WBCs suddenly going up, including neutrophils

[JoMac53]

Does it mean anything bad when WBCs suddenly go high? I seem to recall reading somewhere that it did but can't find anything now.

Right from the start I was critically neutropenic and stayed that way for 2 years. In the past several months I've had several weeks in a row where my ANC was high enough (1.0) that I didn't need the Granix shot. But now the ANC itself has risen so much (8.5) it's over the lab's normal range (1.8-8.0). Lymphs & monos are also over the labs normal range.

Any ideas?
Thanks.
Jo

[JoMac53]

So checked back on lab reports and all those WBCs started going up at the same time I started taking Keflex for cellulitis on my shin from a bump injury. BMB on Wed and regular CBC on Friday so I guess I'll see if they've started going down or if it has nothing to do with is. This disease is so weird.

And I don't know where everyone is but it seems like there are not a lot of posts here anymore. Is everyone on Facebook? lol

[Hopeful]

Hi JoMac3,

I'm glad that there is a good reason for the rise in WBC I hope Keflex knocks out the infection!

[DanL]

higher wbc can also mean that you are fighting a bacterial infection, and also rise from taking prednisone. it usually indicates that your system is responding the way that it should, so long as you are not getting too much above about 12,000 total, at which point if you are not taking steroids, there may be some concern.

i am glad this just seems to be related to your keflex usage.

[Cheryl C]

Hi JoMac53

My WCC always rises during an infection. It drops soon after completing antibiotics.

I've had a sudden drop in platelets from 130 down to 84 in the last couple of months and I'm hoping it's due to the virus (bronchitis, sinusitis) I had in April which took 5 weeks to get over.

Any thoughts?

[maggiemag]

Hi Jo. The good news is that it went up in response to an infection!! That means you can make some white cells. Cellulitis is no joke, and can be quite serious. Also, even if not on a steroid like Prednisone routinely, your WBC can go up briefly and temporarily after steroid injections. I've noticed that after shots in various joints from the rheumy. It would be normal ANC afterwards and then go back down the following week to my normal!

[JoMac53]

I wasn't taking any steroids and the whites went up to 22.7 K/uL (ANC 8.5) but are now down to 16.9 (ANC 6.5). I should say were, though, since that was last Wed. I just had a deep root scaling on the right side of my mouth on Tues. Now I have sore glands in my neck on that side and really, really, sore teeth and gums. Slightly higher than usual temp but no actual fever. Get to go back next month and have it done again on left side. Oh, joy. lol And onco doc said because of the numbers on Wed I didn't need prophylactic antibiotics. Hoping this is all a normal response and immune system takes care of it.

Red cells continue to go down (3.51 now) and platelets came up a little from 81 to 94.

Cheryl, before this my platelets have only ever gone down in response to Granix shots and would rise again, and continue to rise, until I'd get my next shot. So this was new for me, too, because I haven't been getting Granix shots with these higher ANC numbers. I'm happy to have them going back up, too.

This is all so different from my "usual" of the previous 2 years it really threw me. Although, in hindsight, I don't know that I paid attention to the whites when I had infections before.

I meet with the transplant doctor Monday to discuss my donors and make a plan. Check my email several times a day for notification that my BMB results are in and yet I'm afraid to see them.

[JoMac53]

Okay, so transplant doctor is a little concerned about the high number of white cells but more concerned that there are a lot of abnormal monocytes and so now I have to see a leukemia specialist on July 3. The tumor board is reviewing my case that morning and may recommend I have chemo before transplant, either Vidaza or Dacogen, which she was already considering for the blasts if they were high. But she didn't seem concerned about them being 6-9%, which keeps me in the same category as last BMB, MDS-EB-1. But now she thinks perhaps the leukemia specialist will recommend some other chemo because of the aberrant monocytes.

Blasts on aspirate smear were 6%, 9% by flow cytometry and < 3% by IHC. Lab report says that IHC disparity may be due to sampling variance or methodology. I've never seen an IHC (Immunohistochemistry) number before but this BMB was processed at a different lab than my other two were and it's very different with loads more info on it, a lot of which I don't understand yet.

On the bright side, I have three 10/10 matches, one 11/11 match and one 12/12 match, all young men in their early 20s who have shown a level of commitment to donate so far as to have had follow up blood tests after their initial swab tests. And, she says, that means no radiation pre-transplant.

If they do recommend chemo that will post-pone transplant but otherwise she was talking about 4 weeks! But I still have dental issues that need to be resolved and I don't think she knows how slow dental clinics for low-income people can move. I wish Medicare would pay for dental so I could go to a regular dentist and just get it done.

I may copy most of this post to a new thread in the "Tell your story" forum because I never started one there. I'm not good at journaling or keeping a diary or anything but I may feel more like posting stuff as this goes on so why not. lol