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Help with blood test results

Recent blood tests show low neutrophils segmented percent at 40.4% (50-70% normal), high eosinophils percent at 14.1% (1-5% normal), and high eosinophils absolute at .9 (.05-.5 normal)

What does this mean?

Doctor said due to allergies (hay fever) but I have NO symptoms of allergies. I do have a middle ear infection. I swim A LOT and didn't do the best job getting my ears dry. However, that's not bad. It doesn't hurt. I went to doc to get it checked because it was itching and sounding clogged. Other than that. Zero symptoms.

However, I have been having other "odd" things going on. They include
Trigeminal neuralgia (MRI indicated nothing. Determined idiopathic)
Drenching night sweats
Right ring finger joint pain, swelling, and redness
Left tibia shin pain intermittent. Sometimes feel sharp pain with normal walking
Flare ups of itchy skin - right hand only. Feels like pin prick coming through underside of skin
FREQUENT diarrhea
EXTREME fatigue

I'm 44, female, 5'3, 128 lbs, swim 30 laps daily

Any ideas? Should this be concerning? Normal?
22 Responses
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363281 tn?1643235611
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi, sorry you are having all these issues.

Have you told your doctor all the symptoms you are having?

As to the blood work, he/she should go over the results with you, if they are not worried, then try not to be either. A person can have allergies sometimes without the "normal" symptoms, I know I do. I was forever getting ear-aches when I was young, turned out they were due to hidden food allergies, seems food allergies can cause ear-aches in some folks, but, I did not find this out until I was an adult, interesting. This very well could be the reason for your higher white count.
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Avatar universal
What concerns me is that the eosinophils were almost 3xs the normal limit cupeled with the low neutrophils. My doc thinks it's hay fever allergies, yet I have ZERO symptoms. And besides that, I've had a pin prick allergy test done. I'm not allergic to hay fever or anything except maple trees and that BARRLY caused a reaction. That's why I'm confused that she would automatically say seasonal allergies and take Zyrtec.  
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Avatar universal
And, yesterday I started running a low grade fever of 99.9 off and on all day. I started feeling like I was getting chills, check temp , it would be 99.9. Checked again at other times of day with no chills, temp normal. Odd.
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Avatar universal
And yes, I have gone over all the symptoms above and she thinks allergies and peri menopause.
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1353650 tn?1429463374
Doctors love to look at a womens age and pass off her symptoms as peri-menopause. They started doing this to me at age 36. They ignored all of my health concerns and now I am trying to fix myself because I think doctors are nothing but pill pushers.

You sound like you may be fighting some kind of bacteria possibly in your gut. I think this because you are having the diarrhea. When you have an infection from bacteria it can cause things like joint pain and rashes. I have both and suffer right now with candida overgrowth. I do not have a fever but I do have swollen glands under my armpit. Make sure you check there to be sure yours are not swollen.

Is there any possibility you were in contaminated water? Could you have picked up some kind of parasite or bacteria there?
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Avatar universal
The only water I've been in has been at the pool where I swim laps. It's at a YMCA. I sure hope it wouldn't be there!! My stomach problems have gotten a lot better over the last 6 months. I've almost completely cut out dairy - milk at least. I still eat ice cream, yogurt, and cream for my coffee. I think cutting out milk has helped that. I still have all other symptoms. The night sweats and bone pain are the most concerning. And fatigue.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The only water I've been in has been at the pool where I swim laps. It's at a YMCA. I sure hope it wouldn't be there!! My stomach problems have gotten a lot better over the last 6 months. I've almost completely cut out dairy - milk at least. I still eat ice cream, yogurt, and cream for my coffee. I think cutting out milk has helped that. I still have all other symptoms. The night sweats and bone pain are the most concerning. And fatigue.
Helpful - 0
1353650 tn?1429463374
By any chance do you have emalgum fillings? These can leach led into the body and make candida grow out of control. The older the fillings the more of a concern.

Also if you have ever taken antibiotics, you will likely have some kind of imbalance in your gut.

