My son (19y/o) has ET, is JAK2+, and is home from college for the summer. He is currently on a daily aspirin, but I am concerned about his PC continuing to increase over the last month (from 1200 ish to 1400ish). His MPN specialist in NYC is awesome and has said that PC can be finicky. Perhaps finals, stress, etc had an impact. He is not worried, but I would like to see if there is anything we can do diet-wise while he is home to encourage that number to drop.
I was reading that Ginseng, raw garlic, ginko bilboa, pomegranates, and tonic water (with quinine) can reduce PC. Has anyone tried/had success reducing counts with these supplements/foods?
Thanks in advance. Love this forum!
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trainerliz
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I have never seen any solid evidence that an of these supplements can significantly reduce thrombocytosis. There are other potential benefits to some of these complementary health interventions. I have been successful in using curcumin to reduce inflammation, specifically osteoarthritis pain. At the core, MPNs are inflammatory disorders. Reducing inflammation improves quality of life and might reduce risk of progression of MPNs as it does for other cancers. Inflammation does cause reactive thrombocytosis, but I would not expect curcumin or another supplement to have a significant effect on thrombocytosis.
An anti-inflammatory diet is under investigation for its benefit in MPNs. Reducing our intake of toxins in the foodstream is something that just makes good sense. Managing stress effectively is also important for anyone's health.
I do use a number of complementary health interventions to manage PV symptoms and other health issues. I would note that anything that is biologically active enough to help you can also hurt you and interact with things. Here is one example. reference.medscape.com/drug...
aspirin + ginkgo biloba aspirin and ginkgo biloba both increase anticoagulation. Use Caution/Monitor.
aspirin + panax ginseng aspirin and panax ginseng both increase anticoagulation. Use Caution/Monitor.
ginkgo biloba + panax ginseng ginkgo biloba and panax ginseng both increase anticoagulation. Use Caution/Monitor.
This is why I consult with an Integrative/Functional Medicine doctor who has expertise on both Western medicine and complementary health. Should your son wish to pursue complementary health interventions, consulting with a knowledgeable provider is a very good idea. Here are some lists.
MPNs can indeed be finicky conditions. It is normal for PLT to vary by as much as 100K based on what is going on in the body. It is more significant when out PLTs are already too high. Glad to hear he has a good MPN Specialist.
I àgŕee with Hunter. Seeing an integrative Dr. Would be supportive , and hopefully , inspiring for your son . Meanwhile very low sugar mediterranean diet . Best fruits are berries and watermelon apples.
Plenty of ginger and garlic , turmeric and cayenne pepper .
Couldn't agree more with what Hunter and Mostew have said. My MPN specialist actually recommended that I include an integrative professional on my treatment team. Taking curcumin/turmeric, ginger and in general trying to make sure I am fighting inflammation and getting a well-rounded vitamin regiment. Nothing 100% proven as of yet but worth a try when done with medical supervision.
Stress makes the plate let’s go crazy. I’ve had ET for 12 years. Stress increases them up about to 300 for me.
diet is huge. I have been on the autoimmune PaLea diet for almost 6 years and weeks in a year all my autoimmune problems were gone. No eczema no depression no incontinence no fatty liver, no body or mouth odor, no more histamine, intolerance. Best thing of all, the sinus throat and bronchial infections that had started my life, and the pneumonia is stopped. Today I have the first cold in 4 1/2 years and it’s almost over after two days. I am 58. there is no doubt about it. I am healthier now than at 42.
garlic only helps good blood flow and reduces stickiness of the platelets. We eat raw garlic every day and also some parsley leaves to combat the stink! 😂😂
Pomegranate juice, but not pomegranate seeds are known to reduce thrombocytes a bit. I buy pure, 100% pomegranate juice. 3 ounces a day is enough. Or I eat half a pomegranate and keep spitting out the seeds. delicious.
I’ve been taking ginkgo since my diagnosis six years ago. Instead of taking 100 mg of aspirin daily, I take 50mg Aspirin on one morning, then 120mg of Ginkgo in the evening. The next day 120mg Ginkgo am and 100mg pm. I repeat this. Ginkgo also helps the veins. It never reduced my thrombocytes even though I was taking only Ginkgo for 6 months.
tonic, water and bitter lemon can be a killer. I’m sorry to use this language. But this almost let me to a heart attack last year. I take Anagrelide and quinin and Anagrelide leads to dangerous side effects!!! I collapsed at the supermarket four times. As soon as I read about this on drugs.com, I knew what’s my problem was. Quinine and quininon also has reactions with 380 other medications. There should be a warning label on every tonic water and bitter lemon that includes this! I was drinking bitter lemon for two months exactly for the reason that it may reduce my thrombocytes. Quininon and quinine are drugs used to treat malaria. It is prescribed in England 3 1/2 million times each year for restless leg syndrome. I find that incredible in a country where so many people drink gin tonic!!! The national health service knows about this.
I don’t know about ginseng. I recall that chasing actually raises the thrombocytes but don’t quote me on that!
200mg CoQ10 has been proven to work in favour of platelet reduction. There was an article on this forum about four years ago. Please research that I take 100 mg ofCoQ10 daily. it is necessary for everybody that has illness. It keeps all cells, stronger and healthier and the body has more energy! It’s wonderful.
please check your son for nutrient deficiencies. We all have them. It’s so important to eat as much organic food as And not eat anything produced by man. Avoiding all possible chemicals in our environment can only help!
Turmeric and curcumin have been shown to help the treatment of most cancers. I was taking this for a while and then stopped because it should not be taken if there are liver problems.
through all the stuff that I’ve done, I’ve managed to keep my thrombocytes stable over the six years, although they were going up 60,000 per year before my diagnosis
although I have ET I received special permission to start on Besremi. It is used for PV at the moment. My MP and specialist was able to get this exception for me because I’m not longer tolerating anagrelide and have never tolerated HU.
Besremi is apparently the only option that will actually give the patient a chance for remission over time. I have had some side-effects which go away after a few uses. it takes a while for it to work. Therefore I am still on reduced anagrelide. It may cause severe depression in about half the people who take it, therefore it is not allowed for patients who have suffered from the severe depression in the past
hope to have helped. I congratulate you! Do everything you can for your son as I have done for my daughter!! 😘
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