What does high white blood cells mean?

I’m 18 weeks and six days pregnant and have a rash on my neck/shoulder, and they sort of look like hickies. I went to urgent care yesterday and got blood work done and received a phone call today saying everything looked okay. I reviewed my results myself, and my white blood cell counts were flagged as high. I have an appointment Friday with my OB to get more testing done, but I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this?

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Please please get more tests. I don’t want to scare you, but high white blood cell counts meant something almost tragic for my mom.

Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. What does high white blood cells mean?

I had that too they said it means my body was trying to fight an infection but they couldn’t find what but i was fine and felt fine and everything was fine with the baby etc

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Usually means an infection somewhere.

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Could mean you have an infection.

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How high? Mine are 17.5 which doctor says is completely normal in pregnancy. She says shes seen as high as 18.

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Infection. Could just be yeast infection or BV, I always had those when I was pregnant but I’m sure your doc will clarify

Normal WBC is 4.5-12 (thousand per L) so it depends on how high it is. High WBCs can mean inflammation or infection in the body but is not specific

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Don’t stress yourself out until you speak with an actual Dr. Its not worth it.

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Being pregnant your wbc can be higher than normal levels

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Agree means you’re fighting infection

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Ur body is fighting an infection of some sort .

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The rash could be pupps I had pupps while prego and while I didnt have high counts my body was not happy and caused a rash that was staying until baby was born and then I had to use natural remedies to resolve it completely

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Pupps more than likely and it is horrible doesn’t go away tillDelivery

Its ok its an infection your body is fighting off…I get them and every pregnancy (5) i had this! It wont affect the baby and should settle down after birth…of course me I am the science experiment…lol…mine decided after having baby to go out of control and basically overtook my red blood cell count! So IV antibiotics and oral after 24 hrs. This is rare but yep it happens sometimes

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My count was high as well and my ob said it’s normal when pregnant

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White blood cell counts naturally go high when pregnant. It’s actually a good indicator of a healthy pregnancy.

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See? These are my results from yesterday. Mine are high, but still within the normal range for a healthy pregnancy. Hope that helps.

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Most likely have an infection

High white cell count says infection of some kind.

Infection or inflammation

Sometimes labs flag values as high, but docs know better than the labs. That may be normal for a pregnant woman. Also, it may be normal for a person with the rash you are describing. Many labs are much more sensitive than what doctors prefer.

Did u get checked for UTI. I had no symptoms but WBC was high.

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High and low white blood cells means you have an infection of some sort. Probably what’s causing the rash.

Mine was flagged as being high but when they checked again it was fine :woman_shrugging:t2: I didn’t have anything wrong with me. It can be normal.

How high? Slightly elevated can be normal during pregnant.

You should ask the doctor as they gave you the results and are supposed to interpret their meanings in your given situation. Do not trust medical advice from an internet forum, this is literally your doctor’s job.

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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. What does high white blood cells mean?

Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. What does high white blood cells mean?

Higher than normal blood cell counts in pregnancy is pretty normal depending on how much higher. It also depends on which white blood cells are high. You can have a high WBC but when you have a CBC with differential done everything is within normal limits. Which is usually the case with pregnancy.

You could also have an infection, but that’s hard to say without the specific counts on each white blood cell group. I would bring it up to your OB at your appointment and see what they think. They have probably been doing CBC’s during your pregnancy too, so you could always look to see what the results are from your OB and compare to the results from Urgent Care.

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Sounds like PUPPP but it usually occurs during later pregnancy… call the nurse line at your OB. That’s what they are there for!

Mine was high when I was pregnant. I have no clue whu

White blood cells raised generally indicates an infection of some kind . Good luck :slightly_smiling_face:

Sometimes it means infection but it also could just be higher because you’re pregnant. Mine was 17 and normal is below 12 and the Dr said that the normal range is higher during pregnancy. I’d say don’t worry too much until your appt.

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An infection, body is fighting something… pregnant or not ,everytime I have blood work done my white blood cell count is always high… they usually send me home and request more blood work a few days later, will ask if you have been sick or anything… usually will do more test to figure out why it’s so high.

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White blood cells also respond to stress. How high are we talking? Normal is 4-10… with a pregnancy and a rash, the additional stress on your body up to 15 wouldn’t be surprising. Always check with your OB first, but if urgent care isn’t making anything of it, it’s likely nothing to worry about. Could it be heat rash or hives? Are they itchy?

Normally white blood cells elevated mean your body has an infection and the white blood cells are what help fight it off which is why your body produces more when you have an infection.

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What was the number? It’s normal for white blood cell count to be up to 17000 during pregnancy. The stress from pregnancy on the body causes it.

I’ve had a high WBC count for as long as I remember and have had several tests ran and there’s no infection. It’s more so now I am pregnant as well and my OB said since it’s always been higher than “normal” it’s perfectly fine! Everyone’s normal is different.

