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Old 01-01-2002, 12:37 PM   #1
paralyzed with fear
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Question many questions/please help - low wbc

i am a male in my mid 20s. i hadn't seen a doctor at all in several years, and deciding to finally get on top of my health i went in for a normal physical. the blood test came back indicating a wbc level of 370, and now i am worried to death. how likely is this an indicator of hiv infection?

and, it follows, how likely is this caused by something other than hiv? i've done some reading and it doesn't seem like i exhibit signs for anything else that might cause this.

i also don't seem to exhibit any of the symptoms for hiv, other than the low wbc. i actually don't recall the last time i was ill so i've always thought of myself as healthy. i suppose this means if i am in fact hiv+ my exposure could've been years ago, and i know i've had fevers sometime in the last six or seven years. in the last seven years i've had unprotected vaginal and oral intercourse with six females. these were all in the context of monogamous relationships, though of course there is all of their past histories to consider. i am in contact with almost all of them and none have complained of sickness or hiv-like symptoms -- not that i've asked specifically.

i have been absolutely terrified since my blood test results, and i find myself wishing that i actually have leukemia or hepatitis or anything else really so i wouldn't have to subject my family to the stigma of hiv. this would destroy my life as well as the lives of my parents, who not only love me very much, but for whom i'm providing financially. my being hiv+ would put them in a very difficult financial and emotional position, and i feel that i would rather die suddenly in a car accident or some such thing rather than watch their first-born son deteriorate before their eyes. i am much more afraid of my family having to deal with my dying rather than dying itself.

i usually try to make rational decisions so i know i am being completely irrational about this, but i feel like if i get tested and it comes back hiv+, then i will have signed a death sentence for myself, as, knowing myself, i will surely lose all will to fight and live.

i don't want to talk to anyone in my family about this because i don't want to subject them to the same worry and fear that i am feeling. please help me.

 
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Old 01-01-2002, 02:09 PM   #2
Carreen
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Are you sure those are your actual results? The decimal could have been placed wrong. As you've probably read, the normal values of a WBC are between
4.8-10.8(4,800-10,800) so with a 370, are you saying yours is nearly 360 points too high? OR are you saying yours is 3,700 and mistyped? OR are you saying yours is 370 out of a possible 10,800?

[This message has been edited by Carreen (edited 01-01-2002).]

 
Old 01-01-2002, 04:02 PM   #3
paralyzed with fear
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I'm sorry. What I meant was 3.7/3700 -- well below the range of normal but perhaps not quite on my deathbed yet. Somehow I got the impression the range could be expressed as 450-1100.

Please excuse the ambiguity of my original post. Do you have any additional thoughts?

Thank you.

Quote:
Originally posted by Carreen:
Are you sure those are your actual results? The decimal could have been placed wrong. As you've probably read, the normal values of a WBC are between
4.8-10.8(4,800-10,800) so with a 370, are you saying yours is nearly 360 points too high? OR are you saying yours is 3,700 and mistyped? OR are you saying yours is 370 out of a possible 10,800?

[This message has been edited by Carreen (edited 01-01-2002).]

 
Old 01-01-2002, 09:01 PM   #4
Carreen
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That's ok. Just wanted to understand you

I wouldn't rush to my deathbed yet if I were you. A count of 3.0–5.0 would be considered mild leukopenia.
This one lone test being low could be many things, even an ill performed test. What did your doctor suggest?

Based on the laws of probability, 1 out of 20 (or 5%) determinations will fall outside the established reference range, thus a single test value may mean nothing significant. Generally, the test value is only slightly higher or lower than the reference range. To put this in more perspective: If a doctor runs 20 different tests on you, there’s a good chance that one result will fall out of a reference range despite the fact that you are in good health.

Of course, the result may indicate a problem. The first thing your doctor is likely to do is to re-run the test. This accomplishes two things--1) to make sure the test was done right 2) if it was done right, to see if it's changed since the last test which would indicate a worsening or bettering of your situation.

A test result outside the reference range may or may not indicate a problem—the only sure signal it sends is that your doctor should investigate it further. You can have an abnormal value and have nothing wrong—but your doctor should try to determine the cause. It’s possible that your result falls in that 5% of healthy people who fall outside the statistical reference range.

Irregardless of the WBC, you still need an HIV test since you've had a few unprotected sexual encounters. Even if you don't do it for yourself, do it for anyone in the future that you have sex with because really, would you want to give anyone else HIV? There is an FDA approved test kit that you can do at home.
[url="http://www.homeaccess.com/"]http://www.homeaccess.com/[/url]

Good luck to ya and get another WBC



 
Old 01-02-2002, 12:42 PM   #5
onlooker
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Hi and sorry to hear that you are going through a hard time right now. Well here are a couple of things to try to help you out a little bit and maube help you to take the test in the near future.

First consider this, you are lucky that you are male, and if you are cicumsized you are double lucky. As you might know HIV is a disease that is transmitted through blood, vaginal secretions, semen....you know. Now being male it is more difficult for men than female to get HIV. You would have to have a cut or sore on your penis that would be able to transmit the vaginal secretion into your blood stream.It is much easier for men to pass it on to women since the vaginal area is pretty much all mucous membranes. NOw of course there is always the chance that you may have had a cut and not noticed it, but the fact of the matter is, 6 women is not a lot. Of course it only takes one to transmit it, but I am trying to be optimistic so that you can follow through with getting the test. I now you are worried about the stigma if worst case scenerio arises, but the truth is you could probably be around longer than your parents if (god forbid) you were +. There are so many medications that help people stay healthy now, that a diagnosis of Luekemia might not necessarily be better than HIV. I am a hyperchondirac and am always studying medical stuff, and I always thought that a low or high WBC could also indicate any type of infection even one so mild that you might feel fine.

I just typed up "low white blood cells" and came up with a couple of different things that might cause it. What did the doctor say? Was he/she concerned? Maybe instead of jumping into the HIV test when you don't seem emotionally ready to handle the results, you could get another routine blood test to see if there were any changes in your count. Well just trying to help out. I hope you are doing okay.

 
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