I have noticed a lot of a womens health issues usually starts in there late 30's to 40's. I think this is because of our hormones changing. What happens is if you have any kind of imbalance in your gut, like candida overgrowth,  this is when it usually shows its ugly self. Our hormones cause blood sugars to fluctuate in our bodies and the candida feeds off of this. It will also feed off of any sugars you take in. This is why we went on a sugar free diet. It helped relieve of symtoms but not cure the problem. Candida and parasites can cause acid reflux, diarrhea and or constipation, joint pain, muscle fatigue, overall body fatigue, night sweats, eye pain, light sensitivity, swollen glands, feet pain, hand pain, irregular and or painful periods, yeast infections of the vagina prior to menstrual cycle, vaginitis, thrush, itchy skin, rashes, headaches, neck stiffness and many more. You do not have to have all of these things to have an imbalance.

Night sweats can be a sign of your body trying to get rid of toxins that the candida or other infections produce.

There is a couple of reasons you tummy feels better after getting off of milk. One is that what ever is causing you problems has likely messed up your enzymes that help break down the lactose from milk. This is what happened to my husband, son and myself. We had to do lactose free milk. Eventually we couldn't drink milk at all because it had to much sugar. The same thing happened with gluten. We no longer eat bread and are gluten free. This is not a normal progression in life especially when your 23 years old.
After all the years of these problems and no answers from doctors, our bodies became very malnourished. The toxins and the lack of vitamins made us have all of the symptoms above.
It didn't happen overnight. It took many years. My husband and sons symptoms started like yours. They could not drink milk, had diarrhea frequently, and fatigue. Doctors did not address the issue so now here we are 12 years later still trying to fix the problem. We have made much progress.

You should consider going to a good natural path doctor before things get any worse. Ask to be tested for candida and parasites. They have proper testing for this unlike regular medical doctors that ignore this issue.

Diet and supplements to kill parasites and candida will help but I would recommend them until you see a Natural path doctor. We didn't do this early on and it would have helped us greatly.

Please do not ignore this because it will continue to get worse and make it difficult to get back to normal.
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Avatar universal
Fillings removed years ago.
I'm a little freaked out. Got a call yesterday that my doc had set up a referral appointment and they wanted to know if I could come in today. Took down docs name, and address. When I googled the doctor, he's a hematologist oncologist. Great.
(Today) 4 hours later. They drew 9 valves of blood. He straight up said it. The "L" word. That's what they're looking for. Leukemia. Oh my. I have eosinaphila, which is symptomatic of eosinaphilic leukemia. He said the neutrophils being low is also suspicious. And all those symptoms above. Next on the list is a full ct scan. He wants to look for enlarged lymph nodes and any areas that could have a tumor. Then he wants to do an echocardiogram, and a bone biopsy. They said they will call when appointments are set up.

Oh boy. I'm overwhelmed.
Helpful - 0
1353650 tn?1429463374
Luekemia could be the answer. Try not to worry. It sounds like you have good doctors. If you swim every day then you are probably pretty healthy to fight whatever it is you have. I had a friend who had this and made a complete recovery. My thoughts are with you. Keep in touch and let me know how things go.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Can leukemia cause trigeminal neuralgia? - nerve damage? I was diagnosed with that 2 years ago, about the same time the night sweats and other symptoms started.
today i pulled out blood test report from last year. eosinophils were high then too. 8.6%. and the neutrophils were low. about the same number. Now i'm wondering why my Internal Medicine doctor overlooked this when we were trying to figure out why I was having TN pain. good grief, they did every nerve test, mri, etc they could think of and all came back fine. Blood tests did show these abnormalities, but because the total WBC was within normal rang, it got blown off... now i'm wondering if it's all related.

I'm extremely stressed about this. I can't lie. I try to be healthy. I've ran 2 full marathons, and 2 half marathons. Ironically enough, 3 of those were with the leukemia and lymphoma society. My grandfather died of leukemia. they didn't know he had it until shortly before his death. he just got weaker and weaker and weaker until he ended up in the hospital. then they did a bone marrow biopsy, and the leukemia was discovered.

now i feel so frightened i'm having chest pains. : (
I'm very type A.
My anxiety has just reached a new level.
Helpful - 0
1353650 tn?1429463374
I understand your stress. You have to try and calm yourself and think positive otherwise you will make things worse for yourself.

