Premarin and increased platelet count?

Hello all,

It's been a LONG time since I've visited these boards. I've had ITP for about 11 years but am not currently having any active treatments. Numbers hovered around 60K for a while and my dr said to watch for symptoms of a lower count. That was about 3 yrs ago at least.

So...went to the dr for my annual and he prescribed Premarin for some spotting I was having. A couple of weeks later I had a blood workup and my platelets were 188K. That is the first normal count I have had in 11 yrs. I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience with Premarin. I found some references in the Internet to increased platelet count with Premarin, but wanted to see if there were others that saw something similar.

Thanks!

I did not see an increase of my platelet count. I was only on it for a month because of moral reasons.

I had a similar experience with primolut-N which is a progesterone. I was on it for seven months to control heavy bleeding due to a fibroid. My platelet count went up to 70,000 (normally 45K), when I was on it.
Premarin as I understand is an estrogen. Both estrogen and progesterone are steroid hormones which have an effect of steroids but with minimal side effects.
Could there be a simpler solution to women with autoimmune disorders that have been overlooked?

Suvega,
Are you aware of how Premarin is obtained and what it's made from?
(PREgnant MARes uRINe). I was made aware of this barbaric practice when one of my daughter's classmates did her 8th grade project on this issue (She's a horse owner/lover/rider). You can read more about it here:
dunsgathan.net/horses/pmu.htm

I think most people will not want to take it when they learn all the facts, especially when there are more effective synthetic drugs that are safer, anyway. There are also excellent homeopathic remedies that can help, though they need to be chosen on an individualized basis.

I do think that the increase in platelets you both noticed was probably due to what you said. Many different drugs have an effect on our hormonal systems. Problem is, our hormones need to be in a balanced ratio to each other. When you start messing with one, it forces your body to compensate and try to keep the original balance. Pretty soon, you are all out of whack and it can be very difficult to get back to normal. I do urge all women to at least become informed about Premarin, so you can make a knowledgable decision.

April