Access to TPO drugs Nplate, Promacta

We live in Africa. TPO drugs are not available in this part of the world. These drugs are also extremely expensive and out of reach of most of the people here. I need the drugs for my 14yr old son who has bicytopenia (platelets and neutrophils).
Does anybody know whom i can approach to get these drugs at an affordable price since i will have to pay for it on my own. Insurance will not cover outpatient drug costs.
Any suggestions will be welcome!

The TPO drugs are not widely used for children and are still in trial in most places. There are other drugs to try. Have you read the latest guidelines from bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/content/115/2/168.full

We have been keeping ourselves informed of the treatment options. Our hematologist has begun suggesting second line drugs because of our son's shorter response to the first line treatments available. We have also some information that TPO drugs have been used successfully to manage pediatric ITP.

Hi,

I can't give you any suggestion on the TPO's but given how difficult it sounds like it might be to get, have you considered looking into homeopathic practitioners in Africa? There are quite a few on this forum that have used homeopathy successfully to heal their ITP. My 13yr boy is ITP free now as a result of it. I found a number of practitioners of classical h-pathy in Africa. I listed a few links below that you can narrow down based on where you live.

www.homeopathyforhealthinafrica.org/about_us.php

www.homeopathysouthafrica.co.za/SA_homeopath_directory/south_african_homeopath.htm

www.hsa.org.za/practioner-search

Best Wishes

Alicein
Thank you for this information. We would very much be interested in the course of treatment you followed for your son even though I understand that homeopathy is individualized to each patient. We live in Kenya where, while we have homeopaths, the practitioners are not a formal organization. This makes it difficult to find genuine trained practitioners.
We have also been made to understand that the initial reaction of the patient to homeopathy treatment is negative, before it has a beneficial effect. Is this true? Aabid's numbers are very low and fluctuate between 10-25,000. What was the response from your sons conventional doctor when he knew you were using homeopathy as a treatment option. Our sons hematologist has often frowned upon us using any non-conventional treatments (we tried papaya leaf extract without any marked difference)
The websites you suggested are based in South and West Africa. They do provide valuable information but we would not be able to use their practitioners.
We will look into the possibility of consulting with them in Kenya.

Hi Amin,

Your boy is starting ahead of where mine did. My boy had zero platelets for more then 3 months when we started homeopathy. Our doctors were not supportive at all but in the US it is common to just "watch and wait" with children so we told them that's what we were going to do. Once we started homeopathy we never went back to the hematologist again (well, just once- to fire them). Instead, our naturepath was able to order CBC's and monitor our son's progress for us so we chose that route. We also occasionally would see our family doctor for blood work if needed. We RAN from the hemas office as fast as we could. :sick:

I don't know if it's true for everyone, but we were told there might be a slight drop in platelets when we dosed his homeopathic remedy. When you're at zero, can't really go much further down! Our son did not experience any symptoms otherwise even with no platelets when we dosed him. As his counts rose, we did notice when we dosed him that he might have slight drops (nothing drastic) and they NEVER lasted more then 24hrs. Usually what happened is we'd see him take a small drop (as evidenced by either increased petichaie or bruising) and within 24hrs he'd go higher then he'd ever been (we usually checked on off dosing weeks in the beginning). Each time we dosed for about the first 4 months or so this occurred. But each time he climbed higher then the time before. So each drop mattered less and less because his counts were higher and higher. All told, it took us about a year to get into normal range, but only a few weeks to go from zero to 20K (for us that was a HUGE improvement!). It also seems like the higher one starts they don't seem to experience the initial drop. Once we got into the 50's or 60's he did not drop anymore when we dosed him. This probably varies largely with the person and may not happen with everyone. As you know, h-pathy is very individual. But I cannot tell you enough how worth it it is to go this route! Really, all you'll end up needing from the doctor is CBC's to monitor counts.

I should say that not everyone takes a year to get into normal range either. Our boy had extensive vaccine damage we had to work through and his body was very sick otherwise so his body had a lot of work to do healing wise. He had more then ITP wrong with him. Today, he's a healthy, growing, almost 14yr old.

I'll see if I can do some looking for licensed practitioners in Kenya and get back to you.

patti

What does licensing indicate in homeopathy, is there a licensing board? The information I found indicated there is not but perhaps this information is outdated: www.healthandhealingny.org/complement/homeo_training.html
<<<Official Licensing Bodies
The practice of homeopathy is not officially licensed. >>>
Erica

eklein wrote: What does licensing indicate in homeopathy, is there a licensing board? The information I found indicated there is not but perhaps this information is outdated: www.healthandhealingny.org/complement/homeo_training.html
<<<Official Licensing Bodies
The practice of homeopathy is not officially licensed. >>>
Erica

I know licensing varies state to state and some states don't require it. The homeopaths in our state are currently pushing for it here. In some states it's an option, but you don't have to have it.

In states where licensing is required it typically means someone has to have a certain number of instruction hours as well as practicum hours. I'd also forgotten that in many states it is licensed under naturopathy because many homeopaths get their degrees through naturopathic colleges (like NCNM in Oregon and Bastyr in WA). Strictly homeopathic schools typically are 3-4 years schools.

There are also a number of states that license MD's as homeopaths as well so they hold dual licenses to practice either type of medicine or both at once.

Patti.
Once again thank you.
Our son, Aabid, also has issues with neutropenia for which we manage him with weekly doses of neukine.
Is it possible for you to share with us a few names of the kinds of homeopath medications that the doctors used on your son? Just to get a feel of the medications that they prescribe.
We also read that in homeopathy, the docs treat the various symptoms of the condition (mouth ulcers, nose bleeds, bruising etc) and not the condition itself (autoimmune destruction of platelets or low production)?
Amin
PS We are so glad that this worked for your son and that you are still available on the forum to share with us all your knowledge!

Amin,

I was able to find a few places you can contact to try and find a reputable homeopath in Kenya. Start here hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/pioneering-homeopathy-in-kenya/ - you should be able to contact the writer and see if he knows of someone personally.

tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=81F0F051BDA446E0B580AC62392AF63B - at the bottom of this it gives an address to contact someone about homeopathy in Kenya.

www.hautmanhomeopathy.com/around-the-world/africa - it appears there is a clinic in Benin and maybe Maun.

One of these three places should be able to direct you to a classical homeopath that you can work with in Kenya.

Best wishes.