From:
luvaferret
Date: 2001-12-07 14:43:00 UTC
Subject: Imuran and thrombocytopenia(bruising-clotting disorder)
Hi FHL.
I've posted before about my little guy, BJ, with the IBD.
He's been on Imuran for a couple months now. I started him at a
really low dose, last month. Only .2 ml every other day. The
recommended dose is .3 ml every day. However, having just lost my
Teddy to complications that I believe were caused by Enacard, I was
not too eager to jump right into a full strength immunosuppressant.
After that first month, his blood work was within normal parameters,
only slight elevation of WBC's. Platelets apparently were not checked
in the blood chem that we did. Three weeks ago, I began giving him .2
ml every day. Started to notice some occasional red bruises around
the sub-q injection sites. He had a renal problem several months ago,
induced by the IBD and dehydration. I continue to give him sub-q
of .75 ml every night. Tuesday night, I picked up a new Imuran Rx.
The compounding appeared to be a different strength and the dose was
twice what I had been giving (.5 ml daily). I checked with my vet
last night and she said the dose should have been the same, despite
the change. It had gone from .2/.5 ml to .4/1 ml. It's the same
strength even though the numbers are doubled. I told her about the
bruising and asked about a possible clotting problem. He has an appt.
next week, so we planned on doing a platelet smear.
This morning, I picked him up, and the one whole side of his belly
(still bald from surgery in August) had red bruises. I am stopping
the Imuran immediately. I think I might have overdosed him for three
days with that new prescription. I'm not sure that I'll be using it
anymore. I haven't seen any real change in the IBD. I think it might
be hurting him more than helping at this point.
Does he need a shot of Vit. K or will discontinuing the Imuran be
enough to reverse the problem.
Dodie in NJ (and freaking out!)