Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):
  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Low White Blood Cell Count Symptom?


mrs turbo

Recommended Posts

mrs turbo Newbie

We are still going through the long drawn out process of testing my son for celiac. Some new blood work came back and now my son has a low white blood cell count. It is not extremely low (4.5), but is lower than average (6.0- 17.0). Is this another symptom of celiac or is this caused by something totally different. We do have a praise report though. Through lots of prayer and going glutten free before the diagnosis, my sons liver enzymes are back in the normal range!


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



loraleena Contributor

My testing range said that anything below 4.0 is low. I have always been around 3.7-4. Even after going gluten free it was still like that. Last check though I was at 6! Best ever. I heard optimal is 7. Keep in mind that any viral illness or one recently passed will cause low white count and a bacterial infection will cause high. Last year when sick with the flu I had to be hopitalized for dehydration and my white count was 2.5!!! A few months later was when it went to 6.

Guest Angi

Hi, We are also going throught this. My son is 2.3 years and having a biospsy next Friday. His bloods say he does not have coeliacs but he has all the signs. I was so worried because his white cell count is 4.7. His kidneys are also working pretty hard and he has low iron and protien. I don't have any advice exept I am sure this will work out for both of us.

Angi

moldlady Rookie

It is very difficult to know just exactly what has caused a low white count. There are several different kinds of white blood cells of varying proportions. A low white count usually means an assult upon the immune system. This can be caused by infection (virus, bacteria, fungus). Usually it takes time to suppress the immune system to a point where the condition is chronic. This would be chronic viral, low grade bacterial, or systemic fungal infection. The immune system could also be suppressed by chemo. used for cancer, heavy metals, celiac and drugs.

There are cases of cold virus actually causing the lymphocytes to rise to abnormal levels to fight the infection.. This condition is different as it is acute and the body will respond with high levels of WBC.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - knitty kitty replied to Thoughtidjoin's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      5

      Dried Chickpeas

    2. - trents replied to ainsleydale1700's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Confused about HLA-DQ Celiac gene test result

    3. - Scott Adams replied to ainsleydale1700's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Confused about HLA-DQ Celiac gene test result

    4. - Aretaeus Cappadocia replied to Thoughtidjoin's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      5

      Dried Chickpeas

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,437
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    vahid
    Newest Member
    vahid
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):
  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      Hello, @Aretaeus Cappadocia, My favorite source of B12 is liver.  😺 I react to nutritional yeast the same way as if I were glutened.  Casein, a protein in dairy, and nutritional yeast have protein segments that match certain antigenic protein segments in gluten.  The proteins in rice, corn (maize), and chicken meat have them as well.   Some people with Celiac might tolerate them without a problem, but I need to avoid them.  For those still having symptoms, cutting these out of our diet may improve symptoms. 
    • trents
      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @ainsleydale1700! First, it is very unlikely, given your genetic results, that you have celiac disease. But it is not a slam dunk. Second, there are some other reasons besides having celiac disease that your blood antibody testing was positive. There are some diseases, some medications and even (for some people) some foods (dairy, the protein "casein") that can cause elevated celiac blood antibody test scores. Usually, the other causes don't produce marginally high test scores and not super high ones. Having said that, by far, the most common reason for elevated tTG-IGA celiac antibody test scores (this is the most common test ordered by doctors when checking for celiac disease) is celiac disease itself. Please post back and list all celiac blood antibody tests that were done with their scores and with their reference ranges. Without the reference ranges for negative vs. positive we can't tell much because they vary from lab to lab. Third, and this is an terrible bum steer by your doc, for the biopsy results to be valid, you need to have been eating generous amounts of gluten up to the day of the procedure for several weeks.  Having said all that, it sounds most likely that you have NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) as opposed to celiac disease. The two share many common symptoms but NCGS is not autoimmune in nature and doesn't damage the lining of the small bowel. What symptoms do you have? Do you have any blood work that is out of norm like iron deficiency that would suggest celiac disease?
    • ainsleydale1700
    • Scott Adams
      HLA testing can definitely be confusing. Classic celiac disease risk is most strongly associated with having the full HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 heterodimer, which requires specific DQA1 and DQB1 genes working together. Your report shows you are negative for the common DQ2 and DQ8 combinations, but positive for DQB102, which is one component of the DQ2 pair. On its own, DQB102 does not usually form the full DQ2 molecule most strongly linked to celiac disease, which is likely why your doctor said you do not carry the typical “celiac genes.” However, genetics are only part of the picture. A negative gene test makes celiac disease much less likely, but not absolutely impossible in rare cases. More importantly, both antibody testing and biopsy are only reliable when someone is actively eating gluten; being gluten-free for four years before testing can cause both bloodwork and intestinal biopsy to appear falsely negative. Given your positive antibodies and ongoing symptoms, it may be reasonable to seek clarification from a gastroenterologist experienced in celiac disease about whether proper gluten exposure was done before testing and whether additional evaluation is needed.
    • Aretaeus Cappadocia
      I agree with your post and have had similar experiences. I'm commenting to add the suggestion of also using nutritional yeast as a supplement. It's a rich source of B vitamins and other nutrients, and some brands are further supplemented with additional B12. I sprinkle a modest amount in a variety of savory recipes.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.