If you have all of the testing done and nothing comes back positive for leukemia, you need to ask them to do a stool analysis test for bad bacteria, parasites or candida overgrowth that could be causing your symptoms.
If they won't do this for you then you need to see a natural path doctor that will. Don't let them label you with something else like they labeled you with the trigeminal neuralgia and give you a pill. You need to try to find out what is causing your problem.
Seek what ever medical advise you can and if they give you a diagnosis make sure you get a second opinion from a doctor that is not in their practice.
Also make sure they compare any old tests with the new ones to see if things are different. This is very important. Do not rely on them to do the right thing. You need to make sure they do what you want because you are paying them.

I am sorry I can not answer your question about the nerve pain. I can tell you that I have had crippling nerve pain for many years in my feet mainly, my back, head, hands and pretty much my entire body, along with night sweats, severe fatigue, low white blood count, anemia and swollen glands. I do not have luekemia. I have a parasite or bacterial infection causing an imbalance in my gut. It is difficult to get rid of. I am currently taking supplements that kill both.

It is possible you do not have leukemia.  
I am sorry I can not help you more. Keep in Touch
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
That would make sence.
Everything we eat, consume, all this processed crap, pesticides, ... Our flippin water supply. It certainly enough crap there to completely throw the body out of whack. I would like to try this homeopathic thing. How do I find one? I have no idea where to go.
Helpful - 0
1353650 tn?1429463374
It is the food we eat, pesticides, chemicals, stress as well as taking antibiotics.
They all effect the immune system. 80% of our immune system is located in the gut. A gastro doctor won't tell you that they can only see part of your colon when they do a colonoscopy. There is a large percentage they can not see. Most of that is in the small intestine and the large intestine close to the small intestine. They call it the black hole.

I would look up natural path doctors in your area and see how they are rated. Then you can call and ask what they charge and and what kind of tests they can run for possible parasites or candida.

Make sure leukemia is ruled out before you go to see one.
Helpful - 0
1353650 tn?1429463374
I want you to read something I have found referring to eosinaphila.

Causes
By Mayo Clinic Staff
Eosinophils play two roles in your immune system:

Destroying foreign substances. Eosinophils can consume foreign substances — particularly substances related to infection with a parasite — that have been "flagged" for destruction by other components of your immune system.
Regulating inflammation. Eosinophils help promote inflammation, which plays a beneficial role in isolating and controlling a disease site. But, sometimes inflammation may be greater than is necessary, which can lead to troublesome symptoms or even tissue damage. For example, eosinophils play a key role in the symptoms of asthma and allergies, such as hay fever. Other immune system disorders also can contribute to ongoing (chronic) inflammation.
Eosinophilia occurs when either a large number of eosinophils are recruited to a specific site in your body or bone marrow produces too many eosinophils. This can be caused by a variety of conditions, diseases and factors, including:

Parasitic and fungal diseases
Allergies, including to medications or food
Adrenal conditions
Skin disorders
Toxins
Autoimmune diseases
Endocrine disorders
Tumors

Specific diseases and conditions that can result in blood or tissue eosinophilia include:

Ascariasis (a roundworm infection)
Asthma
Atopic dermatitis (eczema)
Chronic myelogenous leukemia
Churg-Strauss syndrome
Crohn's disease
Drug allergy
Eosinophilic leukemia
Hay fever
Hodgkin's lymphoma (Hodgkin's disease)
Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), an extremely high eosinophil count of unknown origin
Lupus
Lymphatic filariasis (a parasitic infection)
Other cancers
Other parasitic infections
Ovarian cancer
Primary immunodeficiency
Trichinosis (a roundworm infection)
Ulcerative colitis
Parasitic diseases and allergic reactions to medication are among the more common causes of eosinophilia. Hypereosinophilic syndrome tends to have an unknown cause or results from certain types of cancer, such as bone marrow or lymph node cancer.

As you can see parasitic infection, fungal infection as well as leukemia is on the list of causes.
You have helped me somewhat. I am having our family physician run a test to see if my husbands  eosinaphils are elevated. His asthma is uncontrollable right now.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I got a few tests back already. Eosinaphils are still elevated, as well as my total protein : (

From the quick internet research I did, (I know I shouldn't) - this is another leukemia marker : ( - elevated total protein....
Honestly, it makes sense. They never figured out the cause of the trigeminal neuralgia, and blood work was not considered during that testing.

