Elevated White Blood count After Steroid injection
I saw my Rheumatologist yesterday, at this point I am doing good (I got my Orencia IV a week ago and it has kicked in and calmed things down.) All my blood work looked great except an elevated white blood cell count. I am not exhibiting any signs of an infection and feel good. (I will get another blood test in two weeks as a follow-up.) I had a steroid injection in my right knee less than 24 hours prior to the blood draw. In doing some research I found this mentioned one time as a possible side effect of the injection. has anyone else experienced anything along these lines?
I am so glad you are doing well overall,
! That's great! And, you may be right that the elevated blood cell count could be due to your steroid injection. So, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It doesn't sound like you're worried and that follow up blood draw should help clear up any questions about the cell count, hopefully. And, if other community members have experienced this, I hope they see your post and chime in here.
Best, Erin, Team Member.
As
said, definitely possible. It has happened to me many times, to the point where if I'd go the ER I'd have to tell them that, no, I wasn't infected or had cancer, it was just due to my prednisone. Although I did end up having cancer at one point and that did end up screwing everything up, as can happen with RA, but that's another story! Just know it's not something to be overly concerned about although keeping off prednisone as much as possible is definitely good advice and even steroid injections can raise your steroid level considerably, even if temporarily. Keep on keepin' on, DPM 
Hey
. Glad to hear everything leveled back off and you are doing well. Sometimes the timing of the bloodwork is just unavoidable (depending on what else you have to get tested and when doctors appointments are). At least you now know that steroids can mess up the white blood count. Best, Richard (Team Member) Wonderful to hear as Richard said. That's one less thing to worry about, right? As if the RA doesn't give us enough to stress over already! Keep on keepin' on, DPM
