| On 10 May 2004, we received the following story from F.D. of Dallas, TX, concerning her use of Olestra (olean):
"I am a 26-year old female who was in good health until last July. My fiance brought some WOW Doritos home for the fourth of July weekend. I snacked on them in small portions because I heard they could give you a tummy ache. By the ninth of July, I was vomiting hourly and had diarrhea, as well.
For about ten days, I could only get out of bed to get to the bathroom. I felt like I had been poisoned. Then the bleeding started. I'm on Depo Provera and no longer have periods. For the next 26 days, I bled in horrifying amounts. As silly as it seems now, I was too scared to go to the doctor. I really believed I was dying.
The Doritos never entered my mind again. Finally, I saw a doctor at the end of August. She tested for everything! The next morning, I got a call from her. I had 3,000 platelets out of a normal 150,000 and was to go directly to the emergency room. I was also very vitamin deficient.
I spent a week in the hospital being transfused and then took 100mg of Prednisone for 13 weeks until I built up my blood counts.
In January, I got another bag of WOW potato chips, not thinking they had anything to do with my illness. Less than a week later, I was an inpatient again with 8,000 platelets and low red blood count, as well. My spleen was removed. I was transfused night and day. I started clotting which required an additional four surgeries. I hung out in ICU for over two months and have only just arrived back home.
For some reason, I just remembered those damned chips. July 2003 and January 2004 are the only times I have ever eaten them and that marks the beginning of each illness. Of course, I will discuss this correlation with my hematologist, but have you ever heard of anything like this?"
Thank you FD for sharing your story. We look forward to receiving updates from you about your story and your recovery.
On 31 May 2004, we received an update from F.D.:
"I am working with my hematologist-oncologist to find out what is at the bottom of this mess. It may be that I have some kind of allergy to olestra. I am trying to find out if there is any history of olestra causing blood antibodies. As it stands, my diagnosis is Evans Syndrome---a combination of Immunue Thrombocytopenic Purpura and Hemolytic Anemia. Both are caused by antibodies intent on destroying the body's blood supply. At any rate, I am not being treated with chemotherapy to keep my blood counts stable. I will let you know what we discover."
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