CBC white blood count ??

[wanderlost]

OK, so you probably know by now I am pregnant (11 weeks tomorrow! hooray!) and I just had all my routine stuff done at the OB - pap, blood work, etc. and they called today and said my white blood count was slightly elevated and they were going to pull it again in a month. My question is - as I just found how I have pseudemonas (for how long, I don't know - apparently no one at my clinic thought it urgent to alert me to this fact when it happened, and they acted like it was no biggie), so I am wondering if psuedemonas would increase white cell count? If so, then I know what to say when my next blood count comes back. And I wonder if I should call my Cf doc to find out if my white count has been elevated for a while - like maybe it is a CF thing? Or is it an infection? It might be a sinus infection brewing.

Also, along those same lines, I just started the hypertonic saline about a month ago, and I have noticed my cough is getting worse. Could the saline have stirred up some bugs that were just hanging out down in the lower lobes or even spread stuff throughtout? Man, that would suck - do something that is suppossed to help and get worse...anyway, just wondering what you think.

 

[RoyalPrince]

i am no doc but the white bloodcell count being elevated is probably due to an infection / bug your body is trying to fight... good question about the wht blcell count being higher in cfers since we are almost always fighting a bug...

i have thought before that coughing could send a bug to other areas of the lungs... i coughed up a pretty big plug once (so big in fact it kinda scared me when it happen) and right after i coughed it up i started on this coughing fit that produced a bunch of old sputum (brownish liking stuff)... soon after that i started to fell like i was getting congested... like a moron i put it off and put it off until it turned into pneumonia and had to go to the hospital...

i would certainly have this checked out as you not only have your own health to think of in this situation... Good Luck

 

[julie]

Yes Wander,

The elevated WBC could be explained because of the pseudomonas infection. I can't believe your CF clinic didn't tell you that. Have they recommended any antibiotics for you?

Usually an elevated WBC (especially since you know what is causing it) isn't too alarming while pregnant unless associated with a fever. As I am sure you know that can be harmful to the baby if it is really high, so just keep an eye out for that.

 

[Bozo]

I always run at a 25+ WBCC..My understanding is that is high because of all the bugs. Maybe after I get a clean out it might drop down for two or three weeks but after that it's back to 25+ high

 

[Landy]

My WBC count was high last time I had a CBC done too. I mentioned it to my doctor & he said quite a few CFs have elevated WBC due to infections we harbor.

I think they are wise to keep an eye on it & make sure it doesn't elevate further which could be an indication of something else.

 

[anonymous]

Is it possible to have a cbc white blood count of 75??? Thats what mine was with my last infection I think...but that sounds kind of high, is it possible to go high like that?

Shamrock, x

 

[anonymous]

Sorry, another question! Does anyone know what inflammatory markers are? Are they to do with the White bllod cell count? I remember at Christmas mine were over 100, and they said ideally they should be below 20! Thanks

Shamrock,x

 

[Scarlett81]

Wanderlost,
No I didn't know you were preggin!! Congrats!! Wow- I'm so happy for you-that's amazing. You're an inspiration to me. I hope everything goes well and you enjoy your pregnancy.

I can't help you with the Blood count and and all that- I go over that probably every year with my doc and I still can't remember the explanation.

However-as regards the Hyp Saline-don't get me wrong- I'm just as excited about it as everyone, I'm all for it, and it looks promising. But, nothing ususally comes totally for free. And I have actually gotten a little worse since I've been on it. I was told by my Doc that it can make you feel worse before you feel better. I'm coughing more-I feel more congested and it has caused me to bleed. So, I lowered the dosage. Instead of doing 7% I do about 5%. This has helped and I haven't bled at all since. Maybe that's an option for you? Could you talk to the doc about lowering? I know pregnancy can be tiring as it is-maybe this would make it easier on you.

 

[JennifersHope]

Hey a white blood count of 75 is very, very, high, ,but I don't think we use the same system to measure it, I am not sure though. We use a system that would say 4500-11,000 mm/3 which in conventional units. Your system I think is in SI units which would be 4.5-10 to the 9th power/L which would make 75,000 high but not deathly high like it would by our standards

Inflamatory markers are usually sedmination rate aka ESR rate. They can give indication to overall inflamation. THere is one other test that they use especially in Europe but I can't remember the exact name.. for some reason I think it is a Protein C level but it could be wrong.

Hope that is helpful

Jennifer

 

[NoExcuses]

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[anonymous]

as i understand it (am no doctor!) a "normal" white blood cell count is usually below 10. 75 really would be phenomenally high, so perhaps you are thinking of your CRP level?

CRP stands for C-reactive protein - this is the inflammatory marker in the blood. Basically (I think!) it is a protein produced as a reaction to inflammation by the body, so the more of it there is present, the harder your body is fighting. CRP should really be below 5 but prednisilone and other things can affect it so I think they are very flexible with it, although 75 would indicate something was up. Mind you when I went into hospital last time I managed to clock mine up to 400 which was quite an achievement, not one I am hoping to repeat anytime soon <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">

I hope that helps a bit <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Angel

www.livelifethengivelife.co.uk

 

[anonymous]

I have made a mental note to ask my docs the next time I see them. Thanks for your responses. When my 'whatever it was' was 75, my cf nurse rang me and said 'look your 'whatever it was(!)' is very high'. But she told me afterwards that within a week it had come down to 28. It might have been those inflammatory markers she was on about!

Shamrock, x