Hello everyone,

i am a 26 year old grad student w/ absolutely no money for doctors, my health insurance only covers emergencies. I am volunteering at a local army and they asked me to do my blood work; just as a pre-caution since I come in contact with patients. My lab work came back today and my platelets where 597. My WBC where slightly elevated 12.5 (norm upto 10.6) and i had increased number of WBC bands (dont know what that is); I also have to add that I am completely phobic of blood tests, and i tend to faint etc..

I take aciphex (for my acid reflux) for the past 4 years now, I never had any problems, I dont have any symptoms. The doctor at the military just told me to see my PCP, and i am scared to go, and also cause I am a student and have absolutely no money right now for any bone marrow testing etc. I have no symptoms, no problems except for the acid reflux. Please please please share your experiences with me, and what your doctors have said about your conditions and what the best action is... I just want to finish school without worrying about medical bills right now.

Thank you so much in advance for all your help!!

The army may just want you to have your blood re-checked as a precautionary measure. Platelets are sensitive cells. You could have your blood drawn in 2 hours and they could be totally normal. Normal being 150K - 450K. My daughter had a CBC and her platelets were 405,000 and the next week they were 267,000.

That just may be were your counts are and they need to compare them with another test.

Also, a WBC of 12.6 isn't excessively high. Do you have any type of cold or infection? When you have any infection your WBC will become elevated.

Hope this helps.

Hello everyone,

i am a 26 year old grad student w/ absolutely no money for doctors, my health insurance only covers emergencies. I am volunteering at a local army and they asked me to do my blood work; just as a pre-caution since I come in contact with patients. My lab work came back today and my platelets where 597. My WBC where slightly elevated 12.5 (norm upto 10.6) and i had increased number of WBC bands (dont know what that is); I also have to add that I am completely phobic of blood tests, and i tend to faint etc..

I take aciphex (for my acid reflux) for the past 4 years now, I never had any problems, I dont have any symptoms. The doctor at the military just told me to see my PCP, and i am scared to go, and also cause I am a student and have absolutely no money right now for any bone marrow testing etc. I have no symptoms, no problems except for the acid reflux. Please please please share your experiences with me, and what your doctors have said about your conditions and what the best action is... I just want to finish school without worrying about medical bills right now.

Thank you so much in advance for all your help!!

Hi: There are plenty of people here with ET or Thrombocytosis, have you tried reading those threads?

Since you have insurance for emergencies, why couldn't you go to check this out, since I think this would qualify as a "type" of emergency. Have you had any infections lately, or blood clots, you mentioned an elevated white count? Elevated platelet counts can be caused by infection among other things, and can go away when the infection is completely gone. You could have the usual blood work up to find out, and I don't think anyone would consider a bone biopsies until you know more and have had this longer, it's usual done as a last resort. The blood testing that is done for this isn't bad, and they usually use one of those butterfly needles that you can barely feel.

You could find out if this qualifies as an emergency, which I think it is, and see what the doc says.

Good Luck...:wave:

Thank you everyone!!
I had a slight infection, some type of stomach bug, and also they had me take a TB (mantoux test) PPD right 2 hours before i had my blood drawn. So, i guess I have to suck it up and get another blood test, since I am such a chicken. Thank you so much everyone, let me know more information. I am also taking aciphex for heartburn and about 1month ago, i was taking adderal for (ADD) for about 3 years while in school... I wonder if that had any affect on it as well.

Thanks again; i really appreciate all your help guys!

Bacterial infections and allergic reactions elevate the platelets.

My count since having my spleen removed hangs around 800,000, but when I had a sinus infection they climbed over 1.3 million. Now that the sinus infection is gone, my platelets are back to 700,000. When they went over1.3 million, my hematologist wanted to test again in a week, but didn't want to do any more tests.

don't panic over this. it's most likely a blip, and you'll be fine. I know you are worried, but chances are it's nothing to treat.

Best,
Jill

Thanks to the other poster about mentioning a possible blip, because it got me to thinking about a similar situation with my husband, where his platelet counts changed within the same day, just by having the blood drawn at a different lab.

My husband had thrombocytophenia (low platelets) and he has had counts around 20,000, which is considered life threatening, so to check this reading the dr ordered the test to be done at another lab, and the result was 80,000 so they tested a 3rd time and it was really close to the higher reading which prevented him from having to go to the emergency room. Now I'm not sure how this could happen, testing equipment, mishandling of blood etc, but it is possible. That is why they always repeat a low or high result against a second draw. I'm not saying that this is a total mistake, but at least have it done again to see what it is. Since you have had an infection, that would probably explain it, and it's true your count is not extremely high, but to be on the safe side, test it again:wave:

Again,
Thanks everyone. I am just one of those people that panics all the time. especially when i have to give blood. I could even bet that my autonomic system goes into attack mode everytime i have to give blood and might influence my test reading....Thanks so much everyone!!! I think i would have a nervous breakdown if id idn't have you guys!!!:blob_fire