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lymphocytes and neutrophils

Timaca

Senior Member
Messages
792
Anyone have low %lymphocytes and high %neutrophils? If so, how low and how high (and what was the reference range?) Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Best, Timaca
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
I normally have high lymphocytes and low neutrophils. The low lymphocytes could be from the herpes viiruses ebv etc and the high neutrophils could be another acute illness cold/flu type thing going on, neutrophils will usually be low after an infection or during a chronic infection.

cheers!!!
 

Timaca

Senior Member
Messages
792
rlc~ Thank you. That is kind of you. The one that matches the best is bacterial infection. I don't have the other problems. And that is what I thought after doing my own online research....low lymphs and high neutrophils mean bacterial infection. And at other times my lymphs and neutrophils are normal, but my platelets and WBC drops, which indicates viral infection. I do think I'm battling both viral and bacterial pathogens......and the labs change when those pathogens reactivate in me or I take antibiotics. We'll see what my ID doctors think about my lab values.

Best, Timaca
 

Crux

Senior Member
Messages
1,441
Location
USA
Hi Timaca ;
This is such a complex subject, as RLC has brought up, low lymphs and high neutrophils can indicate so many things. This has shown up so often on my CBC with differentials. I have had many types of infections that could cause this, but I also have had deficiencies that have made me vulnerable to infections.

Deficiencies of B12 and Zinc could possibly manifest with low lymphocytes because they help to regulate the body's defense. If there is a deficiency, lymphocyte production could be disregulated.

Also with deficiencies and excesses, neutrophil production can be disturbed, high or low.

This is why good docs look further to find possible causes rather than just making one assumption.
 

Timaca

Senior Member
Messages
792
Hi Crux~
I appreciate your insights. The reason why I don't think this is due to deficiencies is because these issues manifest most markedly during periods when I feel the worse (have a significant onset of symptoms or a rash) or have just recently taken antibiotics. If it were a deficiency it would be there most or all of the time; at least until the deficiency was corrected.

Best, Timaca
 

rlc

Senior Member
Messages
822
Hi Timaca, strange results! it is possible that you are fighting both kinds of infections, have you had extensive testing to find the bacterial infection, lab tests, swaps of nose and throat etc, it could be something like a smouldering staph infection, I was wondering if you had been checked for Lupus, it can mess with the resuts of all the tests you have mentioned see http://en.diagnosispro.com/disease_...sts-lupus-erythematosis-systemic/16167-3.html

All the best
 

Timaca

Senior Member
Messages
792
Hi rlc~ I have had a lot of tests run for all kinds of pathogens. We believe I'm battling various viruses. I have been successfully treated for Cpn. I *think* I've been checked for Lupus, and I do see various doctors and none seem to think that is my issue. I am hoping that one of my doctors will pursue this more with me.....we'll see. If they think the results are due to a bacterial pathogen, I'd like to try to figure out what one it is!

Best, Timaca
 

rlc

Senior Member
Messages
822
Hi Timaca, if they do think it is caused by a bacterial pathogen then it is very important to track down which one, it can make a big differance to chosing treatments. Lupus can be a very hard diseases to diagnose and not all patients with it fail the basic screening tests for it, which can lead to the diagnosis being missed. There is good information on diagnosing Lupus here http://www.lupuscanada.org/english/living/1000faces_sle1.html

All the best
 

Timaca

Senior Member
Messages
792
Hi rlc~
Thanks for the link for lupus. I don't think that is an issue for me after reviewing the symptom list. The only one I have is migratory joint pain; and one needs more than just that one symptom (4 of the 11) for a lupus diagnosis.

Interestingly enough, I did email a friend who also has good records of lab data and she noticed the same pattern in her....low lymphs and high neutrophils when she had a "herx" reaction to starting antibiotics. Same for someone else in her family. So, this may be an association worth noting and pursuing. She and the other family member have documented tick borne disease.

Best, Timaca
 

acer2000

Senior Member
Messages
818
I have the opposite. High Lymp% and low Neut%. But just barely and non on every CBC. I am fairly certain "normal" is both towards the middle, but Neut% a little higher than Lymp%. Or thats what mine was before CFS when I was "healthy". My absolute counts seem to always been in the normal range, its just the relative percentages shift.

It has to be whatever is causing ME/CFS that is doing this as well as this pattern emerged around the same time my NK cell count and function took a nose dive and my IL-8 started going up. I made a graph of it.

*shrug*
 

Overstressed

Senior Member
Messages
406
Location
Belgium
I have the opposite. High Lymp% and low Neut%. But just barely and non on every CBC. I am fairly certain "normal" is both towards the middle, but Neut% a little higher than Lymp%. Or thats what mine was before CFS when I was "healthy". My absolute counts seem to always been in the normal range, its just the relative percentages shift.

It has to be whatever is causing ME/CFS that is doing this as well as this pattern emerged around the same time my NK cell count and function took a nose dive and my IL-8 started going up. I made a graph of it.

*shrug*

Hi Acer,

I see you mention high lymphocytes en low neutrophils, but is my interpretation correct, that you mention percentages ? If yes, it doesn't say much, what you should get is a WBC, where each white blood cell comes in relative and absolute numbers. If you have only percentages, then the total is 100%. It means, when one is low, the other is automatically high, because the sum is always 100%. But, if you have absolute numbers, then you get a better picture of what kind of white blood cell is high. For a diagnosis it is better to compare both.

Best regards,
OS.