[ANDREA37]

I have finally been officially diagnosed with IBS. Upper GI was normal, stool sample was normal(no blood), ultrasound also normal. My blood tests showed elevated white blood cells and sed rate. The white cells finally went down to normal, but the sed rate went up even more(from 37 to 45). The Dr. said to call him if things got worse or could no longer be controlled with Immodium and calcium. At that point I should consider a colonoscopy. My question is Do you think that my Dr. is treating me aggressivly enough? How high of a sed rate is too high? How important is the sed rate and what does it indicate? Should I feel content with this diagnosis? I would appreciate any advice or suggestions anyone has.

 

[Karl2001]

It appears that a normal sed rate would be between 0 and 20:Site: http://jraworld.arthritisinsight.com/medical/tests/esr.html It is unclear to me however what your elivated rate may mean. It would appear that your doc. is not really concerned about it.Maybe give it a little more time and then get retested and see where they are at?

 

[Guest]

Andrea,Hello and nice to meet you.Please don't panic over this, but it might be prudent to check something out. An elevated white blood count can be related to Leukemia. With Leukemia, the body produces too many white blood cells... more than it needs.... and they don't fight infection the way that they should... eventually there are so many of them that your body can no longer fight off infections.I don't want to upset you, but at the same time I don't want to not tell you what I know if it could make a difference in treatment time and therefore the prognosis.I know nothing about sed rates.Warm Regards, Evie

 

[ANDREA37]

Thanks for the replies. I checked out the site Karl; thankyou! Evie, I appreciate your post too. I am hoping it is not Leukemia. I don't think it is since the white blood cells have gone back to normal. It's just the SED rate that is elevated at this time.