Blueberries

Blueberries? Some say blueberries are good and some say no good for ITP. Which is it?

Hi hoelscherd,
You know blueberries are on the PDSA warninglist. Many kinds of food that are supposed to be good for the health increases the risk for bleeding which is good for healthy persons with risk for arteriosclerosis but bad for us.
Kind regards
Birgitta-A

But, then again, I LIKE blueberries. No chance they are going off my diet! Gotta live.

Marcus

Prior to being diagnosed, I had lost a substantial amount of weight eating all the foods that apparently ITP'ers are supposed to avoid - blueberries, tomatoes, garlic, etc.

Personally, I prefer to continue eating the same foods that are healthy and nutritious - rather than tweak my diet and risk gaining the weight back and putting myself at risk for other types of diseases. The recommended list of foods to avoid is big!

Steroids have already put some weight back on me.
With that being said, I am not a bleeder - well not yet anyway - if I were, I might feel differently.

For now though - cheers to blueberries!

Thank you but the ebook "Conquer Low Platelets" says eat blueberries like crazy to help increase platelets.

would you please upload this ebook ?

I did.

i can't see it

would u plz post the link

www.conquerlowplatelets.com

hoelscherd wrote:

Thank you but the ebook "Conquer Low Platelets" says eat blueberries like crazy to help increase platelets.

This guy is selling his book - he could tell us to jump out a window when the moon is hiding behind a tree at midnight and our platelets will increase.

He is selling his book - "Only $67 (Limited Time Offer -- Now Only $47!)"

Who is this person - I didn't see his name on the web page, I didn't see his name on the pictures of the book on the web page

We've discussed this book before on the old discussion group

kantooh86 wrote:

would you please upload this ebook ?

You have to buy the book in order to upload it.

I was just googling blueberries and ITP because I wanted to see if there was some connection there.
I found this thread on the old forum:
discuss.pdsa.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25395

The reason I was interested is because of some unusual platelet counts I had a few weeks ago.

I've been in WinRho for about a year now, getting an infusion every 1-2 months. I'm also on 2.5mg prednisone every other day. My count usually goes up in the hundreds, and slowly creeps back down. Never in 3 years has it actually go back up on its own without WinRho or large doses of prednisone.

That is except for a couple weeks ago. I went in with a count of 52K, but couldn't get WinRho because it needs to be below 50K. So two weeks later I come back and it's 61K! I thought about what I did differently, and the first thing that came to mind was exercise. I had started jogging that week so I figured that was it. Unfortunately I got shin splints pretty bad and wasn't able to jog anymore. Two weeks later when I came in my count was 35K, I was really disappointed. I bought a bike and started exercising a lot more, but since then it hasn't helped at all. Then I remembered, those two weeks there was a good deal on a huge thing of blueberries at Sams club that I bought. I ate through them quickly before they'd go bad. I had a few handfuls a day. That was the only dietary difference.

So I just got more blueberries today and I guess I'll see where I am in two weeks.

Just wondering if anyone else has any positive reports with blueberries.

Thanks.

hello,
i heard blueberries are good for itp..i googled my eyes out & thats what i found out..i was diagnosed with itp in jun'10 with numbers just below nrml & once 95..i know its not low but the doc adviced me to stop nsaid 4r a mnth & test again..i ate a cup of blu berries that mnth & my number was 128.i dont know if its a coincidence but i think blu berries helpd me..i had bruises even wen numbers r ok.i got a blood test in jan & i ate berries b4r the test & they r pretty nrml..i hope they stay nrml forever.fingrs crossed..

-- So I just got more blueberries today and I guess I'll see where I am in two weeks.

