prednisolone and increased WBC count ???????

 23yr/female..hy guys.. im on the 2nd round of pred ..this year was worst as for as my uc was concerned..started pred in august'13 for 3 months at initial dose of 40 mg  with no succees..then tapered slowly...
then switched to ucerus 9mg ..again no success.. i was frustated..then went to new Gi who after knowing my current status prescribed me with pred once again. im currently doing good with minimum symptoms...my BM's are also reduced
but as far as my CBC reports are considered it shows ::
 leukocyte count :: 17,900/cu mm  {normal range (4000 -11000)}
which is much higher as compared to count i had before 3 months.
also my ESR count has increased to 20mm (by wintrobe's method)
previously it was just 6mm..
do you guys think prednisolone can increase the amount of wbc..is it normal or my inflamation has further increased ??? any advices????

Nobody has done Cbc while being on pred?

Hi naina,

Pred raises the WBC (leukocyte count). It causes white blood cells to circulate freely without attaching anywhere (which is how it reduces the inflammatory response), so it artificially increases the count.
Hope things settle for you.

My WBC was always high on pred. It's a normal side effect.

My WBC count was a bit high while on prednisone too :) I wouldn't worry too much unless you started having worse symptoms or feeling worse.