Really struggling, please help, high WBC

[Nervousnellie001]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed formally with health anxiety 2 years ago but I have suffered with it for many years.

I had to have some bloods done recently as I was experiencing headaches. The results came back abnormal as my WBC was high at 14. Dr retested again 2 weeks later and my WBC was down to 12. Dr was happy it had a gone down but was still slightly high so asked to retest again in a month or so. I got those results this week and my WBC had gone back up to 14. Dr would like me to retest again in 2 weeks and see him after these results to make a plan.

I no longer have any headaches but I am now so, so worried. I went on the dreaded google (I know that's was the worst thing I could do) and have had to leave my teaching job today because I am so anxious and upset. I can't eat and I can't drink I am having palpitations this has kicked my health anxiety into overdrive. I know it sounds so ridiculous.

Has anyone ever had a high WBC count for a few times? If anyone has had similar experiences I would be so grateful to hear them right now. I'm honestly so upset don't know what to do. My Dr told me not to worry and he will see me in 2 weeks but after Googleing my mind is working overdrive that I have leukaemia or another horrendous blood disease. I'm so upset I don't know what to do.

Sorry for the rambling post.

Helen x

[Munchlet]

Have you spoken to your doctor and told him how anxious you are? Could it be that you have something going on like a sinus infection? I'm just thinking that because of the headaches.

The other thing is stress can increase your WBC so is is possible that your anxiety is raising it.

Personally I would try and speak to your Dr and ask what they think it is but also explain that it's making you really anxious and you are thinking the worse.

I'm sure others on the board will be able to offer you more advice but it sounds to me like you've maybe had some sort of infection going on that's just increased it slightly.

My auntie had this a few years ago and at the time she'd been having throat infections on and off, after a while it just went back to normal so try not to worry.

[countrygirl]

The most common reason is due to infection somewhere in the body but of course google will not bring this up! Something like a cold can raise if for weeks after you think you are okay- this happened to my husband a couple of years ago.

Def tell your Gp your worries, they know what to look for with serious disease and if they in any way thought your result was suspicious they would have straight away had lots of further testing done. Higher than normal white blood count alone is not a reason to suspect serious blood disease.

If it stays raised then they will probably want to see if they can find any low grade persistant infection for example water infections or sinus infections etc etc.

Go back and talk to your Dr - explain your fears and i am sure they can offer alot of reassurance as to why they aren't worried.

[Nervousnellie001]

Thanks both so so much for your replies. I really do appreciate it. I have felt my asthma slightly more over the last few days and I have a tiny (but painful!) mouth ulcer which could be signs of an infection? but appearantly my wbc was slightly raised too in a random test 2010 but I only found that out today (at the time I was not asked to take a retest).

I spoke to the Dr today to tell him how worried I was, he told me not to worry and was happy to see me in 3 weeks after I have had the retest. He said 14 is not ridiculously high, he just wants to know (if they come back high again) why this is. Of course this reassured me for all of 5 minutes but I am now absolutely terrified. Dr Google has ruined me and I seriously do not know how I will cope for another 3 weeks. I feel so bad :-( hopefully it will pass.

H xx

[countrygirl]

You may also be someone who naturally has a slightly high reading. I have a friend who has totally wonky liver function results that resulted in him having ultrasound etc about 10 years ago because they thought he must have liver disease and guess what, nothing. He just naturally has liver function results not within the supposed normal but a perfectly healthy liver!

You really really don't have anything to be worried about, save your worry for the really big things:)

[Fishmanpa]

14 is just a tad above the normal range. Your doctor is 100% right and obviously not concerned nor should you be.

Positive thoughts

[GoWhiteSox]

Fishmanpa-
Question for you..from reading your posts i see that you have survived cancer..first of all hats off to you...my dad is also a cancer survivor (unfortunately i think as i approach the age he began his fight my HA has increased)

my question is, what actually happens when a doctor thinks you have cancer? i reassure myself sometimes by thinking that they react with a great deal of urgency..was that your experience? if you can share i would appreciate alot :-) if youd rather not i understand..thanks

[Fishmanpa]

Fishmanpa-
Question for you..from reading your posts i see that you have survived cancer..first of all hats off to you...my dad is also a cancer survivor (unfortunately i think as i approach the age he began his fight my HA has increased)

my question is, what actually happens when a doctor thinks you have cancer? i reassure myself sometimes by thinking that they react with a great deal of urgency..was that your experience? if you can share i would appreciate alot :-) if youd rather not i understand..thanks

My experience was that my doctor treated it initially as an infection which makes sense as I had a swollen node on my neck along with a sinus infection. The antibiotics took care of the sinus infection but the node remained and grew. Another round of antibiotics with no response and off to scans and tests immediately. I had the scan within a couple of days and the remaining tests, biopsy and diagnosis within two weeks.

So yes, it's my experience and opinion that a doctor would act with urgency if something sinister is suspected.

