High White Count

[ladybug0215]

Hello I am new here. My Husband was dx with MS in 2009 I wanted to know if anyone else has a high white count is it common with MS? Most of the time when they do a blood test his white blood count is high. His symptoms keep getting worse they do not seem to level off.

[ladybug0215]

My Husband was seen by several neuros most of which were smart buts but that is another story. We can not afford an MS specialist first visit we would have to come up with $400.00 up front. He has irregular PVC and is taking amiodarone. He has high blood pressure and taking lisinipril. Neuro put him on lyrica and baclofen. He has spasicity,degeneritve disk disease,neuropathy and cervical and lumbar spondiloses. He also has a lot of weakness and stiffness in his muscles feel like he is drunk all the time. And vision problems. He has been checked for cancer and it came back neg. Thank you for listening I just needed to talk to someone.We are trying to get him on SSDI then we will try to see an MS specialist. Sorry if the spelling is wrong.

[Lulu54]

Ladybug,
Was your husband being seen by an MS specialist or a general neurologist?  Unfortunately the general neuros often don't know much about MS other than what they studied in a quick rotation years ago in medical school.

An elevated WBC is a symptom of something wrong in the body - it could be something as simple as a dental problem that is causing infection.  Cancers will also cause an increase.  So the problem could be something simple or severe.  An elevated count in the  blood stream is different than problems in the cerebral spinal fluid from everything I know.  If I'm wrong someone here will correct me.

I'm sorry you are dealing with a clinic doctor, which has to make it difficult to get answers.  He really needs to be seen regularly by a specialist until he is stabilized with the assorted medical problems.  You don't say what those are, but these other problems could be causing the exacerbation of his symptoms and making him worse.

good luck to you both,
Lulu

[ladybug0215]

Thank you.  Yes it is his wbc. I was going to ask the doctors at the clinic next month but thought I would ask here first.

[ladybug0215]

The doctors really do not say much he saw a hematologist for awhile but they really did not find anything that raised his white blood count. One of the neurologist told us it is normal for people with MS. My Husband has a lot of medical problems. HE now see a Doctor at a clinic because he has no insurance. Thank you for your help.

[Ufrustrated2]

i can share this for what it is worth :

when my first MS neurological symptoms first started they found high white cell count in my spinal fluid.

i know you are talking about the blood stream type WBC but thought i'd share my tidbit.

[Lulu54]

Hi ladybug and welcome.  I'm sorry that you and your husband are living with this MonSter in your lives. It is defintely a strain on relationships and he is fortunate that you are researching answers for him.

As to your question - MS does not cause an elevation in the WBC.  White blood cells multiply when they are trying to fight an infection.  Your husband must have something else going on.  That infection could be causing problems with his MS, though.  Our bodies and MS do not like infections and can cause a relapse.

When you say his WBC is high, is it just outside the normal range or is it extremely high?  What do his doctors say about this elevation?

If there is an infection going on they need to find the source and treat it before it gets totally out of hand.

welcome again, Lulu