Welcome to Connect, @eferret. Polycythemia vera is from a group of blood conditions called myeloproliferative neoplasms. Most people with polycythemia vera have too many red blood cells. But it can also cause you to have too many white blood cells and platelets (ET). PV is frequently caused by a gene such as JAK2 that doesn’t work the way it should. Hydroxyurea is a medication used with Myeloproliferative disorders to help keep blood cell production levels at a normal level. So it’s not limited to just red blood cells as it can also lower white cells and platelets.

Doctors use statistics and trends to help make the determination about how well a medication is working or how a disease is potentially progressing. You’ve only been on HU for 6 weeks and that’s not very long in the world of medicine to make a fair assessment of your condition and its response to the meds. Your doctor will continue to monitor your lab results down to see if any changes in meds need to be made.

Do you know if you have a mutation with the JAK2 gene that caused your PV?