Doctor says my slightly low platelets don't mean anything... Is that right?

[Sick-and-Tired]

Hi, I posted about my low platelets on another forum and they suggested I look on here.

I'm 30 years old and have been feeling incredibly ill with various symptoms including constant fatigue for over a decade. I have very high thyroid antibodies and also have parietal cell antibodies. After a long fight I'm on Levothyroxine for my thyroid, but sadly it hasn't helped my fatigue.

I'm now at a bit of a loss with regards to where to look next for answers. However, one result which is consistently out of range are my platelets. I did find a print out of blood test results from over 10 years ago which also showed my platelets below range.

For a while my doctor seemed vaguely interested and did get blood tested regularly, but after a while she just said that some people just naturally run on slightly lower platelets than others.

They aren't drastically below range, I know from looking online that these levels aren't considered worrying... But i was just wondering whether they could be relevant with my fatigue.

These are all the platelet results I have (healthy range 150-450)

Nov 18 - 128 10*9/L

Sept 18 - 148 10*9/L

Aug 18 - 139 10*9/L

June 18 - 100 10*9/L

Aug 17 - 124 10*9/L

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

[Kyriak51]

I would kill for your counts, my baseline is 30K-80K on weekly Nplate injections which drop to 9K-20K with illness. As a nurse I must apologize for your so called doctor who is not interested in investigating the reason for your low platelet counts other than to say “some people have low platelets.

You mentioned high parietal cell antibodies which should have lead her to consider vitamin B12 deficiency or pernicious anemia.

Parietal cell antibodies are produced by the immune system and target a type of specialized cells that on that line the stomach wall and produce “intrinsic factor”. These antibodies can disrup the function of intrinsic factor causing pernicious anemia which can cause decreased neutrophils and PLATELETS. Please see a doctor who actually cares enough to practice evidence based medicine and get properly diagnosed, Be well Georgia

[Sick-and-Tired in reply to Kyriak51]

Hi, thanks so much!

I have to say, I was a bit nervous posting my platelet results here because I know they are comparatively high!

Interestingly it was the pernicious anemia forum I originally posted on.

Annoyingly the test results that said I have parietal cell antibodies says next to it that it can't be used (alone) to diagnose PA.. so my doctor has said that that is also meaningless...! It really is all just a bit of an uphill battle!

Thanks again for all your help!

[Kyriak51 in reply to Sick-and-Tired]

Your welcome, I forgot to ask where you live. I’m in Chicago USA within 15 miles of four major medical centers and have access to all medical specialist and latest diagnos /treatments regimes. I hope you are able to find a specialists to provide appropriate care, you are too young to be so sick Georgia

[Morgan]

I haven't had platelets that high since before i was diagnosed over 15 years ago. They are almost normal and nothing to worry about. Mine range between 25-40 and I take no medication. Fatigue, yes I do get it and more now that i am older but at your age there must be something else causing this.

[Sick-and-Tired in reply to Morgan]

Thanks (and I was sightly worried about posting my results here because I knew they would seem so high).

Sorry you've been dealing with that.

[Suvidhanju]

There is no problem to you like ITP

[SoporRose]

Dear S&T,

You may have myalgic encephalomyelitis, the disease formerly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. (cdc.gov/me-cfs/about/index...., mayoclinic.org/diseases-con..., solvecfs.org.) I was diagnosed with it several years ago after the fatigue I got after being on Rituxan never went away. It's one of those diseases of exclusion, one that gets diagnosed when other conditions have been eliminated.

Your counts are indeed within what I understand to be the "safe" zone, but everyone is different, so your platelets may be contributing to your fatigue. You write that you found test results from ten years ago, but that you've been feeling worn out for over a decade. Do you know what your counts were before the constant weariness set in? Would your doctor have that information? It seems to me that if your fatigue coincided with a drop in your platelets, then you might have a better sense of whether to ask your doctor to take another look.

Let us know how you do and what you find out.

Ruth

[Sick-and-Tired in reply to SoporRose]

Hi, sorry for my delay in responding!

I will ask my doctor if they can see what my platelet counts were from further back - that's a very good point!

Thanks so much for all your advice!

[alice_sportyauthor]

Start looking up auto immune diseases, unfortunately there are plenty of them, like Lupus.

Auto immune means that our immune system which is meant to protect us, starts attacking us.

That could be one joint - rheumatoid arthritis, or lots of different problems with moving joint pain - Lupus.

The thing they all tend to share, fatigue. And being hard to pin down and diagnose.

I started with ITP and then collected Lupus as well. My platelet count is nearly always less than 20 platelets per unit of blood!

Hope you find some answers

[Sick-and-Tired in reply to alice_sportyauthor]

Thank you so much for your advice! I agree, I think I probably have one (or a few) autoimmune diseases. I just need to work out which ones in case I can be treated. Thanks again for your advice!

[hartscarena61]

Hi, I am a 57 year old female. For the last 2 years, my platelets have run on the low side. Last count was 124,000.00 My dr. Said not to worry unless they drop below 100,000. Or she could refer me to a hematologist, which I can't afford, even with insurance. Has anyone ever been to one? What do they do?

[CDmom]

Hi Sick and Tired,

Your platelets sound like a reasonable range to me although they are a bit low and it sounds like you may have autoimmune issues that could be impacting them

That you feel tired says that you may have something going on that can be addressed.

Have your tried having a good homeopathic rebalance your immune system? I had two practionerrs one who used rife treatment to get rid of undetectable bacterias and viruses and one who used the Avitar Machine and he rebalanced my immune system. I was cured within one month of those treatments after every 2 week platelet crashes to 5,000 for 8 months.

Please keep me posted if you go that route and good luck!

[Sick-and-Tired in reply to CDmom]

Hi, I haven't ever tried any homeopathic treatments... I'll look into this! Thanks for the advice!

[JennaShi]

Hi! Did your doctor mention about your thyroid antibodies? Which do you have? I am in the same boat with platelets, parietal cells, thyroid antibodies, and fatigue.

So my question to you is, have you had a cbc recently? More specifically, is your Lymphocyte count going up more often?

If you have an excel program, you light he able to chart your CBCs and thyroid levels or anything else to see if there is a pattern lining up with your platelets. We did this, my husband and I and found there was a clear correlation with my platelet count and lymphocytes. I also found out a little while ago that I have chronic EBV which could explain the fatigue as well as looking like another autoimmune condition in the making. I totally get how you feel though, it’s frustrating. Although definitely not as bad as other people’s levels, it still doesn’t seem right.