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CellCept and Promecta for treatment of chronic ITP?
I am 75 yo female who was diagnosed with chronic ITP in 2020 because of trend of low platelets(in 90K range)evidenced on routine CBC’s. Stable until Nov 2023, when platelets dropped to 50K range following Covid vaccine in Oct 2023 and shingles vaccine in April 2023. Now, followed by hematologist at Duke Univ Medical Ctre. Weekly blood tests since Jan 2024 with decline in platelets as low as 25K.Course of prednisone elevated platelets to 250K but dropped as soon as predisone tapered. Recommendation now is for CellCept and Promecta. Has anyone had experience with these drugs?
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Hi. I was diagnosed with lupus 10 years ago. Last few years my autoimmune condition was attacking my platelets to 4 thousand. Which is dangerous. I had to take Rituximab infusion. 4 treatment in 2021. My platelets was good for one year. Then again it was down to 10k. I had to take Rituximab again for 4 treatments in 2022. My oncologist told me usually it last about one year. Now it is 16 months I did not take any infusion. My platelets is around 150k. Every month I do blood work. This is my story. You can ask your doctor about Rituximab. I hope you get a good answer. Selina from Colorado
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1 ReactionI have ITP since 2023. Did platelet transfusion (2 bags) and ended up with a drop from 28k to 19k in one week. So transfusion not an option. I did the high prednisone dose with not much success and very bad side effects. Been on Promacta for about 3 months. Got a bump, and then very slow drop in platelets. I have some side effects from the Promacta - itchy skin, hair loss, almost constant runny nose, and the big one - in one year it made my cataracts go from "let's keep an eye on this" to "you need surgery." So if you go on it and may have cataracts, get a baseline and check it every 6-12 months. All I can say for Promacta is it has kept my platelets above 50k for the past 3 months.
I was diagnosed in November 2024. I am on a regimen of prednisone. For the first time, I am in normal range 3 weeks in a row. Started out 80 mg/day for 2 weeks (this is all based on body weight so your numbers may be different. Then 70 mg/day for 3 weeks, then 60mg/day for 3 weeks. I will find out tomorrow (March 7) if it is still working. Then a 10 mg/day step down every 3 weeks. I am also interested in other treatments as I hate the side effects of steroids!!
The prednisone side effects did me in. There was no way I could tolerate it long term, plus it didn't work all that well for me. Took a long time before I got any bump in my numbers and then they started going back down immediately. Promacta is a little easier with the side effects, but it is horrifically expensive (something I didn't realize until yesterday when I was checking to see why my co-pay was so high).