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Essential Thrombocytosis: Do platelets ever decrease without meds?
Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: Jul 19 7:10pm | Replies (56)Comment receiving replies
For the last 2 months I have been taking HU 3 x a week after being on it 7 days a week 500mg. Doctors said that because the Hu kills the cells to stop the plates from overproducing it will effect the red cells the white cells as well as the platelets. So far the last few months my plate numbers have increased 9 points but the white cells that were normal 5.2 went to 5.3 my red cells were low 3.57 but last week they went up to 3.70 which is still low . Doctor says it is a delicate balance and some numbers may be low and some high. If my plates get to 440 we will add 1 pill a week until they get below the 440.
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@vickieannb57 There seems to be a lot of variation between hematologists. Mine has had me on 500mg HU daily for 12 years, with 2 doses (1,000mg) once every third day. In other words, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2...etc. most of the time, it has worked for my platelet count, keeping it under 400,000. When it hasn't it's because of a change in my diet or my supplements. Trying to find out what I can and cannot eat has been the biggest problem for me. I tried pink salmon and tuna, with cheddar cheese, for a month or two during early 2026, and that drove my platelets up to 495,000. Once I quit the cheddar and the "fatty fish with Omega 3 fatty acids" that doctors and nutritionists keep recommending for everyone, my platelet count returned to below 400,000. A year or three ago, it was my addition of COQ10 to my supplements that drove my platelet count up and, again, as soon as I stopped taking the COQ10, my platelets returned to normal.