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Old Sat Mar 19, 2016, 03:21 PM
Barbara K Barbara K is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 38
Hi. My husband's situation is somewhat similar to yours. He went to donate blood and was turned away due to low hematocrit--somewhere around 32. His initial CBC showed something like RBC of 3.4, Platelets of 130, and WBC of 2.0 (neutrophils at around 1000). Much testing resulted in various diagnoses: iron deficiency anemia, suspected early aplastic anemia, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (very mild), and hypogammaglobulenemia (also relatively mild). What's the root problem? His doctors certainly don't seem to know, but it is hard to imagine that all of these symptoms are unrelated.

At any rate, the reason I think his situation is somewhat similar to yours is that after taking oral iron supplements regularly, plus a multivitamin supplement, his RBC now hovers around 4.0 and his storage ferritin is in normal range, and his platelets have remained steady between 120 and 135. His WBC count also stays usually in the 1.8-2.1 range, and his neutrophils are usually between 700 and 1000. So, very mildly low RBC and platelets paired with moderately low WBC and neutrophils. His bone marrow biopsy showed something like 25% cellularity, which was low for a man in his late 40s. As for health, he was getting sick a lot when first diagnosed--with some weird sinus infections (they would migrate to his eyes, etc.), other respiratory ailments, and mild skin infections like boils. But for all practical purposes--work, parenting, recreation, etc.--he's been fine for the past two or three years, with not even an unusual number of colds.

His hematologist told him that it isn't always a question of his many neutrophils you have but instead how good they are at their jobs. And I'm sure it makes a difference if they are able to summon reinforcements when the going gets tough, though through all his return check-up testing none of my husbands' counts have ever gone back up more than a smidgen higher than they were at diagnosis.

Good luck and try to find ways to remain calm and upbeat while your doctor gathers more information. And do make sure they check your nutritional status carefully. Low copper, for example (or excessive zinc intake), can result in lowered neutrophil counts.

Barbara
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