High Red Blood Count

[Robinsnest72]

I again had my blood work done and my ESR and CRP are excellent but I still have a high red blood cell count. I am down to 2mg of prednisone so that really does not seem like enough to cause this but Doctor phones tomorrow and when I inquire he will say it is nothing. Anyone know why this would be happening? I did have he shingles but that was three weeks ago.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

How high?

There is a reason that corticosteroids boost red cell production - it was known it did do so in the early days of pred in the 50s but the why took longer to establish:

vector.childrenshospital.or...

It doesn't happen in all patients with the form of anaemia mentioned - so I assume there will also be variations in the amount of pred required and how long it persists.

[Flutterbies57 in reply to PMRpro]

I did go into the site you mentioned , but at the moment I am too vague to take in all that medical explanation. What I am wondering is , is a high platelet count the same as a high red cell count ? I am in NZ and they quite often seem to use different medical terms here. My other blood tests have always been excellent so my previous Dr always questioned my PMR diagnosis. My platelet count has only increased in the last couple of months, but I have been waiting for that long to hear their diagnosis. I just thought it would be amusing if I got the diagnosis from here , a week before the specialist finally gets back to me after sooooo long.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Flutterbies57]

No - "Platelets, or thrombocytes, are small, colorless cell fragments in our blood that form clots and stop or prevent bleeding. Platelets are made in our bone marrow, the sponge-like tissue inside our bones. Bone marrow contains stem cells that develop into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets."

redcrossblood.org/donate-bl....

There is one form of red blood cell, several forms of white blood cells and platelets. If you put whole blood into a tube and spin it in a centrifuge, the red blood cells go to the bottom with the plasma at the top - and, as the image shows, there is a narrow band of sludge at the join which is the white cells and the platelets.

When you bleed, your blood's clotting cells, called platelets, build up at the site of your wound. The platelets help form a plug that seals the opening in your blood vessel to stop bleeding. If you are at risk of a heart attack they often say "take an aspirin" - that stops the platelets sticking together to make a clot - and which is why aspirin makes you bleed more.

One of the causes of raised platelets is inflammatory diseases such as connective tissue disease. But there are also other reasons.

[Robinsnest72]

My RBC count is 5.34 and the Hematocrit is 0.452. I cannot help but wonder if the vitamin K is making a difference. Then I started taking Omega 3. It was up from last month so I stopped the Omega and am only taking K every other day. If your body does not need this stuff then it could do something.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Robinsnest72]

The normal range for RBC count in women is usually up to 5.4 - so yours is upper range but not outside it. The haematocrit is also IRO 37-48% - same there too. Your local hospital may have a slightly different range for each but I doubt yours are far outside what is OK.

Often our blood values improve post-menopause, the levels become more like those for men who aren't losing blood every month. The result will flag up as high by the computer even if it is just 0.1 outside the range - but that is also within the limits of natural variation.

[Robinsnest72 in reply to PMRpro]

I really appreciate your reply. it has been a concern of mine As throughout this journey, it has been flagged high most of the time.will see what Rhemy says as he will be calling within the hour. Enjoy this day🇵🇪