I was diagnosed with thrombocythemia in 1986 and was immediately put on hydrea for several months. But since this doctor was in Brooklyn and he wants his money upfront rather than charge my insurance, I left him and went to Mt. Sinai Hospital. At that time I have about a million platelets. My new doctor took me off hydrea, reasoning that continuing on it may lead to leukemia. He put me on aspirin which gave me ulcers. Once the ulcers were healed, I started to get headaches and vomiting. At this time my platelets were 2 million. I left Mt. Sinai and went to Queens Medical Center of New York (in Flushing), where a Russian doctor put me on agrilyn (or anagrelide). For two months I endured the terrible pounding on my head that agrilyn gave me.. After exactly two months my headaches disappeared and never returned. My platelets went down to 500,000.
I have to take agrilyn for the rest of my life or until my platelets normalize. My doctor doesn't want me to stop taking agrilyn, fearing a stroke.
Jody