Little blood blisters

[aquafinn]

I’m getting little blood blisters that are popping up. Today I noticed blood in the sink and couldn’t figure where it was coming from. My arm had a long skinny set of blood blisters and was bleeding. I’ve noticed other small ones too. Is this common for cll? I haven’t started treatment yet. These remind me of what my mom would get when she was in her 80’s.

[Soundsinamotion]

My dad takes Ibrutinib and one of the side effects is big blood blisters and blood bruises. I’ve not heard of anyone having them without treatment though

[aquafinn in reply to Soundsinamotion]

Thanks - haven’t started on any treatment yet

[blowinginthewind]

I have had something like those, but only the odd one rather than lots of them, and none have been bleeding. I went to GP who said they were nothing to worry about but show them to haemo-oncologist when I next go. I was only a few weeks away from next appt, which is next week, I will mention it then. If your next appt is a long time off, I would try and bring it forward for you own peace of mind.

[aquafinn in reply to blowinginthewind]

Thanks - he ordered another blood draw

[SeymourB]

Aquafinn -

There's several similar things with different causes. Low platelets or hemoglobin can cause petechiae:

healthline.com/health/anemi...

I've been told by my dermatologist that sun exposure has made the skin on the backs of my arm thinner, and more likely to form petechiae when scraped. For me, these rashes are in a line where the skin was scraped.

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar...

If I put my arm down between the cushions to find the TV remote control, I'll sometimes have a rash of the spots when I pull it out. They are painless for me unless I scrape enough to break the skin - which is indeed easier to do.

The larger spots as shown in the solar purpura article seem to come out of nowhere. Sometimes, they bleed. In one case, the dermatologist thought it advisable to freeze a lesion. I don't find that broken skin heals quickly. I use Aquaphore ointment on it to try to prevent infection. I honestly cannot correlate them with recent sun exposure.

My platelets have been excellent. I have not had any CLL treatment yet. I've had these rashes periodically for over 5 years now..

There are many people here in Louisiana who have fair skin like me, and have gotten too much sun, but I don't see such spots or rashes on them.

There are many similar sorts of rashes with different causes. So I think one needs to take them to one or more dermatologists for examination. I get the impression that whatever diagnosis is often made casually, and on the basis of no apparent evident harm. But we patients know that sometimes these things can be a clue to something else, so we worry.

=seymour=

[aquafinn in reply to SeymourB]

Thanks Seymour- I’m going for my 3rd blood draw in less than 3 weeks. My blood blisters are taking a back seat to a WBC that is on quite a junp

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi aquafinn,

-

I have had a rash on my legs, arms and torso (mostly small light red dots connected in a web pattern –most days no itch or discomfort) since 2006 before my CLL diagnosis in 2008.

My skin is very thin and most contact with branches or furniture corners will cause bleeding.

-

Each of the 4 times I was treated for my CLL it got visibly worse, but Ibrutinib made it much worse- angry red & itchy.

- I also have lots of seborrheic keratosis that seem to wax and wane along with the red dots and rashes. Over the years I've had many biopsies; dermatologists and pathologists postulated Psoriasis, Eczema, drug reactions, and more recently CTCL or Mycosis Fungoides. mayoclinic.org/diseases-con... Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)

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The common result from expert pathologists that ran flow cytometry on the biopsy, was finding many T-cells and CLL cells in a specific layer of my skin. But the puzzle is why they are there.

-

My most successful treatment was Photo therapy (lightbox treatment with UVB rays 3X per week- similar to a stand up tanning bed, but with medical precision on light frequency and duration).

-

In winter - dry cold weather, if it becomes itchy and bothersome, I use Triamcinolone Acetonide (prescription steroid cream) for 2-3 days then switch to a good moisturizer like CeraVe until the rash is well controlled.

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The most recent diagnosis by a research pathologist eliminated CTCL and its cousins, but attributed it to T-cell Dyscrasia.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/176...

_____________________________________________________

Our archives has 500 replies that mention skin issues and CLL:

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

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The NIH has several papers suggesting that CLL itself leads to skin issues, as noted here:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/174...

SNIP: "Cutaneous lesions occur in up to 25% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). These can be caused by either cutaneous seeding by leukemic cells (leukemia cutis, LC) and other malignant diseases or nonmalignant disorders. Skin infiltration with B-lymphocyte CLL manifests as solitary, grouped, or generalized papules, plaques, nodules, or large tumors.....The most common secondary cutaneous changes seen in CLL are those of infectious or hemorrhagic origin. Other secondary lesions present as vasculitis, purpura, generalized pruritus, exfoliative erythroderma, and paraneoplastic pemphigus. An exaggerated reaction to an insect bite and insect bite-like reactions have been also observed".

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I suggest you have a good cancer oriented dermatologist do a full body inspection of your skin every 6 months (we get skin cancer at 5x to 8x more often than non-CLL people- and the only way to detect it early is get an expert examination) and helping treat your sores will be part of that care.

-

Len

[cajunjeff in reply to lankisterguy]

Len that was a very detailed and informative response, loaded with helpful information and personal experiences, that obviously took you a lot of time to put together. I find information in a format like you typically do to be very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to give this useful information.

[aquafinn in reply to lankisterguy]

Thanks so much for your detailed response. I see a dermatologist every 3 months and have had several basal cells removed. He has never mentioned concern but I did not have this specific issue when I was there the last time.

[bkoffman CLL CURE Hero]

If it's petechiae (they look like very tiny bruises), you need to have your platelets check immediately. Get one of your docs to order a CBC stat. Platelets can crash in CLL from auto-immune causes. Lots of other benign causes too, but best to be safe. Stay strong. We are all in this together, Brian (CLLSociety.org)

[aquafinn in reply to bkoffman]

I called my doctor (thank you!)and he ordered another CBC. The results showed my platelets are back in a normal range. But my WBC is really accelerated in just a weeks time. I’m going for another blood draw Tuesday and may be headed for treatment (trial- EA9161) soon. Thank-you so much!

[81ue]

Is it cherry angiomas?

byebyedoctor.com/wp-content...

"A cherry angioma is a mole-like skin growth made up of small blood vessels, or capillaries. It is the most common type of angioma. Angiomas are benign tumors that result from an overgrowth of capillaries"

[aquafinn in reply to 81ue]

I’m not sure- my doctor was concerned about platelets but after doing another CBC my platelets are more normal but it seems like my wbc is really on an incline- yikes