Feeling better with medication

@sanlee7 this helps a lot. I take my first dose tmr. Im terrified but knowing I might not have more symptoms is helpful and brings hope.

Best of luck to everyone here on the verge of starting HU. Remember that you are in charge of you. Get the best info you can, second opinion if things don't sit right, and if HU disagrees with you, ask the doc to help you with side effects and to explore alternatives. ET is not an emergency diagnosis in the vast majority of cases. Give yrself time to think things through.

@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.

I’m 78 and was diagnosed with PV/JAK 2 about 6 years ago. My first hematologist had me on 500mg of HU daily and because I did not feel she had much interest in me, I found a great hematologist at Mayo. She immediately put me on 1000 mg of HU daily and it brought my numbers down. I still go for a phlebotomy about every 3-4 months.
I attitude is that I have lived through all sorts of unpleasant things/situations and if this med is keeping the PV from progressing the fatigue is definitely something I can deal with. And, I have. I am grateful the HU does the job. And, at this age I am more than a little aware any adverse effect could be as much from the HU as from my age.
Fear is one of the most debilitating things you can suffer and when I was first diagnosed I was certainly scared but as I have said for a long, long time, “the day being scared, in fear or worried helps, I’ll sit down and make a career of it!”

You are very strong. As for me, I seem to have already made a career of it. But I’m working on that. My life circumstances play into my fears and they have nothing to do with my diagnosis. These comments have been very helpful for. Thank you.