High Leukocytes in urine

[gillsky8]

So blood tests have come back as above and I have a feeling this has been going on for some time, but not actually had a urine sample test in the past few years.

In fact the only urine test was because of discharge from vagina, thought to be thrush which is now being treated.

So thrush can cause blood in urine as well I understand. talk about going round in circles. !!!

as follows.

no infection red cells present, repeat urine dip in 2 weeks.

then follows, more worryingly

Red blood cells present in urine. Please follow NICE guidelines (NG12) to investigate .

Is this not fast track for cancer ?

routine culture is no longer performed if the WBC count is less than 50/mm3. UTI in adults is very unlikely below this count.

Thats all a bit like double dutch to me, but the NICE and NG12 is WORRYING me .

Recent blood tests have sometimes shown white blood cell count high and red blood cells, but if this is associated to steroids, and it seems it might be, why are the alarm bells ringing again. ?

[SnazzyD]

Hello, when you take your sample, is the area fully cleaned first and the urine making as little contact with the surrounding tissues as possible? It is quite easy to contaminate the sample from elsewhere. So, if thrush is about in the area, the urine can pick up red and white cells as it passes by. The same goes for blood in tissues in the area caused by low oestrogen. Do you have any symptoms?

Are these results from the GP just a dipstick? So has a culture been done? If not, I don’t think it is unreasonable to ask for one.

Pred can cause a raised blood white cell count because the type of white cell called neutrophil can be increased. This can make it difficult for a doctor to decide if it is just the Pred or an infection.

I use D-mannose a lot to ward off UTI’s and many of us here swear by it.

[gillsky8 in reply to SnazzyD]

Thank you for that , it was mentioned that the Thrush issue could be contaminating the sample, so I guess that is possible. I don't have any other symptoms. As hubby has just been diagnosed with prostrate cancer I think I am a bit neurotic over bladder issues atm. I am really scared it could be bladder cancer 😔

[SnazzyD in reply to gillsky8]

I’m not surprised. Why was your urine dip tested if you don’t have symptoms?

[gillsky8 in reply to SnazzyD]

D- mannose ? what is this please ?

thank you

[Blearyeyed]

Like Snazzy I use D-Mannose with Cranberry Extract and have found I'm only getting one UTI or Bladder infection a year now and it usually clears up quicker than before.It can be a contaminated sample , especially if you had thrush or other reasons that you could have got scratched or broken skin.

But you may well be like me. I usually get a little blood in my urine and the usual UTI symptoms but I often have subclinical results for an infection. It's caused me a lot of issues over the years because the GP would delay treatment until I had another test by which point my UTI would have passed up the bladder and hit my kidneys causing me months and repeated courses of strong antibiotics to get rid of it. They've checked me for cancer and pelvic inflammation three times now, it's just the standard protocol, and it's never been that it's just that I have very fragile skin from EDS and could have had a minor scratch within the urethra causing some blood .

I was sent to Urology this year and the Consultant did explain that you can get subclinical results for an infection if it's new, low grade or depending on the sensitivity of the lab analysis chosen. On the NHS a first sample is usually not checked with a high sensitivity test which is why it can come back marked negative when an infection is present.

He wrote a letter to the GP requesting that they treat my symptoms before urinalysis, and always order a high sensitivity test from now on.

If you have thrush it's often caused by a higher sugar level in the urine and vagina , this sugar level can also increase the risk of having a low grade infection as well and steroids use does affect your sugar levels in general. Obviously, the WBC is also increased with an mild infection.

Hope things are cleared up for you soon as I know how anxious it can make you feel when this pops up , take care , Bee