Hi Steve, I have been playing hooky a little this weekend with my visit to Mayo-Rochester for my BMT followup Thurs and then heading north to Mpls to spend the weekend with our daughter! ☺️ I still cruise through my areas of Connect several times per day and pop in where I think I can add some information or assistance. Otherwise, you can see we have amazing members like @janemc @nohrt4me @1995victoria and so many others who have ET and taking hydroxyurea who can offer priceless first hand experience.

As @nohrt4me mentioned, HU lowers platelet levels, but it doesn’t kill off platelets in circulation. Platelets have a life span in circulating blood of about 7-10 days. Our body produces a staggering 400 Billion platelets per day. And if they’re unchecked in their production you can imagine it can potentially take time to see changes.
The mechanism behind HU is that it inhibits the formation of DNA by blocking an enzyme known as ribonucleotide reductase. This results in the decreased ability of the bone marrow to produce platelets. As mentioned it can take time, trial and error to find the right balance in dosages.

Happy to answer questions any time. If I don’t know the answers chances are we have members who can. 😉