ITP Personal Stories

Homeopathic Remedy for ITP

My college going daughter, Peeru was getting occasional black spots in her ankles since January 1998. We had ignored them as injuries caused while kick-starting her scooter. She never suffered from bleeding which did not stop. When she went for a routine medical test two weeks before her marriage in January 2000, her platelet (Pt) count was 28K. A thorough medical examination revealed, she was suffering from ITP. We were all shocked ! She was immediately put on 65 mg prednisone steroid and the Platelet (Pt) count shot to 376K. Next four months saw several frustrating attempts to taper down the steroid dose while keeping the Pt count safe, but all failed. When she stopped taking steroid in May 2000, she had fewer platelets (4K). Our MD suggested splenectomy, but we preferred to try alternative medicine.

By that time, we had come to know the heart-rending tales of ITPpeople on this website and also risks involved in splenectomy. We contacted a homoeopath in our locality. He had treated cancer patients earlier, but not ITP patient. He prescribed a suit of homoeopathy remedies (viz., Pulsatilla, Arnica, Phosphorus, Nux Vomica and Baryta Carb.) at low (Q) potencies. Since Peeru's Pt count was low (4K-10K), she took leave from her job as a software developer and was put to complete bed rest. Simultaneously she took treatment from a Reki master. Later on, she along with her husband learnt Reki and applied it on herself.

It was a miserable time for us and we found succor in praying and singing devotional songs. All this continued for the next three months but her Pt count remained unchanged. However, an encouraging sign was that when she once bit her tongue, the bleeding stopped within 5-7 minutes in spite of low Pt count. Probably, clotting factors present in her blood serum were strong. In August 2000, she stopped homoeopathic medicines and rejoined her job.

We contacted a famous Ayurveda expert. He had successfully treated a case of aplastic anemia (low Pt, low Hb). After several months of taking Ayurveda medicines and a Panchakarma (detoxification) treatment, Peeru's Pt count rose to 35K-65K and then 130K in January 2001. Unfortunately, the Pt count began to fall with the onset of summer and finally it was 10K in June 2001.

At that time we realized that we had not given a fair trial to homoeopathy. I started reading books on Clinical Homoeopathy and Materia Medica. After two months of matching Peeru's symptoms with those of homoeopathic remedies, I selected Lachesis-200. We started with a single dose (2 drops) in August 2001. The Pt count after three weeks was 25K. I was encouraged. I increased the potency to 1 M and Pt count taken after a month was 60K. Another dose raised the Pt count to 200K. In my greed to raise the Pt count further, I repeated the dose again and to my horror, the count fell to 25K !

I had committed a cardinal sin in the practice of homoeopathy-- never repeat the dose when there is an improvement. I had read about it but never realized that it could be so devastating. I was so overcome by grief that I decided not to give any further dose for next two months. We then tried few doses of Pulsatilla but finally settled on Lachesis-10M in March 2002. We made it a rule to repeat the dose only when needed. The need was established by low Pt count or appearance of black spots. We found that after every dose, the Pt count rose to about 100K within fifteen days, but black spots returned in a month's time. Black spots were indications of low Pt count (about 10K). We even concluded that the Pt count had a periodicity of one month. But when we discontinued the medicine, the Pt count remained low. The rise in Pt count was related to the intake of Lachesis-10M (all Ayurvedic medicines were stopped in January, 2002). In the mean time, many of Peeru's mental symptoms had improved. She was more cheerful, less prone to taking offence, getting good sleep at night etc. I concluded that there was a clear need of a complementary medicine.

I selected Crotalus Horridus-30 and in September 2002, Peeru was given four doses (one dose of two drops repeated every 12 hours). She developed sour throat and fever. It was a classic case of homoeopathic aggravation. It worsened so much that she had to be treated with antibiotic. Her Pt count rose to 137K, but in the next month she had black spots again. We repeated three doses in the same manner and this time she developed four or five additional black spots. I was thrilled. It had good prognostic value. In November 2002, she again reported a black spot and I repeated two doses of Crot. H.-30. Her Pt count rose to 140K. The next (single) dose was required to be given only in January 2003. Her Pt count rose to 140K but a minor rash in mid February called for another dose. Her Pt count rose to 276K after three weeks and now in March end, she has 340K. Without any further dose, her Pt count is 240 K in the third week of April. We are all thrilled. By the grace of God, we have succeeded in finding an inexpensive cure of ITP.

Now the last bit of caution. Homoeopathic remedies are known to be patient specific rather than disease specific. The remedy has to be selected by matching maximum number of symptoms of the patient. Some remedies have worked well for Peeru, but one can only hope that they will also work for others. Further, one should be careful about antidoting. Since the homoeopathic remedy modulates the immune system of the patient, anything else which stimulates or suppresses the immune system should be avoided.

This statement is issued with the consent of my daughter and with the expectation that some ITPpeople may like to try homoeopathy. If I can be of any help in selecting remedies for others, I will consider it my privilege (Contact: rjha@ipr.res.in).

-- R. Jha, Ahmedabad, India