CO-VID vaccine cause me to have ITP - ITP Support Assoc...

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CO-VID vaccine cause me to have ITP

M_Nira profile image
25 Replies

This is my story: I gotten my vaccine back in April and now I have ITP. I was healthy now I am sick. ;(

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M_Nira profile image
M_Nira
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25 Replies
DAVIDJOEL profile image
DAVIDJOEL

This has been my biggest fear from the vaccine, especially after reading about that physician who died in Miami five days after getting the vaccine.

SoporRose profile image
SoporRose

I understand that these new shots can be scary. While it is true that a few people have contracted ITP after getting the COVID vaccine, these are VERY rare instances and I do hope people will talk to their doctors and do research with reputable medical organizations rather scaring others from getting a shot that will save their lives and the lives of others. I talked with my primary care and with my haematologist before getting vaccinated; both were absolute about my getting vaccinated and now says I should get the booster as soon as I can.

Some people have medical conditions or age restrictions that prevent them from getting vaccinated. The more of the rest of us who do get the jab, the more we will be able to protect those who can't as well as ourselves.

IvieD profile image
IvieD in reply toSoporRose

I fully agree with you. Also checked with my haematologist and he said it’s better to have a temporary dip in platelets than COVID. ITP can be triggered by many vaccines, it’s not specific to COVID one.

LifeafterITP profile image
LifeafterITP

I am sorry if the vaccine has caused you to develop ITP, I hope it’s only temporary and that your platelets recover to their normal level. Hundreds of millions of people have been vaccinated world wide and the vaccinations have saved hospitalisation, serious illness and death for countless people.

It does not make your ITP any easier for you but for humanity as a whole vaccines are a great thing.

Millielottie profile image
Millielottie

I contracted ITP after getting my flu vaccine for the first time last November. It is very scary at the start and my count was 12 at the beginning and now 10 months on its 341 and I am not on any drugs.

The covid vaccine helped my count but you will get there and you can live a normal life x

M_Nira profile image
M_Nira in reply toMillielottie

I had my vaccine in April and was hospitalized 10 days after with like heart attack symptoms. But then it was heart inflammation (myocarditis) and also my blood platelets were low. I never had any health issue. I did 1 IVG treatment.

S38abcd profile image
S38abcd

I hope your platelet count becomes stable.A lot of research is needed how these vaccines affect those who have very low count.

Even haematologists can't agree on one stance.

My kid is 15 n cant get it as the count is too low.I fear that we have no choice as without the jab he is still at risk.

Even before the pandemic life was tough for us.

in your case if it was normal before the vaccine let's hope u will recover soon.

Best of luck.

Calliecookins profile image
Calliecookins

I woke up one day last summer with ITP. After various tests, the doctors can’t determine how I got it. I’m thinking I got Covid with no symptoms and it wiped out my platelets. One doctor said that was a possibility. I’m now vaccinated and the vaccine didn’t change my platelet count.

Bassmaster57 profile image
Bassmaster57

Hi M_Nira,Sorry to hear the you are going thru this situation. I have had the same reaction to the COVID vaccine. Although very rare more and more people are having this reaction. Approx. 4 weeks after getting the vaccine my platelet count dropped to 15 and I had little red dots all over my legs. Dr. put me on Dexamethasone and in 5days my count had skyrocketed to over 800. This is a trial and error problem . After the steroids, I had an IVG infusion with the same result. We are still trying to figure out what treatment I should have to stabilize my count. Hang in there, you are not alone. Best wishes.

M_Nira profile image
M_Nira in reply toBassmaster57

Thank you for ur msg. I am going back and forth to the hospital for blood work. I am being followed closely by hematology. I did one IVG treatment it worked for the first few days then after my platelets went down again. Now recently red dots all over my legs and thighs. we will see what's next...

Bassmaster57 profile image
Bassmaster57 in reply toM_Nira

Hi M_Nira, Typically here in the US the first treatment would be high-dose dexamethasone. 40 mg per day for 4 days. Repeated at least twice. Then the IVIG infusion. After I had the IVIG infusion, I developed Bell's palsy on the left side of my face and was put on prednisone for 7 days. After I was done with the prednisone my platelets have almost stabilized in the 150 to 190 rain for the last 3 weeks. If they continue to drop to a dangerous level( below 50) my doctor wants to start me on promacta. I'll see what happens over the next few weeks. Good luck and hang in there...

swheels profile image
swheels

To put it into perspective, if you do catch covid and only have mild conditions you can still develop ITP. When I relapsed last year I was asked if I’d had covid. It might not be just a side effect of the vaccine it’s more likely a side effect of covid. The vaccine doesn’t have a live virus in it but it does have minor properties of it. I’ve just recovered from covid, I have ITP I fully expect after having a blood test today, to find my platelets will have dropped but thankfully I had my treatment just before I became infected. The vaccine I know has saved my life, it has disrupted my life annoyingly but I’m alive and for that I’m thankful. Your ITP might be acute, if it is it could resolve itself and you could heal completely. It’s on if it becomes chronic could it be a long road of treatment. Hopefully it’s acute and you heal and live without it

Mesd profile image
Mesd

Hi there, this is what unfortunately happened to me so the doctors think. Mine was back in Mid March of this year and I still haven't seen any improvement

M_Nira profile image
M_Nira in reply toMesd

I am sorry to hear that. Which vaccine did you take?

