Petechial spots and platelets

[edithr]

Are petechial spots a good gauge of your platelet count? Ugh, I'm always sneaking a look at my son's feet, watching for the spots to come back. Thank you!

[StephM]

Hi! All I know is that my brother never had any spots even when the platelets were very low (under 20000). His gums bled once when he was brushing his teeth. That's the only symptom he ever had.
So I would not count on the spots as a gauge. But maybe it depends on people...

[Heather8773]

I think everyone's different but when my husbands been below 15-10 he starts getting petichi..especially if hes been on his feet working etc...
He also will have blood in his nose... No running but blood in the mucus or if he wipes his nose.
Sometimes if it's close to 10 he will have bleeding gums
Once he's in the upper 20's he doesn't get many symptoms.
Hope things are going well for y'all currently!

[Relentless Against SAA]

There are many things that come into play with low platelet counts. I agree, we see bleeding gums, blood from the nose, bruising easily and petechia with low platelet counts. I believe activity can really effect when you see the petechia- for example: people who walk alot or run will see them with higher platelet counts. We have seen bruising instead of petechia when platelets are low and weve been laying down alot. How hard you brush your teeth can effect when gums bleed. We have been told by the doctors to use a soft bristle tooth brush and brush softer. I feel the only way to know for sure is with a blood count. Hope this helps

[Ellen McDonough]

Petichiae was one of my first signs that something was wong when I first found out I had severe aplastic anemia.My paltelets were acrtually the lowest of all 3 lines and still are. So I think there is a good chance you are on to something.

[edithr]

It was the first sign that something was wrong with Eric too. I remember he came to me and said, "Mom, I have spots on my feet." Of course I Googled it, and because both my father in law and brother in law died of leukemia, I thought for sure that's what it was. I took him to the doctor, and while his platelets were 106 his wbc was only 1.6. The doc had him come back weekly to keep an eye on things, but a month later his counts totally crashed and we were sent to the emergency room. He was diagnosed with SAA and had hATG.

He now has a diagnosis of "bone marrow failure not otherwise specified," which is like being in limbo. He goes for labs every three months (it was every two until last month), and bone marrow biopsies once a year.

Part of me likes labs because they're reassuring (they've stayed the same for two years), but part of me knows this could go on for years and years and not to worry about it because we'll see symptoms. Like petichiae spots, bleeding gums, bruising...

Thanks for listening. These boards have been invaluable, thank you Neil.

[alanderson]

That should have been my first signal something was wrong also, but, I just blew it off. A few months later my mom asked me about a bruise I had on my knee - it had been there so long I couldn't remember how I got it anymore. Then I went in....

I still get petechiae once in a while and my plates have been around 150 for years.

20 years post treatment and I still get annual CBC checks and I confess that I also love getting labs, it is nice to be reassured you're still in the clear. I don't mind at all going to get them, I look forward to it