I was diagnosed a year and a half ago. It is normal to be freaked out by being diagnosed with a condition you probably never even heard of before. I was too at first. Your #’s are pretty high but so were mine at first. They came down after several phlebotomy visits which I was doing every two weeks. Both your fatigue and palpitations are probably due to your blood being so thick for a long time. Once you get it thinned out you should start feeling a lot better. My doctor then put me on a med called hydroxyurea and now I’m only needing a phlebotomy about every 5 or 6 months. I don’t have any problems with that med and it does a good job of keeping my #’s down. I get a blood test once a month now and my trigger for getting a phlebotomy is when my hemoglobin readings go above 17. Hope this helps. Don’t stress out- it’s not really all that bad.