Real People Stories – Sophie

Low White Cell Levels

Hi everyone!🙋🏼‍♀️ So I was a vegetarian for many years (nearly 20) and then transitioned to vegan a few years back.😊🌱 My reason for being vegetarian was for the animals, first and foremost…not that Anaemia or CBC testing was being done back then anyway. So I couldn’t keep justifying eating any animal products, and that’s when I decided to go vegan. Anyway…

With my last two yearly blood checks, I noticed that my WBC is low—it’s 3.3. I tend to panic easily, so I immediately went to Google when I saw it on my results again this year. Well, let’s say that Google can quickly scare the 💩 out of you.😳😟 It shows that it is associated with some scary diseases.

Possible Link to Vegan Diet

Anyway, then I started to think… what if being vegan has anything to do with that?🤔 So I then Googled that… and sure enough, it came back with a host of studies (although they seem inconclusive for the most part) and even some posts here…but unfortunately, many are outdated. So, this is the reason for my post. I have a test appointment with my CBC doctor in a few days, and I’ll discuss it with her. But I was hoping to see how many others of you have the same issue.

WBC History

My WBC was still on the lower side at 4.8 before a couple of years ago…but within that “standard” range.

Then last year it was 3.3 and again this year the same at 3.3.

Other Health Metrics

Every other CBC level is great (well, except for my LDL, which has been on the higher end for several years… go figure, when I don’t eat anything to justify that😒)… so it just seems to make no sense to me at all. The only thing I can associate it with is going vegan. Some here have said that because we eat so well, the immune system doesn’t need to ramp up because it’s not needed. I also looked up what to eat to increase WBCs, and one high one was green tea, which I drink EVERY day. So, none of it makes sense. Has anyone else had this Anaemia Test history of low white cells for extended periods?

Karen

Low white cell and time-wasting

Hello there, So I asked my doctor for a routine anaemia blood exam in November to check if everything was alright. The results returned with a low iron and white cell count (3.3). The iron could be expected as I’m a vegetarian/mostly vegan woman and haven’t paid attention to eating iron-rich foods recently. I was prescribed a supplement, and that’s it.

White Cell Retest

I was called back for a retest five weeks later for the WBC.

This retest was last week, and I got my results today. My WBC is 3.6. My doctor says it’s still outside of the normal range (which he says is 4 to 10), but the increase is a good sign. He called me back for another retest six weeks from now, so at the end of January.

Concerns About Low WBC

Of course, I’ve read a bunch about low WBC, and as much as I’d like to trust my GP, I wonder if he’s wasting time now. I see people get referred to haematology with low WBC, especially if, after a retest, it is still low. (We are in a pandemic, so having low WBC is probably not great either.)

I don’t want to be rude questioning my GP’s methods, but I wonder if its a waste of time to wait another 6 weeks. How long must you have a constantly low WBC to get referred to haematology? What if its a bigger problem that is now going untreated for weeks? I read that WBC can be low after fighting an infection. But how long does it take to get back to normal levels? (Not that I had any infections in the past weeks, but perhaps it was asymptomatic.)

Sorry, maybe I’m freaking out a little too much. But I waited 5 weeks to get some news today, and basically, it’s the same, and I can wait another 6 weeks now. 🙁

Maddie

Results

I am a 24f and just got a CBC test with abnormally high rbc, haemoglobin and hit.

My Anaemia white cells are normal. And my platelets are on the high side of normal, according to my hospital’s report. But according to some of the sources I’ve seen, they are out of the normal range. My exact numbers are as follows:

  • WBC: 8.24×10(9)L
  • Platelets: 432×10(9)L
  • RBC: 5.44×10(12)L
  • Hgb: 16.8 g/dL

I also almost always have a dry mouth and feel thirsty. The feeling of thirst hardly ever goes away, but my urine is a normal colour. And I don’t go any day without water. Someone suggested diabetes, but my glucose numbers are on the lower side of normal.

My doctor wants another follow-up Anaemia Blood test in a month after I ensure I drink the recommended daily amount of water. She said dehydration could be the cause and isn’t saying anything negative. Still, I’m unsure if she’s trying to keep me from worrying.

Realistically— what are the chances that it’s dehydration and not a blood disease? Normally, I would completely surrender to my CBC-trained doctor’s advice. But I won’t get new results for another month, and it isn’t easy to do anything. I want to talk to a real person instead of scaring myself on Google.