Low platelet count symptoms and conditions

I was admitted through the ER in sept. i had previously taken Bactrim for a bug bite on my foot three months prior. I had been severely bruising and had some lab work done. I got a call from my Dr. around midnight to go to ER immediately. My platelet count was at 11,000 a normal being 100,000-400,000. I went to ER and was admitted for 5 days. After running test after test there was no conclusion to what had caused this low platelet count but I was diagnosed with ITP. From here they put me on 50 mg/day of Prednisone for 1 month. I have now started to taper 40/ 2 weeks. 30/2 weeks. But then the side- effects started to come so fast. At first it was just sweating, minor anxiety, mood swings, and slight increase of appetite. Now that I had tapered my adrenal gland is suppressed much more and I am going through withdrawal. I am 21 years old I am 5'7" and I weighed 118 two weeks ago, since I have gained 12lbs of water weight. I am working out daily and eating healthy, although it is more than I used to eat. I have some family friends that work at Stanford University and they are ITP specialists. They told me their regimen for Prednisone is a 5mg/wk taper instead of 10/ 2 weeks. So the past two weeks I have been going down by 5. Today was my second day at 20 mg. I have gone through all of the mentioned side- effects except the back hump. I am hoping and praying that these symptoms will clear asap. And to everyone else out there your not alone.

I took Levaquin in March of 2004, for a spider bite. I had a 5 day dose pack. After the 2nd pill, I started having nightmares (I usually never remember my dreams), but attributed them to the spider bite. By the time I finished the meds, I had swollen hands, almost fell over when I got out of bed one morning, as I have no sense of balance, was having nighttime chills, along with many other things. Three and 1/2 years later, I have had to make my rings bigger, and my muscle pain still exists. I believe it is getting worse. I have been tested for Lupus, RA, and other autoimmune diseases, all neg. I still have an abnormally low platelet count which stated shortly after the levaquin too. I am thinking of contacting a lawyer, as this drug needs to be taken off of the market.

Late in January 05 I was admitted to the hospital for severe ITP (low platelet count). They first gave me prednisone in my IV, then each day after 80mgs. I returned home 14 days later on a daily 80mgs for three months. I had isomnia and had no strength at all and just felt like a totaly different person. My platelets stabilized around 190 thousand for a few months. I was weaned off it completely. Then my platelets started to go down again. My Dr. put me back on 30mgs of prednisone. The second time around with a smaller amount is worse than the first time with the larger amount. I'm now down to 20 mgs and I have a deprresion now with low physical strength and can barely get throgh 8 hours of work. I feel an inner anxiety that I hate with no appetite. Prednisone probably helped me with my platelet count but who knows, they gave me other things, but I really hate prednisone and can't wait to get off it so I can begin to feel like a normal person. I'll tell you it's impossible to feel right when your on prednisone.