Symptoms

You may not have any noticeable symptoms of essential thrombocythemia. The first indication you have the disorder may be the development of a blood clot. Clots can develop anywhere in your body, but with essential thrombocythemia they occur most often in your brain, hands and feet.

Signs and symptoms depend on where the clot forms. They include:

• Headache
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Chest pain
• Fainting
• Temporary vision changes
• Numbness or tingling of the hands and feet
• Redness, throbbing and burning pain in the hands and feet

Less commonly, essential thrombocythemia may cause bleeding, especially if your platelet count is more than 1 million platelets per microliter of blood. Bleeding may take the form of:

• Nosebleeds
• Bruising
• Bleeding from your mouth or gums
• Bloody stool