Are there any Doctors on here??

Question

I was given a copy on some blood work that I had done. My neurologist & my primary care doctor are at odds over my treatment, but in the mean time I'm trying to figure out if my white bllod cell count being low at 3.18,& my dilatin level Seizure medication is low at 7, it should be between 10-20 & my EOSINOPHILES in my platlet section is high at 11.1. I don't even know what EOSINOPHILES means. Is any of this a big deal?? My primary care doctor thinks it is but my nuerologist doesn't agree. Please help if you can. THANK YOU

Scient- I can't believe you said asthma. I use my Albuterol inhaler about 10 times a day

Thank you to all that answered but I can't get an appointment with either doctor until Wednesday

Answer 1

EOSINOPHILES means too many white blood cells. I would go with your primary on this one. It could just mean you have an infection. It could also mean that you aren't high enough for them to worry about it. Stick with the neuro on the seizure medication level. I can't see how your wbc count is "low" but EOSINOPHILES is high when that means too many white blood cells. Let your primary work with you on this.

Answer 2

Your white bllod cell count is indeed below normal but it doesn't necessarily indicate a serious illness. It could be the side effect of the Dilantin medications you are taking. A normal WBC is in the range of 4,000 to 11,000 cells per microliter.

Eosinophil is one of the components of white blood cells which accumulates when there is allergic reactions. High eosinophil count appears to be related to a specific type of T-cell response to certain types of antigen, such as external allergens in allergic disease or parasitic allergens in helminthic infection. An asthma is one of the allergic reactions. (You mentioned you are taking albuterol for it, but the nature of asthma itself is an allergic condition.)There are also drugs which causes eosinophil to increase, dilantin is one of them.

About your dilantin level, it is below the therapeutic level. You are at risk of having jerky movements or possible seizure attack if the level will go down further. That is why, keeping it at therapeutic level is always suggested.However, there are some experts who tries to cut back the dosage to lower down blood level under close observation as there have been patients controlled with a much lower dosage of dilantin. It is much like a trial-and-error - if there is no longer convulsant problems experienced, then cutting back the dosage is successful. This is quite risky though, as there are no clear evidence of success yet documented on this trial.I can see this has been the source of dispute over your two doctors.

Check out the references for more details.

Answer 3

Trust your internist on this one. High eosinophils can be a real problem. It could be related to the dilantin, or it could be the asthma, or it could be allergies, or it could be something else more serious. Work with your doctor to figure it out. He or She is on the right track. Your neurologist has much less training in this area, so let him treat the seizures, but let the internist do the rest.

Answer 4

There is a rare condition called the phenytoin (Dilantin) hypersensitivity syndrome. It can manifest as eosinophilia (high eosinophil count), fever, and liver injury. It is quite uncommon in people taking Dilantin, but can be very serious.

You might want to get a "tiebreaker" opinion from a third doctor, either another neurologist or perhaps an allergist/immunologist.

Answer 5

Eosinophiles are a type of white blood cell. They accumulate wherever allergic reactions like those in asthma take place. Their natural role is to defend us against parasites. In fact allergies such as asthma are probably a malfunction of our protective mechanism against parasites usually these are associated with viral or parastitic infections and also are linked to allergic reactions like with asthma. I work in research so I know abot the cell side only.

Answer 6

I thought I've gone over this? Lets see how did it go last time....

[the captain of the ship is injured]
Jim: You've got to help her!
Doctor Doppler: Dang it, Jim. I'm an astronomer, not a doctor! I mean, I am a doctor, but I'm not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate, it's not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate. You just sit there and you're useless!