Positive thoughts

[GoWhiteSox]

fishmanpa-
thank you for sharing...sorry one more question..was your scan a ct or was it a mri and were they able to clearly see a problem on the scan? i ask bc i have a very persistent sinus infection which i havent had alot of luck w/antibiotics with..i had a ct scan 2 weeks ago which didnt turn up anything more serious than "mild chronic right ethmoid sinusitis"..thanks

[countrygirl]

I was told CT is the best scan for sinus issues because your sinuses are bones whereas soft tissue shows up better on MRI. You have had the best scan for what you are suffering from, be very reassured by that.

[GoWhiteSox]

countrygrl..cool..thanks....ent scheduled follow up with me on monday to over my ct results so i will learn more then..i have report from my scan but it may as well be written in chinese...i am pretty sure the word "mild" in there is a good thing though :-)

[Nervousnellie001]

Thank you so much everyone. I had to go to bed as the anxiety was all consuming :weep: i am honestly from the heart grateful for all of your replies and they have made me feel slightly better (even if only for a while) trying positive thoughts to get myself out of this HA spiral. Thanks all.

H x

[GoWhiteSox]

glad you feel a bit better...im sorry for hijacking your thread too :blush:

[Nervousnellie001]

Gowhitesox, absolutely no worries. I have been a lurker on this forum for years has helped me in many ways, people really are so kind. Hope you're all ok.

Helen xx

[RoseEve]

Hi there. My son's white blood count was 18. Much higher than yours. In addition he had low red cells low platelets and low neutrophils. Your doctors would know something was wrong right away. He wouldn't wait. My son has leukemia, the took his blood and the next morning he was at the oncologist.

[Nervousnellie001]

Thank you roseve for your reply. I feel silly to post this irrational fear. I hope you're son is ok. All the best for him.

H x

[swgrl09]

CT is typical for sinuses. I had one myself last year for chronic sinusitis that I battle every July - October. I just have allergies.

[RoseEve]

Don't feel silly. Just trying to reassure you :)

[Nervousnellie001]

Hi guys, me again (sorry) just picked up my bloods form for the repeat fbc in a week or so and my dr has also ordered ESR and C-reactive protein to also be done???? I didn't have a bad weekend and managed to calm down but now I've seen he has ordered extra tests this has spiralled my HA back to what it was and some. I googled and now had to phone in sick at work. This is affecting my home and work life now it's horrendous. I have nobody to talk to about this and I'm now completely sick and worried horrifically about the results of a test I haven't even had yet. I seriously can't cope at the moment really freaking out. No idea why these have been ordered!?!? Dr still happy to see me in a couple of weeks. I dont know what to do...

H xx

[swgrl09]

I think he is probably just covering his bases to make sure it is a flukey thing. I have had those tests done too when I had a virus that wouldn't go. I'm sure you will be ok. Give yourself a pat on the back for doing so well this weekend!!

[Nervousnellie001]

I think he is probably just covering his bases to make sure it is a flukey thing. I have had those tests done too when I had a virus that wouldn't go. I'm sure you will be ok. Give yourself a pat on the back for doing so well this weekend!!

Thanks swgrl09 I need to pull myself out of this. Its so hard, constantly now feel nauseous. Going to be a long weekend this weekend I think. I might try strictly positive thoughts. Easier said than done. H xx

[pau1200]

Hi,

I hope you had your results back and there all ok, I suffer with ha really bad and it all started 18 months ago when I had a panic attack and was taken to the hospital. My wbc was 14 and it has been anything from 12.9 to 14.5 and won't go down. My doctor isn't as worried as I am and I go through spells of its leukaemia that's all it can be. I've told my doctor my fears and she wrote to a haematologist who wasn't worried but would look at me if they went higher than 15. I'm due a blood test tomorrow as I have them done every 3 months and now is when I'm at my worst. The fact it's being checked means if it's anything serious they will hopefully catch it early but if your doc isn't worried like mine perhaps there is nothing to worry about.

[Nervousnellie001]

Just a quick update I had my results back yesterday and had a consultation with the Dr. My Wbc has raised again from 2 weeks ago from 14 to 15. I have however had a cough for 3 weeks which seems to be on its way out (I was sneezing yesterday too). So he has given me antibiotics and retest again in 2 weeks. CRP test was normal. I am beside myself, I haven't started my anxiety meds yet but will today. He said if he was worried about cancers etc he would have referred me on ages ago, these are marginally high readings but he wans to see them come down. I am so upset now (sounds ridiculous I know). Definitely not going into work today I can't function. Had to get a supply in for my teaching post this is affecting my work now. He said he wouldn't even be worried if my WBC was 30 (its not) so long as it came down. If it hasn't come down after the antibiotics then I need to see haematology. He said they would then just monitor it (maybe every 6 months or every year) I'm so nervous about everything now had a panic attack and thought I was going to vomit and feel dizzy. Your comments mean alot thank you for the previous comments. Don't know how to handle this. Helen xx