[DezziePS]

So...I'm something of a hypochondriac and I have a good amount of anxiety associated with it. Usually, I can keep it under control. About a year ago I was diagnosed hypothyroid and they put me on meds for it. I went back in after six months and got a blood test, and the doc adjusted my meds. She told me she wanted to see me again in a month to see how the new meds were working and if they needed adjusting again. She sent me the blood test results and a note that said my white blood cell count was elevated and she wasn't sure why. To a crazy freak like me, that is frightening. She doesn't know why?? I've been trying to put it out of my mind this last month, thinking it could have been a random little infection or something weird the body just does, but now the month is almost up and I am going back in for another blood test on Friday. I'm nervous. But I know that if I look up what it could possibly be on WebMD, I will convince myself I have cancer or something horrible. I have been SOOOOO good this past month by not looking it up somewhere. So, chicks, help me out. What not-bad-at-all thing could this be? Has this ever happened to you? Calm me down so I can sleep this weekend while I'm waiting for the results!!!

[Riddy]

You were probably fighting something off. Stress and inflammation can elevate your white blood count, too. If it's still up at the next appointment, ask the doctor about it.

[rubidoux]

I am pretty sure that your white blood cell count would be high if you were just fighting off some bacteria or virus. It's going to be okay!

My husband is freaking out right now because his wbc count is low. He goes back to test it again in another 2 weeks. I'll tell you, googling did not help him, so if you get the urge, please don't!

ETA: Yes! It can be caused by infection, stress, or intense exercise. I think those things are much more likely than anything scary. Hugs!

[Sunshine73]

I am the same exact way! Seriously - not too long ago one of my blood tests had elevated liver enzymes. Doc said "probably fatty liver because of your obesity". I instantly started crying because I was SURE I had some rare liver disease/cancer and I was going to die. Ugh! Anxiety and OCD make for some interesting trips to the doctor. (A month later I was retested and enzymes were "normal" - although one was at the 'higher' end of normal so you can imagine what THAT did to me).

Anyway - elevated white blood counts can definitely be caused by all kinds of simple and non-serious reasons. Most common would be infections (bacterial or viral - and you may not even know you have it) , stress, inflammation, etc. Elevated white cell counts are very common and almost always linked to something simple.

Now. DO.NOT.GOOGLE. Or Web MD! Seriously. You KNOW that's not a good road to go down! *speaks from experience*

[fatbottomed girl]

In addition to hypothyroidism, I've had an elevated white blood count before too. Doc said it was probably just a minor infection and nothing to worry about. And sure enough, the next time I had a cbc done it was back to normal.

Sometimes it's hard to let go and trust things will work out, but for the majority of us they do...

[DezziePS]

Thank you so much for responding, guys. I felt a lot better after I heard from you! My doctor's office gets results pretty quickly, and so I went in Friday morning to get blood drawn and they called me this morning to tell me that the results were back, my TSH levels look good, and my white blood cell count (and everything else!) is normal!! It must have just been some weird thing I was fighting or stress. Thank you so much for talking me down! If any of you ever need someone to look up a weird medical problem on the internet and only tell you the non-scary possibilities, let me know!!

[midwife]

Glad you got good news, Dezzie!