Night sweats, extreme fatigue, itchy skin - i get small little welps on my right hand that ITCH like crazy. feels like pins coming from under the skin. Swollen painful joints, bone pain.... when i looked up eosinaphilic leukemia, all above were symptoms and even the gastro problems i was having..... and i read that elevated eosinaphils can damage the central nervous system - so there you go. may be the cause of this trigeminal neuralgia.

I know I shouldn't try and diagnose myself, but for me, i'm the type I'd like to know as much about something so when i go to my follow up, it's not like he's talking Greek. I had already researched eosinophils and neutrophils prior to Tuesday's appointment and I"m so glad I did. Had I not, I wouldn't have understood anything he said.

Plus - since it seems it's heading that way, having info and time to prepare will help if that is the diagnosis. I'd rather go in prepared for the worst, and hope for the best. Then if it's not that, WHEW.and I can start looking into this parasitic infection stuff....
Helpful - 0
1353650 tn?1429463374
If you think it is likely that you have this leukemia, maybe you should start looking for a doctor. Research hospitals and doctors that handle this condition. I would want the best doctor I could find.

You want this nipped in the bud right away. You need someone with experience and good qualifications.
Helpful - 0
1353650 tn?1429463374
Also, I was able to get a blood test ordered for my husband.
His eosinaphils will be checked through blood. I remember that when we were checked for lyme our lyme doctor mentioned that this was elevated and pretty much ignored it. He said it was likely caused by his asthma and allergies. On the blood work it stated it could be caused by a parasitic infection.

My husband has asthma all year round since we were treated for lyme disease. Asthma can be caused by a parasite in the lungs called a lung worm. This can be contracted the same time we contracted lyme disease. If this is elevated again, I will push my doctor to have his lungs checked with an MRI.

You have really helped me out and I want to thank you. I wish you the best with your testing. Keep your head up and keep in touch.
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Avatar universal
I will. Thank you.
Glad I could be of some help.
Helpful - 0
1081992 tn?1389903637
Hi, I was reading this thread because Moonflower asked a question in L&L:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Leukemia--Lymphoma-/Elevated-Eosinophils-and-leukemia-/show/2596592

I'd like to compliment SassyLassie and donjoe for the excellent answers here.

One thing that can possibly tie both a gut infection and a food allergy together could be this: the infection causes leaky gut, which then allows proteins (as from dairy) to get into the bloodstream which then causes allergy-like symptoms.

Also, with extreme fatigue: I'd stop the swimming, etc. so as not to decrease immune cell activity. Rest probably gives a better chance for healing.

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Avatar universal
Stop swimming : (
I pretty much have over the last 2-3 weeks. So tired. And this is very unusual for me. I am the type that goes and goes...

Did you read my post about the Trigeminal Neuralgia.? It's back. It's really affecting my eye this time. Getting pin type "shocks" that feel like they're going from eye surface to center of brain.

Speaking of which.... About a week ago, the TN woke me up 3 times during the night. And it was very odd. Never has it zapped me a cause me to awaken. This time was especially odd cause when it hit me, it wasn't quick, it was in my eye and seemed to go on for several minutes. Hard to describe but it was definitely an electric sensation as though the nerve was electrified. It also felt like my eye was "fluttering" and I couldn't move until it stopped. Since then, I get the eye pin sticks that are quick, but my left eye feels sore when I move my eye around.

I don't know what  to do or think. I'm frustrated. HATE being tired all the time. This is not like me. I'm a runner and a swimmer . I REALLY like to exercising and get depressed when I don't.  

I just keep thinking these two must be related some way.
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Avatar universal
Now add sudden onset of fever.
Last night, out of no where, during walk with dog, vertigo began. Went home. Barely made it before massive chills hit. Then hardcore sleepiness. Fever peaked at 101.4.
Daughter said I was mumbling trying to ask her something but she couldn't understand what I was saying. This morning feel ok but EXTREMELY drained.
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