Where you will be is much happier, because you have an excuse to eat lots of blueberries.

yum24 wrote: hello,
...but the doc adviced me to stop nsaid 4r a mnth & test again..i ate a cup of blu berries that mnth & my number was 128.i dont know if its a coincidence but i think blu berries helpd me..i had bruises even wen numbers r ok.i got a blood test in jan & i ate berries b4r the test & they r pretty nrml..i hope they stay nrml forever.fingrs crossed..

yum you stopped taking the NSAID and ate a cup of blueberries and your count went up?
Since you did 2 things at the same time was it eating the blueberries or was it stopping the NSAID? Or since you said your count is usually just below normal could going to 128k be a normal flucuation?

www.pdsa.org/about-itp/warnings.html
Food and Supplements that Interfere with Platelet Function
blueberries

I eat blueberries, to enjoy them. I also eat a lot on the above list [tomatoes, onion, garlic, coffee, dark chocolate and sometimes have green tea].


phazei be sure to let us know how your next count goes. I can understand eating blueberries by the handful, they are delicious.

hi melinda, i'm not sure abt berries but apparently some medications ( NSAID's) cause low counts in some..doc thinks i would be in the same category..as every other report was nrmal she said nsaid's could be the cause so, not supposed to be takin them..few meds like asprin are known to prevent clotting hence the logic ! my doc said nothin xcept fish,alcohol could effect but i stopped all artificial flavors( aspartame, as said to cause low counts..not proved though)which r in most of the low cal foods ! flaxseed powder( freshly ground) is supposed to help so does papaya leaf juice..may b u can try ! gud luck !

I've never taken NSAIDs and won't - I've had ITP since 1989 and know it and aspirin aren't good for me.

What I was getting to is it seemed you were saying blueberries made your count go up - what I was saying is that you stopped NSAID and had blueberries so you really don't know which made your count go up, or if it was just a normal flucuation.

Aspartame is not good for anyone, ITP or not

Good luck, hope your count stays up!

I just wanted to add that when my platelets were at 1000 last year, I had a lot of bruising and bleeding. So, I stopped eating grapes, blueberries, garlic, onion, drinking tea and coffee (no tomatoes), and aspartame. This was all during the time that I was in and out of the hospital and my platelets continued to go back to 1000. After stopping all of the above, I no longer had any dangerous bleeding or bruising. So, this kept me in a "safe" zone until the doctor's could get my platelets back up. I am 62 years old and need to be more careful than most since I can have a brain bleed when my platelets are below 10,000. I now have coffee and tomatoes once in a while--but am a lot more careful about what I eat. I just don't want all the brusing and bleeding if my platelets fall again. This is just my opinion. You don't have to give up everything you love all the time (by the way, I love chocolate! and I do eat it)--just be careful when you are in the danger zone.
Dee Dee:)

March 23, platelets 61K
April 14, platelets 54K

A 7K drop is better than normal, especially for 3 weeks, but not going up. Most of the first week I was eating fresh blueberries, then I switched to frozen since I can get a 3lb bag at Sams club for $7. I've missed a couple days here and there. I was also feeling kind of meh with my life, so started smoking only a few days, 1-2 a day. Probably hasn't helped. I've also been going on 10mile bike rides a couple times a week and have been losing about 1.5 lbs a week. So there have been a couple other changes besides the blueberries.

I went in today since I had bruises on the palm of my hand which is unusual. I'll be back for another CBC (and probably WinRho if the blueberries don't work) in two weeks. I'll do my best to remain consistent and not smoke.

Will report back in two weeks.

PS also, I thought I was subscribed to this thread, but got no emails about new posts, found it again by chance while googling more about blueberries.

Maybe you should try not eating the blueberries for a while and see what happens. Another person on the board went to the Mayo Clinic and was told to stop all over-the-counter medications (like NSAIDS, etc). She said her platelets went up to 50,000 after that (I think they were down to around 12,000 before going to Mayo Clinic. It might be worth a try. And, I would say definitely try not to smoke.
DeeDee

There's a chat somewhere on one of the forums about celery and how it can help with counts. I know blueberries don't do diddly squat with my COUNT.. but it does thin my blood for sure. (Doesn't stop me eating them, though!! ) Garlic is also a blood thinner (and again.. I still eat it.. And my count is 20) I'll just get petchie a few hours after I eat them. But that's just me!
I know the celery get's my count up a bit, though it's temporary...

There's my 2 cents!