DavidHC, I think that en bloc has made an excellent suggestion.

Hi David

Don't want to panic you and I agree with en bloc & kiwi's suggestions but you asked for others experiences with low white blood cell counts.

My wbc tested low 6 months before I had my initial Adrenal Insufficiency crisis (and subsequent diagnosis with Autoimmune Addison's Disease). At the time of testing I had been referred for a Rheumatology consultation but was seen by a resident who misdiagnosed me with Fibromyalgia. Monitoring the wbc was the only 'plan' he proposed. I sometimes wonder if it had been followed up more proactively at the time then I might not have gone into crisis and suffered the resulting permanent effects I now have to deal with.

In all the various rheumatology tests I had at the time the low wbc was the only test that came back abnormal. So a low white blood cell count may sometimes be the only indicator in the routine blood tests normally done that something more serious may be occurring (not necessarily Addison's as it's pretty rare) but something else requiring following up.

If a referral to a hematologist is difficult to get maybe an immunologist or endocrinologist may be easier to get an appt.

All the best for getting some definite answers and hopefully some effective treatment.

Thank you for your helpful response. I'm not so much worried as I want to get to the bottom of this, and see if it can help lead me on a path to diagnosis of the cause of my SFN.

My platelets and Hemoglobin (which is what I presume you mean by HGB) are normal and not too low, but on the lower level of normal for sure. My neutrophils have been below the normal range actually for two tests in a row now.

I've had my D tested and do so every few months. I take both D and K2 daily. My D is moving up slowly. On your suggestion I'm having zinc, copper and iron tested.

I take no medication, so that's out.

My suspicion is some infection, and in fact I had planned to get tested for H Pylori, so it's funny you mention it, and I find the link you note very interesting. Someone on here recently had a similar case of SFN to mine and he tested positive for H Pylori interestingly enough. That's one reason why I plan to have the carbon-14 breath test.

Thanks again!

Info on copper
 

Just so you have some data to back up the reasons for checking copper and zinc. the last one speaks to an excess zinc causing a copper deficiency.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17236184
http://www.haematologica.org/content/92/10/1429
http://ajcp.oxfordjournals.org/content/132/2/191

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...60217/abstract

Good luck with everything.

Thank you again. I appreciate all this information. I wouldn't have known about this possible link to neutropenia.

Thanks, En Bloc. Yes, I'm aware of that, partly thanks to your previous posts on this forum. I have been planning to do the test, just trying to figure out how I can have it done without having to pay $200 out of pocket, which is too much for me. I think I may have figured it out.

Now, if I do test low, will the treatment be IVIG? Or will it depend on the degree of deficiency? I can say that last time I was in the high sixes (or 600s) and now I'm in the low sevens (or 700s), so it has moved slightly up in the last couple of months.

The only other thing to report is that my IgE had gone up from 95 to 100, so now at the high end of normal or just over.

Hi Bluesfan,

Thank you for sharing your experience with me. And don't worry, after all that has happened to me, it takes a lot to scare me. :)

I'm sorry to hear about your experience here. From what I know, it's a difficult illness to deal with, though I suppose none of what we deal with is easy.

We've sent a referral to a hematologist now. Hopefully it will go through and I'll see her sooner than later. In the meantime I'll keep an eye on things with WBC testing.