Cause of secondary polycythemia

[iCrochet]

I am (52) female with EPO of 19.5 and RBC of 5.04. I am going to a hematologist at the end of November. I am not a smoker, no sleep apnea, nothing in the obvious categories to cause secondary polycythemia. Research kind of points to that tho. Can anyone give me an example of their cause of secondary pv that wasn’t obvious? Thanks, I’m nervous and worried the cause will be worse than the disease.

[hunter5582]

Not sure whether Polycythemia Vera has been ruled out yet. 95% with PV have the JAK2 mutation. The fact that your EPO is high is suggestive of secondary polycythemia, but not definitive. If the JAK2 test has not already been done, it will be when you see the hematologist.

Anything that can cause hypoxia can cause secondary polycythemia. I imaging you have already looked, here is one link just in case.healthline.com/health/secon...

There is something else to consider, which is idiopathic erythrocytosis. Some people experience erythrocytosis for no discernable reason. It can be a genetic issue as well called familial erythrocytosis.

medlineplus.gov/genetics/co....

To the extent possible, try not to worry until you know that there is something to worry about. This could be a tempest in a teapot. That is not to say to ignore it. For sure follow up as planned.

Please do let us know how things go.

[iCrochet in reply to hunter5582]

Thank you I will update after I see the hematologist.