I am a 31 year old male. I suffer from depression. I went to see my general doctor about my depression and he ordered a standard CBC. Two days later he called me with my results. My cholesterol was high (253) and he said my platelet count was high (443). Since I suffer from depression I have blown this way out of proportion. I have read that high platelet levels could lead to clots, certain diseases concerning bone marrow and eventually in certain cases lead to leukemia. I am scared out of my wits but my doctor is telling me it is nothing to worry about. I am going for a follow up blood test in 2 weeks, but all I think about is the worst. I picture having to tell my 7 year old daughter that I have some type of disease such as leukemia. I am putting myself in a grave already. I know I'm being irrational but I need to get it out. One question though. At the time of my blood test my stress level was thru the roof. Normally my BP is 120/70. During my visit it was 150/90. Can stress lead to a high platelet level? Any advice would be so helpful.

Hi..I have posted on another thread but I, too, had had a high platelet count (457,000)with my last CBC. I follow up a month after the first one. It's hard not to google and let your imagination run wild but on the other thread another person had the follow up and her platelets came back okay. I was wondering if anyone knows of everyday reasons tht could temporarily give a high readiing..a virus or infection or something like that. I hope someone else, here can ease your mind..I'll be anxious to see what they say.

Thanks for the response. I just am a natural born worrier, it's part of my depression. Hearing somethin like that at first didn't matter to me. The doctor told me it had to do with blood clotting. Mentioned nothing about all the other situations. So I did my own research and basically opened a can of worms for myself. I start to ask questions and act irrational. Made my doctor mad because I asked so many questions and wouldn't believe his answers. He said I was fine and that in 2 weeks to come back and we'll take another CBC. I was just wondering as I said if stress could have translated into the higher level. Never had it before. Guess I'll just try and ease my mind and tell myself that I'm still here and if the doctor isn't concerned than why should I worry myself sick. Again I thank you for your reply, any advice helps.

Well, maybe or maybe not this will help you calm down alittle. Your count may be high =, but for the people that I have seen post and for myself that is low. I found out i had ET about 2 years ago while i was pregnant with my son. My high count at that time was 1.9 million. After his birth i went on meds and my count was controlled at around 500-600 thousand. I have stopped taking my meds in hoping to get pregnant again - and my high since then has been 2.3 million. I have so symptons and live a normal active life. Try not to read into some of this stuff too much. If your doc feels that things are ok and you don't have symptons - try not to worry - it only makes you feel worse. When they were trying to figure things out for me - i was pregnant and they actually thought that i might have had leukemia. But i was completely worried. I wasn't going to let things get the best of me, until they told me for sure what i had. Meanwhile my mom and sisters started reading alot of info on the computer and started freaking out. They all wondered why i wasn't. I just told them - they haven't figureed it out yet and why get worked up in case it is nothing. I felt fine - so why couldn't i just be fine! Just let the doc do their job...when they figure it out for sure and then you want to talk to someone else - then just take that step!!

Hope this helps.

Melissa

Thanks Melissa for your comments and advice. I am trying to take this all in stride. It's not easy but I am going to take it easy. I just get worried about the long term in case it is something. It's tough when dealing with depression to handle extra baggage. I appreciate your words, sometimes I just need to let reality step in and give me a kick in the butt.

Hi

Like Melissa i think that having a platelet count up to 500, 000 is not a cause of concern. Follow advice that the dr recommends and do the necessary tests. But do not worry too much since stress also increase your platelet count.

I was diagnosed with Et more than 2 years ago aged 24. Had a platelet count of 1.2 million when i started taking HU. Symptomless up to date.Now trying to conceive my first child after m/c in August.

Melissa how s it going? I stopped taking my meds too although i am not entirely convinced. I ll have to do my blood test soon and we ll see how it goes. My haemotologist is against this and will not accept me as he s patient if i dont take the meds but i ve got support from my gynea so its ok. Have been trying to conceive for 4 months now and its getting rather frustrating especially since last time i got pregnant on our 1st attempt.

Melissa Wishing you the best of luck
kbenner, sal5683 don t worry too much.

Amy

Thanks, Melissa. I will have my platelets rechecked in less than a week. For now, I am waiting on my dry socket from my widsom tooth to heal!! Kbenner, have you had yours rechecked yet? I think like the others said, there's no cause for extra worry. Hope you can focus on other things. I bet things will turn out okay for you.

lots of things can cause a temporarily high platelet count including various sorts of infections, surgery, etc.

I'm surprised your doc even said something about 440s being high.
My count was in the low 400s for years and no one even suggested it was anything. It wasn't until it started going up - 500s that my internist sent me for tests.

Also, it's possible the lab made a mistake, or that it was a "bad" sampling.
When my count came down into the 400s on medication the doc and I were jumping through hoops.

So, even though I know how you feel (when I was first tentatively diagnosed I had myself dying within 10 years - and started eating like there was no tomorrow against the chemo drugs I'd be taking - which did not cause any loss :eek: ) try not to worry until your next test!