1. < Heart & Blood Health
Profile picture for ronludington

Different labs different normal range for wbc

Posted by ronludington @ronludington, Feb 27 9:07am

I was put on kevzara , which , lowers my wbc. My rheumatologist lab normal range is 3.4 - 10.8, my gp lab range is 5,.1- 10.8. So my wbc went from 8.4 to 4.6 . 8.4 when measured at the rheumatologist lab (3.4-10.8) and the 4.6 at my gp (5.1-10.8) so why the discrepancy in range, and am I really low ? My rheumatologist took me off kevzara for a month and it went back to 8.8, so I'm back on kevzara. But was I really low or just low normal. It was actually the same company (labcorp) but maybe a different lab...

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart & Blood Health Support Group.

Profile picture for John, Volunteer Mentor
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Mar 16 6:48am

Hi @ronludington, Members on Connect are patients like yourself and cannot give medical advice. If I'm understanding correctly you already are aware of one of the side effects of Kevzara is low levels of white blood cells. I did see the following information on the Kevzara website:

"2. Changes in certain laboratory test results.
Your healthcare provider should do blood tests before you
start KEVZARA, 4 to 8 weeks after starting KEVZARA, and
then every 3 months during treatment to check for:
• low neutrophil count. Neutrophils are white blood cells
that help the body fight off bacterial infections. A low
neutrophil count is common with KEVZARA, and can be
severe.
• low platelet count. Platelets are blood cells that help with
blood clotting and stop bleeding.
• increase in certain liver function tests. An increase in
certain liver function tests is common with KEVZARA, and
can be severe."
-- https://www.kevzara.com/dam/jcr:2fd9dfd5-0b0a-4dc9-bdd6-58bba001e159/medication-guide-and-instructions-for-use.pdf

I don't know if this is helpful but it has some suggestions for managing the side effects:
-- https://www.healthline.com/health/drugs/kevzara-side-effects

Have you discussed your question with your doctor or rheumatologist?

REPLY
1 reply
Profile picture for ronludington
ronludington | @ronludington | Mar 16 7:49am
In reply to @johnbishop "Hi @ronludington, Members on Connect are patients like yourself and cannot give medical advice. If I'm..." + (show)
Profile picture for John, Volunteer Mentor @johnbishop

Hi @ronludington, Members on Connect are patients like yourself and cannot give medical advice. If I'm understanding correctly you already are aware of one of the side effects of Kevzara is low levels of white blood cells. I did see the following information on the Kevzara website:

"2. Changes in certain laboratory test results.
Your healthcare provider should do blood tests before you
start KEVZARA, 4 to 8 weeks after starting KEVZARA, and
then every 3 months during treatment to check for:
• low neutrophil count. Neutrophils are white blood cells
that help the body fight off bacterial infections. A low
neutrophil count is common with KEVZARA, and can be
severe.
• low platelet count. Platelets are blood cells that help with
blood clotting and stop bleeding.
• increase in certain liver function tests. An increase in
certain liver function tests is common with KEVZARA, and
can be severe."
-- https://www.kevzara.com/dam/jcr:2fd9dfd5-0b0a-4dc9-bdd6-58bba001e159/medication-guide-and-instructions-for-use.pdf

I don't know if this is helpful but it has some suggestions for managing the side effects:
-- https://www.healthline.com/health/drugs/kevzara-side-effects

Have you discussed your question with your doctor or rheumatologist?

Jump to this post

@johnbishop most drs just say labs can have there own specs. But my wondering is , it's the same company (labcorp) but different lab locations doing the work. Just seems odd there specs would be different.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.