Which treatments have you done? Are you taking any medications?

I cannot take the second vacine until my platelets have stabilize.

Mesd profile image
Mesd in reply toM_Nira

I had the Oxford, I'm on 6 tranexamic acid tablets a day and 750ml Romiplostim once a week, I've had other meds but this has been my main ones

Knina profile image
Knina

Hi M_Nira, I hope your platelet count will go back to normal soon. Doctors and I are still do not know how I got ITP. I was diagnosed in spring 2019.There are might be so many causes. If you doctor have not done all testing for underlying diseases, then ask for it. Also I remember how frustrating it was for me for the first year. Each time I went to see a doctor, I was hopping that my counts are better. They have been lingering between 35 to 55 (mostly in 40), so no treatment for me. Hang in there. It helps to talk to people and go to the conferences to get to know other people stories and be able to ask questions. Wishing you best of luck and hope that it is temporary event in your life.

HOLCOTT profile image
HOLCOTT

I'd rather have ITP than covid especially long covid. Plus i cant give my itp to my elderly parents and vulnerable friends x

Heacham2017 profile image
Heacham2017

Vaccines can cause ITP. My daughter contracted ITP from a vaccine. We didn’t know it at the time she had the vaccine. . However, it wasn’t the Covid vaccine. When first diagnosed life was not good. My daughter often had no energy and took her A Levels over 3 years. Having seen her go through several years (8) of having it she has now got to a point where she is living a normal life. She is now in her 3rd year at University. I think the trick is finding a good consultant who understands and is willing to find the right drug to suit you. In spite of contracting ITP through a vaccine she still opted to have the Covid vaccine. I of course worried that it would upset her platelet balance. She reasoned that with help she could cope with ITP but could be seriously ill with Covid.

I hope you find the treatment that suits you. Good luck.

scaryteacher profile image
scaryteacher

This is why I don't want the booster if it is Pfizer. My first two were AZ, and no adverse effects. I don't have that many platelets that I can afford them to drop substantially.

swheels profile image
swheels in reply toscaryteacher

My vaccines were Pfizer and I had no side effects from either of them. My husband had the AZ and he felt rough. It’s not the vaccine it’s your body. You won’t know how it will react. I have been booked for my covid booster and flu jab next Thursday. I had Covid at the end of August. Thankfully mild symptoms. I’m on Romiplostin, the vaccine has never affected my platelets the virus does though.

scaryteacher profile image
scaryteacher in reply toswheels

It precisely because I don't know that Pfizer won't cause a massive drop in my platelets that I won't have it. As the AZ was like the flu jab in its mechanism, (which I've already had this year), then I was happy to take it. I am not happy to take the Pfizer vaccine.

As it's my body, it's my choice. I am not willing to gamble on Pfizer not dropping my platelets too low. I only have a count of 32 on really good day

swheels profile image
swheels in reply toscaryteacher

My consultant told me that if my platelets were at a certain low level then I wouldn’t have the vaccine until they came up to compensate for the slight drop it might cause. But she said the benefits outweigh the risks so at some point to still have it. It shouldn’t cause a massive loss in platelets just a slight one. It replicates what the virus will do, apart from the blood clots that some people have been getting. Your doctors can treat your drop in platelets should that happen, and it won’t be for long. If you get Covid without protection from serious illness, you’re looking at anything from feeling rough, like having a two week hangover to ending up in hospital not knowing what the outcome will be. If I didn’t have ITP and were fit, younger and healthier I might not have had the vaccine but I have no spleen. I had to protect myself

scaryteacher profile image
scaryteacher in reply toswheels

I have a spleen, and I have had 2 AZ vaccines already, as I have pointed out. It is the booster that causes me concern, as it is Pfizer.

By the time I managed to get an appointment for a blood test to check my platelets if Pfizer caused an issue, I'd be dead or in A&E, as you need to book weeks ahead where I am for blood tests. As for a consultant, that's a phone consultation every 14 months if you are lucky and can get the bloods done.

I have to deal with the reality of how my GP practice operates in Cornwall, so I prefer not to take chances.

swheels profile image
swheels in reply toscaryteacher

I’ve had both Pfizer vaccines, I haven’t had any problems or a drop in platelets from it. I recovered more quickly from Covid than my husband who was vaccinated with the AZ. There was is no more risk than any other vaccine. But it’s your choice at the end of the day

hiltonhead profile image
hiltonhead

I also developed ITP after my first Pfizer Covid shot. It has been 9 months now and have now been diagnosed with Chronic ITP. I was down to taking just 5 mg of prednison when I went in for my what I thought would be my last blood work before I was to be dismissed to find out my platelets plummeted to 3,000. That is when I was diagnosed with Chronic ITP and I was very disappointed. I was started on 50 mg of Promacta but have now been moved up to the 75 mg dosage. I will just have to adjust my thinking and learn to live with this condition. I still do not regret my decision to get the shot because I do think it has saved countless lives and at the time I was taking care of my 90 year old mother and I couldn't bare the thought of possibly giving her Covid. I am sorry this has happened to you, also, and pray that yours does not become Chronic. I am a new member to this site and have found it helpful. Good luck on your journey.

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