Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

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Low WBC?

Donnarae
Donnarae
hello group. I have been gone off of here for a little bit after I started simponi. I did so well after of my first shot but then about 3 weeks in I, unfortunately, got a really bad cold. My Rheumatologist immediately put me on antibiotics which I stayed on for 2 rounds. I went to have blood work one month after I started symphony but I was still sick and my white blood cell count was low. She said to wait until I felt well again and was off the antibiotics and redo the blood work just to make sure that it was in fact the cold and not the simponi causing a problem. I went back last week for another round of blood work as I was feeling fine and had been off of the antibiotics for about six days. Will now my white blood cell count is even lower than it was before.. 3.13. I'm waiting for a call back from my Rheumatologist this morning to see where we go from here. I hate to not be able to take the simponi because it did so well with me. Has anybody else here had a problem with low white blood cell count and if so what do you do I have looked up all kinds of natural an over the counter help.. zinc and garlic and folic acid were recommended to help. I haven't taken my next shot of simponi..Thanks . Donna
ILoveHuskies
ILoveHuskies
My doctor told me once that the RA itself causes a low white blood cell count. Inflammation can do weird things to the body.
deleted_user
deleted_user
#1 response is sometimes correct. here are other causes:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003643.htm

NSAIDs can also cause low wbc. ask for cbc with differential.
Donnarae
Donnarae
It has been normal until 3 weeks ago and the only different was the simponi...
deleted_user
deleted_user
you said you had a bad cold. that normally would elevate your wbc.

and you said you did 2 courses of antibiotics. that normally would lower your wbc.

with simponi, that's 3 things different.

ra is not a likely candidate for lowered wbc, but it is possible.

you think simponi. it could be. tnf-inhibitors can cause all sorts of scary, deadly stuff, so ask your doctor for a cbc w/ diferentiation. she would be able to rule out all sorts of possibilities that could be attributed to simponi.

i don't know what "normal" means to you. you're are not far from it now. don't stop checking though.

you asked if anybody else had problems with low wbc. i did. caused by a different tnf-inhibitor. wbc fell to 0.5. all blood counts on the floor. i lived.
Donnarae
Donnarae
The dr called me back and said that she hasn't heard of simponi causing the low numbers. . She was more concerned with the low neut abs numbers than the wbc but said to redo in another week and if still low go to a hematologist and see what is going on. .. my previous numbers were all within range.. but she said to not stress. . I'm feeling just fine and no fever. . We shall see. . She did say I can't take the simponi until we figure out what is going on. . Bummer. . Hope soon.. Thanks. .
deleted_user
deleted_user
low neutrophil count is neutropenia. low wbc is leukopenia. neutrophils are one of the five types of white blood cells - leukocytes. you need 'em. that was why i was saying cbc with differentiation. clearlys she already did that test. if your red cells and platelets are good that's good news and likely not bone marrow issues. but possible. i had bone marrow suppression. can't find old lab report but 0.5 wbc, and virtually no netrophils. all counts were low. 1 week hospital stay, massive iv antibiotics and neupogen injections. no more tnf-inhibitors. best wishes.

i had 2 incidents with a tnf-inhibitor. first time, i broke out in a full body rash. cbcd revealed all my blood counts were down. wbc was 1.5, forget abs. neutrophil count. stopped the drug, had a bone marrow biopsy, which was negative. didn't look like cancer, so i started drug again. had the 2nd attack withing a few days. this time i had 103 fever, wbc was