Platlets

[Chel1]

Bit put out as blood test came back showing my counts gone up I've been on hydra since Feb and be going down but he said I hadn't reached target started at 900 got as far down as 595 now gone up to 700 but have had very inflamed knees for last month he did say it could be that that's caused it but got to up dosage so got to wait another 6 weeks for blood test

[hunter5582]

Inflammation can indeed cause reactive thrombocytosis. It is a normal response, but occurring in your body that already has too many platelets.

You may want to review your treatment target at some point. There is no linear relationship between platelet levels and risk/outcomes. Optimal ET treatment is based on the control of symptoms, not a number on a CBC.

Here is a great presentation on ET treatment.

youtube.com/watch?v=hbVr9u3...(Not working as expected?)

[Chel1 in reply to hunter5582]

Thanks for that my hemotologist has never told me what the target number is !!! But will mention that when I next have telephone conversation with him I did tell him I was trying cbd oil would that effect it but said that wouldn't effect it I've been taking that for my osteoarthritis in knees

[hunter5582 in reply to Chel1]

Most docs pick 450 as a target as it is the top of the "normal" range even though there is not evidence to support that as a target. Hematologists tend not to like funny numbers so they like to "sanitize" lab values - even when there is no evidence that it matters. What matters is what symptoms you are having and controlling those symptoms. Risk of thrombosis is though to increase as we age, so standard protocol is to select age 60 (or 65) as the high-risk designation regardless of actual history of symptoms.

The risk of thombosis is more complex than the number of platelets. Platelets do not stick together on their own. Something needs to trigger to coagulation cascade. Reducing the coagulation triggering is more important than platelet numbers per se. My doc explained that platelets are like bricks. Bricks cannot stick together without mortar. No mortar = no brick wall (blood clot).

Hope that helps.