I have numerous auto immune conditions, ranging from hypothyroid, fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome to adrenal insufficiency and I am now being tested for the possibility of leukemia because of higher white cell counts that happened this past year. I would like to know if taking supplements will interfere with medications such as Synthroid, prednisone, florinef, plus pain killers and muscle relaxants .. I am interested in alpha lipoic supplements in particular. Thanks
Hi, Thanks for writing in. Leukemia is a malignancy of the hemopoietic system which concerns the formation of white blood cells. The autoimmune system also is connected to the white blood cell generation. Leukemia is a condition in which there is uncontrolled proliferation of immature white blood cells and this causes a high WBC count. During infections there is always a slight increase in WBC counts. However, if the increase is more than 3 to 4 times normal and the patient has symptoms like fatigue, tiredness and generalized weakness then a diagnosis of leukemia has to be ruled out. The first step towards work up of possible leukemia is doing a peripheral blood smear. This is a simple test and done using a few Chat Doctor.  This will show blast cells which are immature forms of WBC and then further detailed investigations are required.