Is cranberry juice safe to drink with ITP?

[janran]

Hi

I think I may have cystitis (and of course it's the bank holiday weekend!). Cranberry juice is recommended but I read on the American PDSA website that it is bad for platelets. Has anyone any experience of this? Last count was 90 but that was weeks ago and I know it is on the way down again so I don't want to chance speeding it up if I can help it

Thanks

[scaryteacher]

If I cut out everything it says on the U.S. website, my diet would be very restricted. I eat cranberries, and drink cranberry juice and it doesn't seem to affect my count. Better lower platelets than cystitis.

You could also try a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in half a pint of water three times a day. I think some supermarkets with pharmacies will be open both today and tomorrow between 1000-1600 if you are in UK.

[janran in reply to scaryteacher]

Thank you. I have been drinking loads of water and I did drink some cranberry before I realised it might be a problem (with no obvious negative effects). My local chemist was not much help about whether the sachets were safe to take and I didn't want to bother the hospital at the weekend. I am feeling a lot better than I did so will carry on doing what I'm doing. Thanks again for the reassurance.

Janet

[scaryteacher in reply to janran]

The sachets are effectively bicarbonate with a cranberry taste. Barley water in whichever flavour is good as well.

[Zaff]

I take cranberry juice with no problems x

[janran in reply to Zaff]

Thank you. I drank some yesterday with no obvious problems so I'm happy to carry on with it. I'm just being a bit extra cautious as I know my count is dropping. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Janet

[Kyriak51]

Hi janran, I've not heard that but my experience is that my platelets drop with bacterial and viral infections and return to baseline with treatment. How do I find the American PDSA website? Cramberry juice has been recommended for symptoms of UTI's for years, I suspect patients are more likely to drink juice than water and believe the increased urination is flushing out the infection. Antibiotics is the only cure if taken for the prescribed number of days unfortunately many patients stop taking the drug when they starting to feel better and save remaining drugs for the next time they get sick. This practice leads to inadequate treatment contributing to bacterial resistance; take your drugs as prescribed, cure the infection, maintain adequate hydration and your platelets will return to baseline. Please send link to American ITP site, be well kyriak51

[janran]

Thank you for your reply. Drinking water by the bucket full seems to have worked and my GP has given me some antibiotics to take if it flares up again this weekend. Won't take them unless I really need them. ITP is such a strange disease as it affects us all differently. A viral illness will make my count drop a lot but my count seems to rise when I have an infection! I have my routine appointment next week so it will be interesting to see what the count will be (it has been steadily dropping for the last few months). The US website is the platelet disorder support association it will come up if you Google it.

Regards Janet

[Vivante]

. Cranberry juice is suitable and seems to work for some. Always check the leaflet, there may be some info regarding the use of juice. It should be avoided by people who are taking warfarin. Re water intake, bearing in mind the amount of liquid you consume during the day, tea, coffee, etc this all adds up. What is the size of the glass you use for the water? We all need to drink some water to prevent dehydration, particularly important when it is hot weather. Many foods have a high liquid content also, check that out.

[janran in reply to Vivante]

Thank you Vivante x I am well now but have increased the amount I drink during the day as I wasn't very good at making sure I got enough to drink. This seems to be helping.

[Vivante]

Thank you for your reply,I hope it works well for you. I keep check on my fluid intake, some of the meds cause dry mouth, I feel like drinking gallons of water, I know that would cause further problems, so a sip of water helps.

Keep well.