Is low white blood cell count normal in XMRV???

[taniaaust1]

Im wanting to hear the answer to my question "Is low white blood cell count normal in XMRV?" in those who have been diagnosed XMRV positive. How long have you had CFS/ME and what is your white cell count like?

Im yet to be able to get tested for XMRV but over the years my white blood cell count has been falling and now it is out of normal range and low. at 3.5 (normal is 4 to 11)

http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...ally-low-white-cell-count&p=113440#post113440 has the details of how it has fallen over the years.

 

[ukxmrv]

I've had numberous WBC tests done over the years. They vary between low, normal and slightly high. Acute viral onset over 25 years ago.

XMRV+

 

[anciendaze]

Low WBC is common with viral infections. Elevated WBC goes along with bacterial infections.

You most likely have multiple viral infections which have pushed it just outside normal range. Many doctors will take a look at that and say it isn't significantly low. If the next test is within normal range, as is likely, they will ascribe this reading to variation in laboratory results, which do take place.

They are looking for progressive changes and dramatic lab. results, which generally do not show up. The disease is telling them you have a somewhat impaired immune response caused by virus. If your immune system is not crippled, it will gain some ground with one viral infection, causing WBC to rise.

 

[LaurelW]

I've been wondering about this for a long time.

I've had chronic neutropenia since at least the mid 80s. Got mono in '90 and CFS in '94. My WBC count runs between 2.5 and 3.1. I've seen a hematologist twice, and he can't figure out why. The first time, he said either I had bone cancer or an autoimmune disease. Obviously don't have bone cancer after this long. This year he said some people just have it for no reason, idiopathic, I think he said. He examined all my cells under the microscope and said they all looked fine, and he recommended I get a bunch of vaccinations because my resistance would probably be less. I have noticed that if I cut my fingers or toes, I have to use antibiotic ointment or they always get infected. And BTW, I'm XMRV+.

 

[upnorth]

For the last 5 years with M.E. I have frequent low WBC, usually neutropenia. This last time it was low enough that they told me to be careful if I got a high fever as my body doesn't have a good fighting capability right now. If it continues this low I will see a hematolotgist although I expect I'd get the same response as LaurelW did (I've been checked numerous times for autoimmune diseases). I too, had a sudden onset case of M.E. triggered by Mono. Low WBC is a result of viral infection in some cases. This is what my speciaist and I both suspect. I don't think low WBC is characteristic of M.E. because I don't hear about it too often from those I know with the disease.

 

[grant107]

I have had neutropenia since I first got cfs in 1987. Doctors regard this as nothing to worry about.

 

[anciendaze]

I have had neutropenia since I first got cfs in 1987. Doctors regard this as nothing to worry about.

Even if it happens to them?

 

[upnorth]

Hi grant107 - that's really concerning!! Although me and my symptoms have been dismissed by Drs. before, Neutropenia is a clear sign that something's wrong. If your neutrophils drop too low an infection can kill you!!! That's one reason why they monitor cancer patients under treatment so closely. Could you be asked to be refered to a heamotologist?

 

[acer2000]

Starting about 2 years after I got sick (I have been sick 4 years) I sometimes show relative neutropenia and lymphocytosis. Basically, my absolute counts are in range, but the populations are shifted such that more lymphocytes are in the blood and less neutrophils. My Dr. said its common with viral infections and some atypical bacterial infections. They can never find either in me so I haven't been treated. My liver enzymes also border on the upper end of normal.

 

[dannybex]

Low WBC...and drugs

Just wanted to mention that neutropenia / low WBC is often a "side-effect" of a wide variety of drugs, everything from acne meds, to antidepressants, to klonopin.

Might be a good idea to google any drugs one is taking, and see if it's listed as a side effect.

Cancers are typically associated with very high WBC counts, and then the chemo causes neutropenia. So...how XMRV might affect this, if it's associated with one form of prostate cancer and also CFS/ME...is a great question.

 

[upnorth]

I agree dannybex, it's usually the treatment in cancer e.g. chemo, that cause the neutropenia.

(btw, my neutropenia is not as a result of any drugs - as I'm not on any drugs, but it is a good point).

I wonder if those of us with M.E. and the low WBC or neutropenia had a viral onset? Just a thought.

Even if XMRV is the cause of M.E. at least in some, why wouldn't everyone have a low WBC? OR perhaps it might relate to those of us who've had it longer, or are more severly ill. I have noticed that my lower neutrophil counts always come in times when I'm crashed and especialy viral. For me anyways, there's a correlation there.

 

[mojoey]

I have had neutropenia or borderline neutropenia in every single CBC I've done since I got sick,acute onset with mono. XMRV+. Ive always wonderEd if it's as much of a hallmark as Nk cell cytoxicity.

 

[heapsreal]

low white blood cell count/lymphocyte or high lymphocytes can indicate infections, but low count leans towards your immune system tiring out. This is when things like immunovir, cycloferon or herbs like astragalus or echinacea can help. Since your being treated by the hospital i would ask them for immunoglobulin/gamaglobulin injections/infusions, these are blood products that bolster your iimune system and are used in immunodefiency diseases.

cheers!!!

 

[mojoey]

Echinacea is tricky because it may stimulate th2 rather than th1, and most cfs speciaists believe cfs patients are th2 predominant. Peterson theorizes that is why rituximab may be helping cfs patients due to temporary elimination of the th2 response. I've heard mixed things about astralagus (whether it'd th2 or th1)