I just had my baby 2 weeks ago. My white blood cell count was slightly elevated my whole pregnancy. The ob said it’s normal in pregnancy to have it slightly higher than normal. I also have a nasty rash all over they said it happens sometimes.

Just means your body is fighting an infection but it’s common for it to be high during pregnancy

There are different types of WBC’s which indicate different things. Could mean your body is fighting an infection etc but Mine were really high for the whole of my pregnancy but have gone down now I’ve had him. Xx

Infection. Do you have blisters in your rash? Have you had shingles?

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I had a similar rash its called P.U.P.S. are you pregnant with a boy? They told me my son was producing too much testosterone and it was coming out of my skin. Is the rash itchy?

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Mine is often high due to my Hashimoto’s disease. A lot of things can cause it, even a tooth ache. For them to not comment on it Im betting it’s barely high?

Usually means your body is fighting of a sickness could be something as simple as a cold. Rashes can appear and mean nothing. Hope ya feel better

Yes it is normal to have high white blood cell count while pregnant. Unless your like me and have persistent chronic leukocytosis with no known cause. Been though bone marrow biopsy etc and still trying to figure it out. Strange thing though, the only time it stabilized and was “normal” was during all three of my pregnancies.

Ask your doctor or midwife, not FB.

It’s probably an infection

Your doc can best advise you

My best friend had high white blood cells with her pregnancy and they were never able to figure out exactly what it was but her baby came out perfect and healthy

It’s normal when you’re pregnant, to have high(er) white blood cells

I believe it’s an infection

Can be normal in pregnancy

The slightly higher WBCs probably just mean you’re pregnant. It’s totally normal, PROVIDED they aren’t that high.

Means you’re fighting off an infection - probably the rash.

Mine elevated red blood cells

Elevated WBC usually means infection, but your WBC levels go up when you’re pregnant so it can be normal depending how high they are and wht other symptoms you have.

Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. What does high white blood cells mean?

Did the doctor tell you it’s high, or did you just see it flagged from the “Normal” reference range as high? Keep in mind, the “Normal” reference range is not geared towards a pregnant woman. Some things can be higher than the reference range, yet be completely normal for a pregnant woman.

White blood cells normally mean you have an infection. But it could also be stress. Destress mama

I had a really bad rash all over my back and belly around the same time as you during my pregnancy and went to the GP for it. Turns out it was palmers coco butter lotion i used to prevent stretch marks that caused it although before pregnancy i used it often and nothing happened.

M

High white blood cell count indicates an infection or that the body has recently fought off a infection.

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Usually are elevated due to infection somewhere. How elevated??

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I’m a lab technologist that runs these daily. How high was high?

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Never had a rash like that but my white blood cell count was flagged high during all three of my pregnancies and me and kids are fine

Sometimes your WBC can be higher because you’re pregnant and your immune system is doing a lot of work that may be the case if they’re saying normal range.

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Body is possibly fighting an infection or you currently have an infection, I had opposite low white cell count and had recurring infections as I didn’t have the white cells to fight the infection which was a urinary tract infection that Carried tried on about 7 months, hope your docs reassure you when you go back xxx

I had something similar, but it was all over my stomach and legs. Doctors kept mis-diagnosing it as ring worm, allergies etc and then I saw a doctor at A&E. As your pregnant you need to be careful using steroid creams, so she advised I used coconut oil. I brought mine from the chemist I think the make was Bells it comes in a small white tub. Rubbed it in 3-4 times a day and after a week or two it had practically gone. It cures a lot of skin condition during and after pregnancy. Mine was a form of Hives. Always used prescribed medication but I swore by coconut oil during this phase. Hope it gets better soon, good luck x

Don’t freak out. I have chronic elevated white blood cells. Absolutely nothing wrong with me or my child.

Its call purpora or something close to that its common to find between a rash and high white blood cells. Pregnancy can cause it.

What are you considering high?

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Usually infection of some sort.

Usually are high due to an infection of some sort.

Flagged as high could be automatic by the system and if they’re saying you shouldn’t be concerned, I’d agree because it can happen with fighting off infection or even a pregnancy.

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Youve got an infection. You may want to be tested for lyme

White cell count is always elevated during pregnancy. That’s why what looks high to us is normal to our OB’s, but sometimes if it gets to high, odds are it just means your body is fighting off a infection. Anything as small as a tooth abscess or a inflamed bite mark. Xx

High white blood cells mean infection

I had a high white blood cell count every time I’ve been pregnant. My doc told me it’s totally normal :woman_shrugging: so I wouldn’t worry… just mention it to your OB and I’m sure you’ll get it figured out quickly, mamma

Elevated white blood cell levels isn’t necessarily abnormal while pregnant. But only your OB can validate what’s normal and what is not…I’d def check in with them. :blush:

High white blood cell count is normal. Could be pupps which is a normal pregnancy rash. I had it as early as 8 weeks I think

I had extremely high white blood cells while I was pregnant during both of my pregnancies as well. I was told it was completely normal! Hopefully that eases your mind. If not, you can always ask your OB about it!