Low Blood Platelets

[kschmitz 0]

I was diagnosed with celiac disease in August and have been managing well with the information and support from this forum. Recently, I have also been diagnosed with petechiae - which is superficial bleeding into the skin, usually on the legs - caused by low blood platelets. Have any of you ever had this diagnosis? Low platelets can be the result of an autoimmune problem, so I was wondering if petechiae could be another disorder from celiac.

Thank you.

ks

[red345 0]

Sorry to hear about your current problems, ks. Many different meds are known to cause Thrombocytopenia. If you happened to start taking any new prescription or otc drugs within a 1 or 2 yr window of this showing up, I would re-evaluate those possibilities asap, than discuss them with your doc.

Only now are we beginning to learn that several different medications may trigger food allergies. Over the past two months I have caught four or five different TV ads associating their drug to the "Unlikely event that it may cause food sensitivity." If you read between the lines, the recent whistleblower that went after Crestor and several other drugs so hard was essentially implying that they may all provoke GI irregularity, probably by way of induced food allergy/sensitivity ='s the creation of disease.

The most beneficial poll that could ever be taken among those with Celiac is a complete, comprehensive 10 year study of any & all prescription and otc meds/supplements that all of you were taking prior to the onset of Celiac symptoms.

We know what triggers Celiac; it is stress, be it mental or physical strain (Drugs, vaccination, infectious disease, etc). We already know that basically everyone here has autoimmunity in their families, and that they themselves have endocrine and autoimmune impairment. We know this to be a mitochondrial disease, we know that its roots fall along the lines of diabetes, etc. That type of info, by itself, will not help. What we need to know is what type of comprehensive env't came to take hold among these folks over the decade prior to being diagnosed w/ Celiac.

If 50 people here would be willing to write down a 7-10 paragraph summary fully detailing their lives to the fullest extent prior to the onset of symptoms, we would understand 10 times more about this disease than we do right now. Every drug taken, and for how long. Emotional strain, be it a correlation w/ a major stress or that of an ongoing Type A personality, etc. Changes to the sleeping schedule, vaccination history, what part of the country they have lived in, etc. How many hours per day are spent on the computer (A relevant question for one angle, believe it or not). Are they currently or were they ever heavy caffeine or beer/alcohol consumers. Previous odd ball behaviors regarding the diet, etc.

This type of information would help in more ways than one ever would believe to be possible, but that has to be up to all of you to do that.

[kschmitz 0]

Thank you, Red 345, for your response. Unfortunately, I am not taking any new medications that could possibly account for the petechiae. My doctor and I are in the process of trying to find another cause - viral or bacterial infection, autoimmune difficulties, etc. However, since being diagnosed with celiac disease, I think that every medical problem I have is somehow related to it, because most are.

Thanks again for your post.

ks

[red345 0]

KS, if you are not on medication, your doctor is correct to suspect there may be an underlying infection. I have a couple of links for you that you may want to review. It will only take you about 5 minutes to do, and the benefits will outweigh the loss of time. Start with this one-

http://master.emedicine.com/PED/topic196.htm

While this article does not cover your specific concern directly, the link to previous infectious establishment is made. Take note of the referral made to dental work, etc. Than from there, follow through with this article covering Hypogammaglobulinemia, a condition that cannot be directly associated to that of all the problems/situations we see here, but its basis of systematic activity really is extremely comparable.

While most physicians see Celiac Sprue, diabetes, thymus/adrenal insufficiency as different diseases, they truly are one and of the same. But they are just simply part of a bigger condition. Medicine does not have everything classified effectively, but out of all of the theories/labeled pathways, nothing represents what is found here better than that of Hypogammaglobulinemia, at least in theory. From Candida, to Giardia, to benign Thymoma, to Myasthis Gravis, to adrenal insufficiency on down. The roots of all of these conditions can be found right here-

http://www.emedicine.com/MED/topic1120.htm

If you understand Hypogammaglubulinemia, at least that of its basic core, you understand how/why all of this comes together. If one could cure Hypogammaglubulinemia and all of its minor spin-offs, one would have the cure for nearly every symptom/condition that we find on this forum.

Through applied theory, it is my contention that we already have that cure. Notice again that Giardia and Candida are indicted along the way in this article. If you apply reverse order/theory to the basic concepts of this disease, if you implement Kaufmann's disease, you look at possibilities such as Candida and Giardia not as "Associations to," but the cause of "Complex" immune conditions to, and similar in nature to Hypogammaglubulinemia.

If I was a doctor and had a patient diagnosed with Celiac, I would approach with the suspicion the patient either has Hypogammaglubulinemia, or a condition very similar in nature to it. An accurate, though incomplete theory available would be another area that would have to be addressed in assessment.

Everything else would be ignored along the way, outside of basic necessity maintenance. That is because if you solve the mystery behind Hypogammaglubulinemia, you solve everything here-food sensitivities, included.

