Platelet Infusion not helping

[Painting4u]

Has anyone had this problem. I received two bags of plateletes and one blood. I ended up with 3 plateletes a week following the infusion. This is the second time it happened to me, I have been four years with ITP.

[BeccaUnit]

Yes. My oncologist basically gave up on transfusions unless it is an absolute end game without it.

When I platlet crash, I get an immediate injection of Dexamethasone, and start promacta to counteract my immune system as quickly as possible. After about 10 hours, we see a drastic bump, usually in the +10k to 20k in platlet count. RBC comes up a little more slowly, but trends up to normal levels by the 36 hour mark. All this is in a 3 day Dexamethasone regime, and from there we decided if its rotuxin or IVIG from there.

Been doing this dance with ITP since 2000, 7 times now? It got a lot easier to treat after my spledectimy.

GOOD LUCK, and make sure you get enough vitamin c to efficiently absorb iron! Your gonna need it.

[Lynney11]

It all depends on what is causing the ITP. For me it is my immune system destroying the platelets as they enter my system from the bone marrow. In this case it doesn’t make any difference if I was given a platelet transfusion as they would be destroyed anyway! Unless of course your doctors think that by flooding your system with platelets your antibodies are unable to mop them all up. I am on tablets that do more or less the same thing and my count is pretty stable at over 100. Good luck.

[ghostthemovie in reply to Lynney11]

tablets? Please provide the name of the tablet.

[Lynney11 in reply to ghostthemovie]

Eltrombopag aka Revolade.

[ghostthemovie]

k. Thank you. I’m so over all the drugs that do not work. It’s so frustrating. You make alot of sense bcuz I don’t know what’s causing the itp. I will definitely talk to my hemo on how to determine what’s causing itp. Am I asking if it is my immune system or what’s the other?

[Lynney11 in reply to ghostthemovie]

Sorry for not responding earlier. Regarding your question about whether your ITP is caused by your immune system, have you had a bone biopsy? I had a couple of these when ITP first raised its ugly head!! Bone marrow was taken from my hip to see if my system was producing enough platelets, which it was. The reason for ITP is usually diagnosed by deduction, ie ruling out everything else, what is left could be the cause. In my case the only thing left was my immune system playing up!

[bonandmick]

My doctor agrees with what Lynney11 said, that platelet infusions don't work, they may just be a last ditch effort. They gave them to me in the hospital when I had 0 platelets, but he thought that was a wasted effort, since the IVIG and steroids are probably what helped.