Low white blood cell count

[Smorzando]

Hello,

I had a blood test on Monday due to having experienced an episode of fast heart rate & chest tightness (which has now gone away & I think it may have been hormonal).

Anyway, of course they wanted to run a thyroid test and I was prepared for a 'robust discussion' of my (presumably) low TSH. So when the phone rang yesterday afternoon that's what I was expecting!

However, I was surprised that it was actually a message from the GP to say that my white blood cell count was low, and they want to repeat the test in two months.

I've had several full blood counts done in the past and the WBC count was always low - below range - this is going back as far as 2012. They gave up trying to work out what it meant and put it down to 'one of those things'. However, I didn't have a diagnosis of any autoimmune condition back then (I now know I have Hashi's).

Curious to ask if any other members have had this? - does it go hand in hand with autoimmune conditions? That's listed as one of the causes, but it usually just mentions RA and Lupus.

I'm a little worried that it leaves me vulnerable to infection, particularly these days!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Looking at previous posts

Can’t see any more recent vitamin results than a year ago

Results from year ago

Ferritin 9.3 (13-150

B12 479 pmol/l (no range given as such)

Vit D 60nmol/l (no range given as such)

Folate 16.70 (8.83-60.8)

Vitamin D far too low

How much vitamin D are you currently taking

What was most recent result

Folate too low

Have you been supplementing vitamin B complex since this

Ferritin absolutely dire

Presumably you have had full iron panel test for anaemia and on iron supplements since

What are most recent iron and ferritin results

[Smorzando in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks SlowDragon

Those results were from January 2020 I believe.

Most recent ones I have are from Medichecks, July 2021:

Ferritin 52 (>27)

Folate 10.4 (no range given)

B12 Active 150

Vit D 105

So, as you can see, improved a fair bit. I had an iron panel done in July 2020, results were:

Iron 15 (6.8-34.5)

TIBC 52.1 (45-72)

UIBC (37.1 (24.2-70.1)

Transferrin saturation 28.79 (20-50)

Ferritin 82.4 (13-150)

So, ferritin has slipped a bit but I'm taking ferrous sulphate every day now and will retest soon.

I'm not aware that this could have any impact on the low WBC? When I look up possible causes the one that jumps out is "autoimmune conditions", so I wanted to ask if anyone else with Hashi's had had similar issues 🙂

I take 3000IU vit D per day, and occasional B vitamin complex (Igennus) (although I often forget)

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Smorzando]

Good, vitamin levels much improved

WBC and Hashimoto’s

whitelotusclinic.ca/lwhite-...

[Smorzando in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you, I've skimmed that and will have a proper read later. I noticed it mentioned folate, b12 and iron deficiency. Would you say my folate is still a bit low? Hard to know when there's no range given. Haven't been very strict in taking my B complex mainly because my B12 is already very good.

[Imaaan]

Hi,

I had a case of neutropenia several years ago at the height of a stomach flare up after antibiotic usage. The next time my neutrophils were checked it creeped back up on the low end of the normal range. It usually hovers around there.

[Smorzando in reply to Imaaan]

Thanks. Looking at old test results, it was not actually my neutrophils that were low, it was the other white blood cells, such as lymphocytes and monocytes. When all added up, the total was around 3.5 on a range of 4.5-11, and this happened so often they pretty much gave up testing in the end, as they couldn't figure out a cause! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Clearly, since it's still the case all these years later, it's chronic, and I've not been ill recently so can't put it down to that.

[Imaaan in reply to Smorzando]

Hope they figure it out one of these days. Out of curiosity, do you get sick a lot because they are low? I'm sure you're taking extra caution with covid.

[Smorzando in reply to Imaaan]

No, I actually rarely get sick. Although I did have a very severe infection a couple of years ago after a wisdom tooth removal!I'm taking care because of Covid, but I hadn't, until I got this phone call, really considered that I might be at any greater risk.

[Imaaan in reply to Smorzando]

Glad to hear that you rarely get sick, a blessing indeed.

[Gcart in reply to Smorzando]

Can’t offer any any explanation but I alway always have a low in range or below range every time I get a blood test . WBC . Last 20 years at least .

At first docs kept retesting but eventually said ‘ normal for you’

Don’t suffer any more infections than the average , possibly less than some of my friends.

It doesn’t help you but just to let you I’m in the same boat 🙂

[Smorzando in reply to Gcart]

Thank you for replying - actually, it does help to know someone else is the same! I expect after the next couple of tests the docs will decide this is my "normal" so I'll try not to worry about it 🙂

[radd]

Smorzando,

Hashi can be with us for many years before being diagnosed. I have provided a link to a post I wrote 3 years ago relating to Hashi & a low blood count.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

[Smorzando in reply to radd]

Thank you Radd. I've no doubt I already had Hashi's when the low WBC was first noted nearly ten years ago; TSH at the time was around 3.5 but of course I was told it was "normal" 🙄

Edited to add: having read your post, I did have glandular fever when I was about 20; TPO antibodies were however very high (>600) when diagnosed with Hashi's some 25 years later!