The premise may be far simpler than even that of

what I've even gone into here, because all that I'm trying to say here is that it would appear that most here have Immunodeficiency. While this statement may not be worthy of being on the front page of the newspaper, the secondary message is extremely worthy. In other words, I think that it's high time that a few of our doctors tell us why it is that every single autoimmune condition carries with it the possibility of an underlying "Infection". At what point do we, the consumers of medicine's services, come to understand that reverse theory may just be the truth here-meaning the infection may just be "the disease." Whether or not a cure could come for some of these issues with such an altered mindset, I wouldn't know, but it's worth a try, I would think.

The one thing that I will never understand in my personal case involves the period when I was diagnosed with diabetes as an infant. Three months prior to being diagnosed, I was diagnosed with a superinfection (Fungal based). Because such is commonly found among those with uncontrolled diabetes, aggressive blood testing was done for glucose levels during that time. The results were all normal.

After successful treatment of the first infection, two months later the fungal infection returned, but this time excess glucose levels were detected, leading to a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.

One-two months prior to the first infection I was given the big round of childhood vaccinations. We've all heard the myths on vaccination, specifically that of Mercury's involvement with the superinfections, but we've always chosen to ignore them. I did the same, until last year, that is. Once I began reading about the flaws within those first vaccines of the 70's, however, I couldn't ignore what I was reading any longer.

Having only three cavities, all of which are composites (No mercury), I never bothered to explore the possibility behind a heavy metal toxicity. Based on my current research, however, I ordered for myself that of a 24 hr urine to detect for the presence of heavy metals. To my surprise, my urine levels revealed a toxicity to Mercury and Gold, of all things. Because of the difficulty behind testing for the heavy metals, I followed this up by ordering a Hair Analysis-same result on Mercury, only a slightly lower level on Gold. Blood? Same. Since that period I have ordered re-tests on all three types of tests, this time from different companies, and have had what is relatively the same results returned to me each time.

Would it be possible for Mercury to remain in the system after some 25+ years, all from a few injections? It would have to be the injections, afterall, as I can assure you that I've never come into contact with this heavy metal away from vaccination. I don't know all of these answers, folks, but will find out soon enough whether or not it may have been a player in my condition.

Do I believe that Mercury causes Celiac Sprue? No, not necessarily. But could it be that varying toxicities, which may or may not be Mercury, play a role in auto-immunity, which may or may not include Celiac? You bet I do.

I could go on, but I'll cut to the chase right here-Every auto-immune condition is caused by either a toxicity, or that of an infection. It's just that simple. If people would only come to understand what are the accepted principles of science, it's just that simple.

[tarnalberry 314]

I wanted to comment on the mercury statement in red's post:

We all run the risk, outside of vaccinations preserved with mercury, of coming in contact with mercury from thermometers/fluorescent light bulbs/some electonics (elemental metal; can be inhaled or absorbed), fish (methylmercury; must be swallowed), some button batteries (inorganic mercury compounds; must be swallowed), old interior paints/some exterior paints/some toiletries (phenylmercury; can be inhaled, absorbed, or swallowed), and even from the air and soil near areas where workplaces release mercury (particularly power plants, hazmat sites, hospitals, and manufacturers of goods that use mercury).

If you have concerns about mercury toxicity in yourself, besides getting tested, you may want to investigate your environment very very closely.

[Professor 0]

Just wondering how the platelets and petechaia turned out -- still there? How low are your platelets?

I got really sick a few years back -- platelets down to 50,000 (should be 140,000 to 440,000), WBCs down to 3.0 (normal is 5.0 to 10.0), and RBCs low. They did a bone marrow biopsy, and I have a very rare (2 in a million) bone marrow faillure disease. I don't have a matching donor for a bone marrow transplant, and there's no cure.

Anyway, give a post and tell how you're doing?

Patty

[mda10 0]

Platelets and Celiac---

There can be a linkage between low platelets and celiac. There is some genetic evidence that genes may be linked. I personally have had ITP (ideopathic thrombocytopenic purpura) for the past 20 years, maybe longer. Counts ranged from 40,000 to 90,000. I saw a world specialist in platelets at the time and he said dont do anything. I didnt have any symptoms from it. Most doctors want to remove my spleen. Now, I just got diagnosed with celiac few months ago.

Also, you can see a rheumatologist to test for various autoimmune platelet disorders like anti-phospholipid antibody test. I think it's called????? I plan to do this myself. And to rule out all the Mixed Connective Tissue diseases. They go hand in hand sometimes with celiac.

good luck.

[astyanax 0]

when i was around 13 i was found to have low platelets. i wasn't diagnosed with celiac until i was 18, which is the same age symptoms started showing up.

at last count i was around 85k for platelets. it's never affected my life in any way though and my mother, my aunt, and my brother, none of whom have celiac, all have low counts as well. i was told that it tends to run in females? i never guessed any celiac connection though.