Concerned about low lymphocytes

[Pebbledash]

Hi all,

I am feeling well, with my celiacs and MC controlled by diet, use of LDN, and cholestyramine. I have long-standing Addison's disease managed well by supplementing with corticosteroids and peripheral neuropathy which I manage with nortriptyline. I work out and eat well.

I had a blood panel this week that showed by percentage of and absolute amount of lymphocytes as being rather low--in fact, my lymphocytes have now been low for three years, going back over past history. I have been taking budesonide on and off for three years, though for the last few months I have been on only one 3mg tab every second day, which isn't a lot (I believe heavy steroid use can bring down WBC). My overall WBC is fine at 8.2, my neutrophils percentage slightly high at 81% and my percentage of lymphocytes at 11% (range 15%-47%). My total lymphocytes is 900 (I have read the lowest norm to be around 1000.

Anyone have any experience with this situation?

One other thing: my vit D came out as 47ng/ml, so normal--which is great, except I supplement with 5000 D3 every day!!! That's a lot of D3--where's it going?! My D3 level has been roughly the same for about 8 years, and I have been supplementing all the while (not much sun in San Francisco).

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Paul

[tex]

Hi Paul,

Actually, the use of glucocorticoids normally raises white cell counts, and it does this predominantly by causing increases in neutrophils. So that explains your elevated neutrophil percentage. But something else is apparently causing your reduced white cell count, in general. Low white cell blood counts could be due to white cells being sidetracked because of localized inflammation, but if you're currently experiencing no symptoms, that suggests that your information may currently be at a reduced level. In other words, I don't have the slightest idea why your white cell count is low. Mine has typically trended toward the low side of the normal range, but I don't recall it dipping below range.

On the other hand, my red cell count has been below the normal level in every test I've had for at least several years, but every time I ask my doctor about this, he just says not to worry about it, because it's only slightly below range. Similar to cholesterol levels, I wouldn't be surprised to discover that heredity plays a major role in these levels.

As far as your vitamin D usage is concerned, apparently many of us just use significantly more vitamin D than someone in the general population. The lion's share of this is surely being used by our immune systems to fight inflammation and the increased stresses of the times we live in. Hopefully that means that we have a good, healthy, active immune system. My vitamin D usage is very similar to years except that I cut the dose in half during the summer, since I live in sunny Central Texas. Even so, my 25(OH)D level varies, but it's usually between 45 and 75 ng/dL. Thinking about this, LDN supposedly resets the immune system every night. If that's true, it would seem that resetting the immune system every night would consume above normal levels of vitamin D, but that's just speculation, of course, since I've seen no research data regarding this.

Sorry I couldn't be more healthful.

All my best,

Tex

[Pebbledash]

Thanks, Tex. I'm still waiting to hear back from my PCP. My main concern is that lowered lymphocytes will make me vulnerable to infections.

I'll update if I get any answers.

Cheers,
Paul