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Essential Thrombocytosis: Do platelets ever decrease without meds?
Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: 1 hour ago | Replies (31)Comment receiving replies
Would donating platelets at the Red Cross 4 times a year lower platelets enough so you would not have to take Hydroxyurea? Can you donate only platelets and not red and white blood cells? Thanks!
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@sunnylane Interesting how often this question comes up. Sadly, no and no. Red Cross does not want and will not take blood from ET patients; they want healthy blood. And donating might reduce platelets for a matter of days only.
Some PV patients get plateletpheresis (siphoning off excess platelets and rest of cells returned) monthly or more. But this is time-consuming and unpleasant. Most patients prefer a pharmaceutical treatment to that.