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Low White Blood Cell Count

CarolinaKip

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CarolinaKip Community Regular
CarolinaKip
Posted

I got back some routine blood work yesterday and was told my white blood cell count was low(did not get exact count) They want to redo the bloodwork in a month. My sister who has lupus said she has this happen sometimes, it's common with autoimmune diseases. Have any of you experienced this? Should I be concerned and do I do anything differently? The nurse that called was not very helpful. Thanks!!

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burdee Enthusiast
burdee
Posted

I got back some routine blood work yesterday and was told my white blood cell count was low(did not get exact count) They want to redo the bloodwork in a month. My sister who has lupus said she has this happen sometimes, it's common with autoimmune diseases. Have any of you experienced this? Should I be concerned and do I do anything differently? The nurse that called was not very helpful. Thanks!!

Yes, my WBC was below normal (3.2 when normal range was 4.0-10.7) after 4 years of taking antibiotics, antiparasitics and antifungals for 8 different gastrointestinal 'bug' infections. Some of the drugs I took were notorious for lowering WBC (Vancomycin for C-diff and Iodoquinol for Dientamoeba fragilis). Symptoms of WBC for me were getting one respiratory infection after another. For several years I had colds almost every day. I'd recover from one and get more cold symptoms within a day.

My ND doc treated my low WBC with low dose naltrexone. 3 months on daily LDN raised my WBC from 3.2 to 6.3. However, after I stopped taking LDN my WBC started to decrease again. So my doc ordered an adrenal hormone test (24 hour urine collection). Most of my results were normal, some were low normal, but my DHEA was very low. So I'm now taking a very low dose (2.5 mg) of daily sublingual DHEA supplement. I no longer get cold symptoms, even when I don't get enough sleep for several days. (I always used to get colds if I didn't get 8-9 hours each night.)

So, depending on how low your WBC is, you may need treatment to raise that back to normal range. Do you have any symptoms of impaired immunity, like frequent colds, gastrointestinal infections, etc.?

Ginger7 Rookie
Ginger7
Posted

Ask for your results and look at your overall results. Was anything else out of range on your complete blood count? If you use Quest Labs, there is an awesome app called Gazelle. I have it on my iPhone and you can request your labs and then always have the results on your phone.

A few weeks ago, my WBC was 2.9. I also had some other abnormalities like low RBC, hemoglobin, etc. My dr said maybe I had a recent virus that caused low white blood cell count.

I repeated the test two weeks later and the WBC was back in the normal range of 7.

Sometimes it could be a virus or lab error, etc.

I also googled it and felt better that I saw it could be related to autoimmune rather than other bad things.

Coincidentally I am seeing a hematologist tomorrow regarding iron infusions bc my ferritin is nearly depleted. I've never seen a hematologist before and I will ask about my recent dip in WBC.

I hope I have eased your fears.

Ginger7 Rookie
Ginger7
Posted

Btw, had hematologist appt today and he said low WBC was autoimmune, related to celiac. Not concerned at all. Will see him again in three months just to keep an eye on everything.

Bubba's Mom Enthusiast
Bubba's Mom
Posted

good to know! Thanks for keeping us posted.

:D

bartfull Rising Star
bartfull
Posted

I just talked to my doctor about my results, and three things were "abnormal". One of my white blood cell types was low (my lymphocytes) and another type of white blood cell (my neutrophils) was high. And my red blood cells are "more concentrated" than they should be. The doctor said none of these could explain my jaw pain and swelling, which is his main goal, but he didn't seem alarmed at these abnormal results. I think that's because he knows I have celiac and these numbers are to be expected? I'll be talking to him in person soon and get a better idea of what it all means.

CarolinaKip Community Regular
CarolinaKip
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the replies!

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Syl Rookie
Syl
Posted

I got back some routine blood work yesterday and was told my white blood cell count was low(did not get exact count) They want to redo the bloodwork in a month. My sister who has lupus said she has this happen sometimes, it's common with autoimmune diseases. Have any of you experienced this? Should I be concerned and do I do anything differently? The nurse that called was not very helpful. Thanks!!

Hi Carolina,

I would also recommend looking into Lyme's disease. I too have had a suppressed WBC count since I was diagnosed with Celiacs, and I ended up finding out the real reason for this was Lyme's disease. It's unfortunately pretty common for someone with Celiac to also have Lymes. This comes from a tick bite of course, but can remain dormant in your body for a long time as it did for me. It's rather difficult to diagnose, but if you have certain symptoms or issues that cannot be explained it's worth looking in to.

Best of luck!

thefreespirit Rookie
thefreespirit
Posted

I had this with my blood test just before Xmas. Doctor asked me to retest in three weeks time, left it till last week as I had a cold after Xmas. Test result today and tested 'normal'. I think I was just fighting a virus, perhaps you were too. Keep being alert (as we always have to be!) but try not to be alarmed, as your Dr is just trying to take care of you.

Blessings - FS xx

Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted

I got back some routine blood work yesterday and was told my white blood cell count was low(did not get exact count) They want to redo the bloodwork in a month. My sister who has lupus said she has this happen sometimes, it's common with autoimmune diseases. Have any of you experienced this? Should I be concerned and do I do anything differently? The nurse that called was not very helpful. Thanks!!

Having low white cell counts is perfectly normal for anyone with an autoimmune disease. The only time it is an issue is if you are getting sick a lot...if not, don't worry about it. I have 4 autoimmune diseases and my white cell count has been low for years but since being gluten-free, I have not been sick so never give it a second thought.

Having autoimmune diseases will make for wonky blood work at times so get used to that and don't worry too much. Most things show in the blood but it doesn't mean you have to constantly be going to doctors...unless you like to. I have found that doctors over blow a lot of things to keep you coming in. I am 52 and my white cell count has been low for at least 30 of those years and I am pretty healthy now. I attribute that to staying away from the medical profession unless it's necessary! :P

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    • trents
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      I'd be very cautious about accepting these claims without robust evidence. The hypothesis requires a chain of biologically unlikely events: Gluten/gliadin survives the cow's rumen and entire digestive system intact. It is then absorbed whole into the cow's bloodstream. It bypasses the cow's immune system and liver. It is then secreted, still intact and immunogenic, into the milk. The cow's digestive system is designed to break down proteins, not transfer them whole into milk. This is not a recognized pathway in veterinary science. The provided backup shifts from cow's milk to human breastmilk, which is a classic bait-and-switch. While the transfer of food proteins in human breastmilk is a valid area of study, it doesn't validate the initial claim about commercial dairy. The use of a Dr. Osborne video is a major red flag. His entire platform is based on the idea that all grains are toxic, a view that far exceeds the established science on Celiac Disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and a YouTube video from a known ideological source is not that evidence."  
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