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Curious about blood counts

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Posted 6/24/2017 9:47 PM (GMT 0)
I had my labs done last Tuesday and just got to see them today, my dr. called on Wed. and said everything was good. I'm thrilled about that. When I looked at my labs it was marked that my white blood cell count, my red blood cell count were a little low and that my red blood cell width was low? or something like that. My blood cell counts always come back a little low and my doc has never mentioned it so I assume its not a huge deal or anything. I was wondering if this is a part of lupus or is it just me? I'm always tired which I assume is lupus related but I wonder if its also related to the consistent low blood cell counts? Anywho, just curious what you guys thought....
Posted 6/27/2017 12:26 AM (GMT 0)
I had same thing and was told no big deal i 2 am wondering about what it means cause i looked it up and it made sense of how i feel
Posted 6/27/2017 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
Right! A couple of months ago I started to take an iron supplement since my red blood cell count is always low and that's what the internet said to do. I saw my rhuemy shortly after and mentioned I had started iron and he said to stop taking it unless my period was really heavy. So I stopped taking it. I'm just always sooooo tired!
Posted 7/3/2017 4:28 AM (GMT 0)
Hi BreRosie and Luckylady56. In normal folks their white blood cells (WBC) drop when they contract a virus. This also happens with Lupies but many of us take meds that will also make our WBC count to drop. No one needs to be concerned until their WBC count drops below 3.0. Even if the count is 3.0 many docs wouldn't be concerned. A WBC of 2.5 usually gets their attention, because you may not have enough WBCs to fight infections. the
As for the widths of your red blood cells (RBC) rarely is it significant. If your hemoglobin is low our a doc will look closer at the indices (MCV, MCH etc.) Hemoglobin (Hgb) is the easiest way to check for anemia. Oh, if your number of RBCs is consistently low that could be what your Help. body normally runs.
Be sure to tell your docs how tired you are. They might find something that will help. But many Lupies including timyself are always tired. Probably the two main complaints of Lupus flares are fatigue and pain. I hope that your flare passes soon! Love, Butterflake
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