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What are most common side effects when starting HU (Hydroxyurea)?

Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: Feb 12 10:28am | Replies (118)
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@stickball1

Baby aspirin (81mg) should be taken prophylactically every day if you’re over 60 even if you’re in good health. That’s a no-brainer. As I’ve said in previous posts, the secret to controlling your ET is finding the right hematologist, periodic blood testing and paying attention to any body changes. I’m 87 years old and quite active for my age. I had successful bypass surgery in April of 2024 and the ET diagnosis showed up after surgery. I’m convinced that I acquired the JAK-2 gene mutation which led to the ET diagnosis through blood transfusions I received during the surgical event. So far I’ve not heard from anyone on this blog if the same diagnosis occurred after they’ve received blood transfusions.

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Replies to "Baby aspirin (81mg) should be taken prophylactically every day if you’re over 60 even if you’re..."
cdurbin | @cdurbin | Jan 20 11:21am

Hi I am. 48 & was diagnosed last year. I'm jak12 positive. My hematologist explained that it was just a fluke that the gene mutated. I sometimes wondered if it has something to do with me being a natural red head since that is also caused by a gene mutation, lol. I've never had a blood transfusion. I've always been pretty healthy. Mine was found when I decided to have routine blood work done since it had been probably 5 or 6 yrs since my last lab check. I thought I was having menopause symptoms start but turns out all of my symptoms matched the ET symptoms as well. I started feeling the main symptoms about 1.5 yrs before I got my official diagnosis.

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arlibertarian | @arlibertarian | Jan 25 4:23pm

My reading seems to indicate that this mutation takes a long time to develop into enough stem cells to generate enough blood cells to cause problems. We've likely had our mutations for decades before we ever see an adverse effects.

In my case, my RBC was trending up for years before it crossed the threshold to go see a specialist.

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