Malnutrition Diagnosis?

[KT1981 294]

My 1 year followup appointment is next week, so I had lab work done today in advance of that. The test results are auto-released to an online portal and I was looking through them (I don't think they've even been reviewed by a doc yet) and most of it looks good but my WBC has dropped. Dramatically. Like by half and is on the cutoff for being outside normal lab values. So what causes WBC to drop, I wonder? Cancer... don't have that. Autoimmune disorders... don't have any of those. Viral infection... nope, I'm fine. Malnutrition and Vitamin deficiencies... crap. This is a possibility for someone like me. In looking at other labs, there are a couple other markers for malnutrition, including lowered transferrin and TIBC.

Obviously, my medical team will review all of this and decide if it's anything to act on, but I was really surprised about this. I eat healthy and on-plan about 98% of the time, though not a lot of calories. I am currently averaging 1100 calories per day, but over the last 9 months, averaged out, I've eaten 900 calories per day. I never imagined malnutrition was even an option with the sleeve, and it made me wonder if anyone else has dealt with a malnutrition diagnosis (sleeve or otherwise), and how was it handled by your team?

[always 59]

Just be careful with low WBC your body isn't ready to fight off a major illness. Anyone looks sick around you step back. Low Iron it's okay to feel tired but any chest pain or shortness of breath go to the Dr.s.. It's the full panels you look for LFTs, Bun, Creat, hgb, hct..They all balance and certain ones paired together mean certain things. So just see what they say. With the white count your body may have been fighting something you didn't realize you had, they will just do a recheck in 3months

[elcee 3,341]

I would avoid trying to figure it out yourself otherwise in your mind you might end up 6ft under pushing up daisies.

Best to make a Dr app and go and find out from a professional

[KT1981 294]

1 hour ago, always said:

Just be careful with low WBC your body isn't ready to fight off a major illness. Anyone looks sick around you step back. Low Iron it's okay to feel tired but any chest pain or shortness of breath go to the Dr.s.. It's the full panels you look for LFTs, Bun, Creat, hgb, hct..They all balance and certain ones paired together mean certain things. So just see what they say. With the white count your body may have been fighting something you didn't realize you had, they will just do a recheck in 3months

Funny you mention the illness issue. My first thought was "Dang. I shouldn't have skipped the flu shot clinic this year!" LOL

[KT1981 294]

1 hour ago, elcee said:

I would avoid trying to figure it out yourself otherwise in your mind you might end up 6ft under pushing up daisies.

Best to make a Dr app and go and find out from a professional

I think you have misunderstood. I'm not self-diagnosing, nor am I asking the internet to diagnose me. I already have my appointment scheduled next week, as I mentioned. This just highlighted an issue I was curious about. I am already 20 pounds under where the physician wanted me to land, so I'm a little concerned that they'll see the lab work and my increased loss and feel that there is an issue to address. At 145 and 5'5", I am at the very top of the healthy BMI range, but I feel like my doctor is a bit "extreme" compared to everyone else's... even to the point of mentioning that loss significantly under goal (which was 165) would be reviewed for disordered eating behaviors. So, in anticipation of addressing some kind of "issue" at the upcoming appointment, I wondered what treatment plans looked like for others who have been formally diagnosed with malnutrition.

[elcee 3,341]

I haven't misunderstood , I was just highlighting that when a person thinks about various possibilities in their mind the mind has a habit of selecting the worst possible scenario. I myself have done that many times when I have had blood tests and the Dr has called me back in, I find i always think its something awful and it tends to be something as simple as low Iron ( which they could have told me over the phone).

Good luck at your app, let us know what the Doc says

[AZhiker 2,252]

A low WBC can be because of a viral illness (sometimes the lymphcytes in your differential count will also be high with a viral infection.) But being on the low end of normal is OK if that is where you run. Malnutrition indicators would be more with your hemoglobin, Iron levels, Vitamin levels, and albumin (protein.)

[FluffyChix 17,413]

Yeah, I think it's pretty normal. Mine is on the low norm as well. Down by about 1/2 the level pre-op. Malnutrition would show up more in pre-albumin, the story of Protein levels within the last 3 days. Albumin tells you about protein levels over the last 3 months.

[nevermore71 63]

Not diagnosing and please talk to your doctor. But generally it's better to be on the low end of normal for WBC's. It generally means your body isn't having fight off anything or make repairs. For instance smokers generally have high end normal to slightly above normal WBC's due to their body having to constantly be attempting to repair all the damage smoking causes.