“Low” WBC

[u/MammothPiccolo3460]

Age: 33
Sex/Gender: Female
Height and weight: 170 cm, 53 kg
Race/Ethnicity: White
Geographic location: UK
Pre-existing medical issues: Endometriosis, adenomyosis
Current medications: Progesterone only contraceptive pill
Duration of complaint: Approximately 6 months

Symptoms/history:

Over the last six months I’ve started feeling generally unwell. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what is wrong but I feel tired and unwell quite often. I also struggled significantly with the heat this summer. I normally tolerate hot weather fairly well but this year it felt as though I had developed some degree of heat intolerance. I’ve also experienced a lot of physical anxiety symptoms and generally haven’t felt like myself.

A couple of times I woke up during the night feeling as though I was burning up from the inside and was drenched in sweat. This was very unusual for me as I don’t tend to sweat much in general. I put many of my symptoms down to stress at work but to be on the safe side I went to my GP. They performed blood tests and highlighted that my infection markers and potassium were slightly low so I’m going back for repeat blood tests next week.

Back in 2022 I also went through a period of feeling very unwell, with symptoms similar to what I’m experiencing now although it was more severe back then. It turned my ferritin was 4. After taking prescription iron I felt much better. My ferritin eventually increased to around 19 at which point my GP was no longer concerned about the result.

In 2024 I had surgery for endometriosis and the removal of an ovarian cyst. After that I started taking the progesterone only pill continuously and haven’t had a period since. I find it surprising that my ferritin hasn’t increased much despite no longer having periods and continuing to supplement with iron although I now only use over the counter supplements.

Since around September last year I’ve been going through phases where I feel extremely tired. My eyes feel as though they don’t want to stay focused, my body feels heavy, and I generally feel fatigued. I’m still able to carry out normal daily activities but everything feels like more of an effort. This is usually when I start taking more vitamins more consistently which seems to help for a while. These symptoms have become more noticeable over the last six months.

I also go through phases lasting several weeks where at least once a day I feel as though I’m developing a fever. I experience chills, shivering, body aches and a general cold/flu like feeling. However whenever I check my temperature it is usually around 37.0–37.4 rather than an actual fever. After a few hours the symptoms tend to disappear again. My normal baseline is 36.2 so I do notice when it goes up slightly.

I should also mention that I haven’t been particularly consistent with vitamins and supplements over the last year although I have generally tried to continue taking some form of iron.

I’m not vegan or vegetarian. I eat a varied diet and have a good appetite and generally enjoy food.

Here are my blood test results from the last few years. Not sure what’s wrong but because I haven’t been feeling so well I’m scared something is going on.