@ladyelisa1951

Some people do have bad reactions to medications, including HU.

But ET is serious stuff. If you can feel better -- don't you want to?

For decades, HU has helped hundreds of thousands of people with blood cancers and sickle cell disorder. My guess is, those of us who take HU without any problems may be less likely to post online than those for whom it does cause issues.

I wonder what doctor told you " . . . HU doesn't reduce chance of strokes" ?

Here's what the National Institute of Health says:

ET causes the body to make too many platelets, which can clump together and block blood vessels, causing a stroke or heart attack. By lowering these high counts, hydroxyurea (HU) lowers the chance of dangerous clots.

Also, if you browse through this forum, you will meet lots of people who found out they had ET the hard way: By having a stroke. I don't recall anyone ever saying that she or he had a second stroke after starting aspirin and HU. Something to think about.