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@garyr443 While it’s noble that you’d like to replace medications for Essential Thrombocythemia with ‘benign’ treatments such as food and cranberry juice, for some people, that simply isn’t going to get the job done.
Essential thrombocythemia is a myeloproliferative disease with a high incidence of thrombotic (clotting) complications, especially cerebral, myocardial, and peripheral arterial thromboses. Abnormal platelet function may contribute to these complications. Often, initial treatments such as a daily baby aspirin are prescribed to help keep platelets from clumping together and forming clots. In some patients, with a high rate of proliferation of platelets, medications are necessary to keep that level stable. That’s where drugs like Hydroxyurea play an important roll. While some foods may help minimally to reduce platelets, people with myeloproliferative diseases, churning out excessive amounts of platelets or red blood cells, daily medications become valuable tools.
We’d all love to be able to just drink juice for our cures.
When I had AML (acute myeloid leukemia) I had a friend tell me all I needed was to drink raw asparagus juice daily. Right…well, my doctors called in the big guns from Big Pharma with intensive chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Pretty sure the asparagus juice would have left me pushing up daisies from the underside for the past 7 years! Now I’m healthy, cancer free and here to be a mentor in the Blood Cancer support group.
We have to be very cautious when suggesting people ”ditch” the drugs their doctors have prescribed. That goes against the Community Guidelines of Connect. We are not medical professionals so we cannot diagnose or offer treatments. But we can use our personal experiences to share what has worked for us.
I wish you well with your cranberry juice experiment. But I do want to caution you that cranberries contain oxalates which can increase oxalate excretion in urine, potentially contributing to stone formation. For people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) such as yourself, cranberry juice might pose risks. Kidneys affected by CKD struggle to remove potassium from the blood, and high potassium levels can lead to serious heart and muscle problems.
You’ve made several comments about your 4 doctors informing you that you have kidney disease with a rating of 3B. But since you’re not having any symptoms, you really don’t believe them. They cautioned you about the amounts of protein in your blood from your Keto diet.
Kidney disease is referred to as the Silent Killer. For most people there are no symptoms as the loss of the filtering ability slowly develops over time. Until it’s too late and serious but irreversible damage has happened. According to the National Kidney Foundation patients with a 3B rating have ‘Moderate to severe loss of kidney function (that’s the ability to filter toxins) (eGFR 30-44 for 3 months or more).
https://www.kidney.org/kidney-topics/stage-3b-chronic-kidney-disease-ckd
So, we’ll all be curious to see how well your cranberry juice to lower platelets is working out for you. I hope you’re successful! If it doesn’t work what is your next option? Curious, what is your platelet level?
Replies to "@garyr443 While it’s noble that you’d like to replace medications for Essential Thrombocythemia with ‘benign’ treatments..."
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@loribmt Well, first of all, I'm not suggesting cranberry juice will work for everyone. If it works for me, great. I cured (that means it's gone and doesn't return) Type 2 Diabetes in five months by eating a paleo diet. As long as I continue to eat that diet, I have no worries about diabetes anymore. That experience, i.e, using a simple dietary change to correct a problem without resorting to a (shortened) lifetime of dangerous drugs is what we should all be looking into. Food is not a dangerous drug and our ancestors knew this, long before Big Pharma began making billions while killing millions. And don't give me that crap about how everyone died at 30 before the twentieth century. I'm a genealogist and I know how how long my ancestors lived, which, in most cases, was just as long as people are living today.
Only one of the four doctors I mentioned said my eGFR is "wavering between 3a and 3b." I have never been at 3b. She also told me (you ignored this) that in 2024, my eGFR fell from 3a back 2, where it was in 2009. She had no explanation for this. Another thing, in 2009, when I was first disgnosed with kidney disease, the only criterion for that diagnosis was my GFR. Two or three years later, they began calling it the "eGFR," or estimated glomeruler filtration rate. Why is it only being "estimated" now? Still, I haven't had one symptom of the disease.
Yes, I'm aware of the potential negative effects of cranberry juice. I have carefully studied this and other non-pharmaceutical options. I am willing to accept the risks and I am not promoting this as something for everyone. I'm very much aware that we all have different stories. Congratulations on yours, by the way.
My latest platelet count is 301,000. Normal, in other words. It will be tested again this Friday and whatever it is will be the baseline I'll be comparing my results from the cranberry juice with during my one month trial of the juice. My hematologist backs my decision on this. We've known each other for 12 years and he has a very good understanding of me as his patient.