Low White Blood Cell Count

[M_Celeste]

My husband had a cbc test completed last week, & the doctor's office informed him that he had a low white blood cell count of 2.9. He came back in & had more blood test taken, inculding an HIV test.  The doctor seemed very concerned when he told him he had had more than 5 unprotected partners in the past.  My question is, what could be causing this?  Could it be HIV?  Here's a little background info on my hubby: he's a 32 year old white male, had his gallbladder taken out about 2 years ago, currently takes Prilosec daily, also takes Zyrtec & Mucinex D for allergies almost daily, has had a persistant fungal infection on his groin area (jock itch?) for at least 3 months that he's treated with prescription drugs & otc powders & creams to no avail, has had diarreah & stomach ache over the last few weeks, he also recently started complaining that he was having pain in his kidney area, but he hasn't had any kind of fever. When he had his gallbladder taken out, he was told that he had a "fatty liver" but that it was nothing to worry about. The doc just said he needed to lose weight. He has lost several pounds since then: he's currently about 5'6 or 5'7 & weighs between 150 & 155 lbs, so he's not overweight, but he has lost several pounds recently. He's also in his 3rd semester of nursing school & is under a trememdous amount of stress. Could any of this stuff be contributing to his low wbc?  Also, he was diagnosed with mononucleosis about 3 or 4 years ago. Is it possible he's having some sort of reoccurance of this or side effect of the Epstein-Barr Virus?  And earlier this year, he also had dizzy spells accompanied by a rapid heart beat. He had an echocardiogram & EKG & both were normal. The doctor told him he was probably just experiencing anxiety. I've also noticed that he's had some hair loss in the past few months.  Nothing visibly noticable on him, but more hair than usual left in the bathtub drain.  Could he have HIV?  We've been together since 2004, & both of us had HIV tests before we got together (I had one in 2000 & another in 2003, he had one in 2000) which came back negative.  In the past, we both had unprotected vaginal sex with multiple partners, & neither of us have been tested again since we got together in 2004.  I'm just confused because I'm not having any kind of health problems (no yeast infections, no kinds of "jock itch", no respiratory infections, etc), but he seems to be having one after another.  I was diagnosed as having iron deficiency anemia about a year & a half ago, but after taking iron supplements for quite some time, I had blood work done a few months ago & everything is now back to normal. I'm getting really anxious & the slow process of the doctor's office isn't helping.  Every day for 5 days we have called & they still keep telling us that the HIV test isn't back yet & the other blood test results haven't been reviewed.  I'm really getting anxious & impatient.  Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[M_Celeste]

Well, here's an update, in case anyone cares:  the HIV test won't be back until Friday & the doc won't be able to see him until Monday.  I've never had to wait this long for HIV test results before.  If I recall correctly, both of mine were back in about 3 days.  But this doctor is through the university's healthcare program, so maybe that's why.  I have no idea.  But the lab nurse told him that all his other bloodwork was back & his liver enzymes were elevated & that he had protein in his urine.  Now, I'm not an expert, but I don't think either one of those things are associated with symptoms of HIV, so that makes me feel a little bit better.  He's been complaining of lower back pain, so he may just have a kidney infection.  We're still thinking about getting one of those 24 hour HIV home test just so we can have peace of mind.  I'll just be glad when we know exactly what's wrong with him so we can get on with our lives.

[M_Celeste]

Oh dear god... I just read through several of the posts on different HIV forums & saw questions about getting hiv through marshmellows(?), fingering, & computer keyboards.  Now I see what kinds of questions you guys get every day, & I feel silly, almost like I'm trivializing the disease.

I suppose the only thing I can do is wait, & hope for the best.  If the result is hiv positive, there appears to be a good online community right here at medhelp for people with hiv positive status.  I appreciate the fact that you guys took the time to respond to my post.  Thanks.

[LIZZIE LOU]

Allergy, especially severe allergic reactions
Aplastic anemia
Drugs, such as antibiotics, diuretics and prednisone
Histoplasmosis
Hypersplenism, a premature destruction of blood cells by the spleen
Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
Infectious diseases
Kostmann's syndrome, a congenital disorder involving low neutrophil production
Leukemia
Lupus
Myelodysplastic syndromes
Myelofibrosis
Myelokathexis, a congenital disorder involving failure of neutrophils to enter the bloodstream
Other autoimmune disorders
Other congenital disorders
Parasitic diseases
Radiation therapy
Rheumatoid arthritis
Vitamin deficiencies

[M_Celeste]

I know.  I guess I'm just anxious & I can't stand the waiting.  I keep wanting someone to give me some kind of reassurance that every thing will be okay, even though the logical part of me knows that not a very realistic expectation.  All the stuff I read on the internet about low wbc lists things like HIV & leukemia, & it's scaring the hell out of me.  Just once I'd like to read something or hear someone say that there's a simple cause for all of this, that it's not anything to worry about, but I know that's not very likely.  I mean, is there anything else that can cause low wbc's besides life threatening illnesses?  Or should we just prepare for the worst?

[Vance2335]

You have to wait for his test to come back. You can never use anything to get an indication of HIV.