of last year. Her platelets as of 2 days ago have gone up to 76. I have read somewhere that this medication can cause other serious conditions such as cancer. Has anyone else been on them and what was the prognosis after them. Also the specialist has told me there is a chance her platelets could fall again when she is taken off the medication. Has this happened to anyone else?

[lc12345]

Hi, it's a bit odd course of treatment for a child as from everything I read following this forum, they are normally treated with IVIG. Azathioprine used to be a mild chemotherapy medication so not sure how it can cause cancer as it is a treatment for it. It was recently moved to treat autoimmune diseases. However, I personally had dramatic hair fall from it, to the point that I lost really a lot of hair. My doctor told me it's quite rare side effect and I was unlucky.

I would advise you to try and find ITP specialist, if not in your area than somewhere else. This is a specialist condition and should not be treated by general haematologists. I personally noticed enormous difference and was offered quite a few treatment options after I switched to a specialist.

[Hidden]

Azathioprine is often used with adults for ITP but not with children. It is usual if there are no serious bleeding symptoms to not treat childre at all. Is the doctor experienced with treating children with ITP?

And yes azathioprine along with all the other immunosuppressants can cause cancer but it usually takes a long time.

[e_kennedy in reply to Hidden]

Yes the doctor is a haemotology specialist.

[Laffa2779]

See if you can have her try Romiplostim injections, the side effects are not as bad! My daughter is 6 and has had Itp for 3 years! We just started Romiplostim about 3 months ago and her platelets have been consistently over 50!