larkspur Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 I have been back on lithium for about 2 months now. It has helped a lot with reducing suicidal ideation and keeping me more stable. My GP had labs drawn, one of which was a CBC. My WBC came back at almost 23,000, which is more than double the upper limit. My GP and I have been working on finding the root cause of my chronic pain problems for a while now, and his concern is that lithium may be artificially inflating my WBC and obfuscating what is actually wrong with me. I don't see my pdoc for a few hours, but I am really nervous that they are going to try and take me off the lithium. Has anyone else ever had messed up blood counts due to lithium? What did you do about it? Is there any reason having a high white count by itself would be bad for me? Can I stay on lithium or is this a serious problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I can't speak directly to your experience, but I have kidney problems. Lithium is supposed to be bad for kidneys, and at first my creatinine level rose. We decided to watch it a few months, and the level stayed the same. But I've been having horrible difficulty with my kidneys for the last 18 months, and was afraid I was going to have to stop the lithium. Both my pdoc *and* my urologist said lithium had nothing to do with it! So of course I can't tell you what will happen to you, but I wanted to tell you my somewhat similar story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Yes! When I had high WBC counts on Lithium, my pdoc at the time said Lithium can in and of itself raise WBC count, and (for me), not to worry too much about it. I mean though if it is totally off, then I'd get checked for other things. But overall in general, Lithium can raise WBC count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larkspur Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 I just got back from the pdoc. She didn't know that lithium could affect one's blood count. She looked it up, and lo, I was right. I told her I want to stay on lithium. She said okay. Now I have to call my GP tomorrow and tell him that I'm staying on lithium and see what he wants to do.I feel like I'm a relay service, taking messages from one doctor to the other doctor. Still have no idea whether it does my body any damage to have a high WBC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Still have no idea whether it does my body any damage to have a high WBC. Has your DR checked you for other things (physical)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larkspur Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Yes, I also have an elevated ESR/sed rate and high c-reactive protein, both of which are inflammation markers. I am being tested for lupus for the 9802537392562935298374th time. My ANA is always negative. So is my rheumatoid factor. Seen a rheumatologist, she has no idea what's wrong, so she just monitors my labs. My white count has always been high, for as long as it's been tested. I think I've had it done at least a dozen or more times in the last 9 years or so, and I can only remember one that was normal. Every other one I've had a white count in the 12-15,000 range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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