Long, heavy menstral cycle

Hello, I am new to this forum and am looking for advice on a new development in my itp. A little background...I was diagnosed with ITP in 1996 after the birth of my first child. In the past. the only time I've really had any serious issues with the itp is before a some months after child birt. I have adverse reactions to prednisone and have refused to take it for years. I have had 2 bone marrow biopsies, both with the same results showing that it is not the problem. I had my last child in 2007 and recovered quickly from that birth, my platelets stabilized at 60K where they have remained for years, until now. In early December I came down with a cold that turned into a sinus infection that became the flu then back to a sinus infection, this all lasted until the last week in January. At the end of the illness I noticed a lot of petechiae on my legs, it lasted a few days and began to fade and I figured it had passed, until I started my period 10 days ago. At that time I developed a lot of petechiae on my legs and spots on other parts of my body. I have been bleeding extremly heavy since it began, with no end in sight. I do not have insurance and cannot afford to see a doctor. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to contol the situation? This flare up has also come with migraines and large purple bruises from light touches. I am also new to the area where I live and do not look forward to the process of finding a new hemotologist (or the expense of multiple doctor appointments).

Jen:

Without a doctor, there isn't much you can do. My advice is to get a doctor and have a count done. You really should not ignore this and hope it goes away. It might end up costing you much, much more if you end up anemic or end up with a bleeding situation.

I know you hate Prednisone, we ALL do, but it's the cheapest treatment there is. A lower dose might be enough to get counts out of the danger zone if they are really low.

An FYI - a bone marrow biopsy does not prove that there isn't a problem with platelet production. That is a very common misconception.