Cellcept

Does anyone know how long cellcept takes to raise platelets. My daughter who is 18 now (diagnosed with chronic ITP at 8yrs old) She has basically used winroe for the last 6yrs. Since she is away at college now. We decided its time to try different treatments. Doctor wanted to try and "fix" her so he recommended a course of 3 meds first dexamethasone,then rituxan then cellcept. Well the Dex treatment went well. Rituxan was a nightmare. She had a terrible allergic reaction to it. The Dr said to start the cellcept anyway. Its been about a month and she is covered in bruises and very very fatigued. Last checked her count last week and it was 29000. She's already had to take a course of steroids because her count dropped to 10000. He wants her to take it for 6 months but I don't feel its working. Would rather her just stop the cellcept and go back to the WinRoe.... Im so torn

After some googling, I read in one place that the time to response (TTR) for CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil) was 1-4 weeks and in another it was 4-6 weeks. For another immunosuppressive, azathioprine, it was suggested not to quit trying unless six months have passed. I see no reason why the TTR should be different, and that may be where your daughter's doctor got the six month time frame.

If your daughter has gotten good results with WinRho in the past, without undue side effects, I see no reason at all not to use it instead of prednisone to get your daughter's counts up while waiting for the CellCept to work.

I hear that the side effects of CellCept can be wicked for a lot of people. Here is a previous discussion on this website:
www.pdsa.org/forum-sp-534/7-treatment-general/26984-cellcept-or-prednisone.html#29618
To quote our moderator, Sandi:

"I tried it for Lupus and couldn't think straight. I felt like my mind went blank...couldn't function at my job so had to quit taking it."

What is your doctor's reason for wanting to discontinue the WinRho, when it works for her?

Rob16 wrote: If your daughter has gotten good results with WinRho in the past, without undue side effects, I see no reason at all not to use it instead of prednisone to get your daughter's counts up while waiting for the CellCept to work.

*You* see no reason but are you a doctor?

No, I am not a doctor. Did I claim to be one?

That does not keep me from questioning a doctor's decision, especially since I see so many doctors' decisions that are questionable.

There are no known drug interactions between Anti-D (RHO) Immunoglobulin and mycophenolate mofetil.