@loribmt

Thank you so much for your response. At the onset, the itching was treated with loratadine and famotidine and something else I don't recall. It didn't bring relief, however; it was somewhat manageable without the hives, etc., skin problems. One blood draw came back with platelets controlled, but HCT at 47. Dr put me on an additional 1500 mg hydrea on top of the 500 mg per day . I noticed the problem was continuing to escalate and eventually questioned the Dr about titrating the dose. She said no, the HCT levels weren't low enough . . . at that time my HCT was 38!
Platelets were 185, absolute neutrophil 1.18, and absolute eosinophils 0.96. I continued the dose she wanted, and I now am in misery. The correlation of symptom increase and dosage increase seem to be the problem. I will be calling her tomorrow.