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View Full Version : High white blood count (eosinophils) and trusting your doctor!



lilyrose2
09-05-19, 17:38
Hi everyone,

I posted a while ago with severe stomach pains that I had myself convinced were ovarian cancer. They were terrible and I had awful digestive issues - my doctor put me on antibiotics and lots of random painkillers which took the edge off the pain but left me unable to digest any food or drink for an entire week which I thought was so odd.

He sent me for a ultrasound and blood test whilst my digestive issues were in full swing and super uncomfortable. The ultrasound came back completely clear and ovarian issues were ruled out, but I was terrified to find that my blood test came back extremely abnormal and I was being sent to a haematologist at the hospital ASAP. I suffer terrible with HA and google and research everything, and convinced myself I had a blood cancer or rare disorder as my overall white blood count was 25,000 and my eosinophils were 9300 - they should be 50-400 if normal so they were severe. So severe my doctor had never seen this before.

I've had an allergic 'eczema' style rash since last June so I convinced myself this was caused by the blood. My referral to the hospital came a week later and by this time my stomach had healed - all pains had gone and digestion was back to normal. The haematologist gave me a physical and said I was very healthy and thinks the high blood count could be an allergic reaction. I did another blood test there and then to find my white blood count was now 7500 and eosinophils only 1100, still slightly high, but not as severe as the week before.

He discharged me and told me to come back in 8 weeks, so I listened to him. The only issue was my curious self! I read case studies, joined Facebook groups and self-diagnosed myself with a rare disease called 'Hypereosinophilic Syndrome', worrying that my bloods had only come down because I had a common cold when I was re-tested the second time. I had people in the Facebook group telling me my count was way too high to be an allergy. This is where I thought 'do I trust the specialist, or people that know about such a rare disorder?'. I've been suffering really badly the last few weeks with worry!

Today I went back to the specialist as it's been 8 weeks, and touch wood, I haven't had any stomach issues since. He re-tested my blood to find my white blood count is 9500 (slightly high but he said me being stressed could cause this) but my eosinophils are now only 100. 100! It still seems a mystery as to why they shot up so much before because it's an extremely rare occurrence. I still feel traumatised and the specialist told me that I'm healthy, to get on with my life and not worry about this. I just don't know how! :( Has anybody else struggled with trusting your doctor vs what the internet says?!

Sorry for the huge essay!

venusbluejeans
09-05-19, 21:25
The thing is with the internet is that it will always give you the worst posible senario... Dr Google is a crock and has absolutely zero experience of real life and no training at all...... so do you trust someone who has years of experience and training or Dr google?? But it isn't as simple as that, is it? trying to get your head to believe it.

Carys
09-05-19, 22:23
Has anybody else struggled with trusting your doctor vs what the internet says?!

Thats a pretty common occurrence around here Lilyrose! :roflmao:Many HA sufferers have great difficulty trusting their doctor and instead turn to untrusted sources all over the internet , and complete strangers. It is of course the fear of the doctor possibly being wrong, that nagging doubt, that worry that they must be missing something that makes you turn to the other sources. I can see why you are still worried, I mean you did have odd and unexplained symptoms, but they have now gone (sometimes we never know the answer to some things in life)- and look at it this way - if you don't feel well again, what do you do ? Of course you go back! If I was you, I would trust the doctor, they have looked at ALL factors, they have the results and have done full examinations.