Children with low platelets-ITP

[Aquamarine]

Hi,

My 2 year old son was diagnosed with ITP in December 05. He had numerous bruises on his body and little red markings too. We took him to the local hospital and he ended up spending 3 nights in there with a platelet count of 7,000.

For people who don't know what it means- Platelets make the blood clot, if there are low platelets it can cause serious illness doe to hemourage (sp) etc.

The normal range is between 150,000 and 450,000>.

He wasn't sick but he was admitted just in case he bumped his head.

He was given steroids and within two days his level was 65,000 and a week later it was up around 700,000.

Since then I have noticed a few little bruises just after he has had a cold, cough or fever. About 2 weeks ago he had bruises so I had his blood tested and his levels were 99,000 we left it for a week and on it's own his levels went back up to 154,000+.

Once again today I saw about three or four little marks but I am going to leave them a few days to see if they fade if not I will get his blood tested again. I try not to put him throught that if I don't have to!!!!!

Just wondering if anyone else has a child with ITP.

Would love to hear from anyone.

Thanks,

Sally (30)
DH (30)
DS (3)
DS (2) ITP
Bub #3 due 9/9/06

[MumsieMel]

ME!!! :gloomy:

I had it, and its been in remission ever since i was about 10 yrs old

Any questions? Fire away. :D

[Aquamarine]

ME!!! :gloomy:

I had it, and its been in remission ever since i was about 10 yrs old

Any questions? Fire away. :D


How long did you have it before remission??

[MumsieMel]

I think about 4 years, long years!

In and out of hosp's, and repeating school cause i missed 6 mths one year!

[RedPanda]

I am sorry to hear about your DS's ITP. It's certainly no fun. My BIL has ITP (he has been in remission for two years). He got it when he was 10, and it was put into remission through steroids, but came back badly when he was 14. In those days (some time ago), they blamed the spleen for the disease, so they removed his spleen. It came back when he was in his mid-20s (he's now 32) and it tends to come back every year or so. He can tell he's getting sick when he gets bruises and blood blisters in his mouth. He also gets blood noses that he can't stop. The lowest his count has been is 3,000 (of course he was in hospital by this stage).
Now when he is symptomatic, they put him on chemo (which seems to work). Don't let that scare you though - my BIL's case is more severe than most and I am sure these days it's a lot better for children. A lot of mistakes were made 22 years ago when he was first diagnosed (they no longer remove spleens), and I think more is known about ITP now. My BIL wasn't officially diagnosed until his 20s. They just kept telling him he had some kind of immune system problem. I am sure doctors are more capable now of monitoring the disease.

[Aquamarine]

The last week my son has had some bruises and petechia come to the surface. He has a dr's appt today and will have a blood test to check his platelet levels.

I was just wondering if anyone knows how they developed ITP? I have heard that you can get it from immunisation and also a bacterial infection called 'helicobacter pylon'.

I am going to ask my dr to test for this to see whetherit is the cause.

I know most times they don't know how ITP is caused.

Have any of you ever heard of this bacteria?

Thanks again.

Hoping his platelets are at a safe level!!!!


Sally.

[MumsieMel]

As far as i know they dont know what causes it.

Sorry