Massive Bruising on Left Thigh

[Wessex]

I have recently changed from Ibrutinib capsules (140mg x 3) to one 420mg tablet. I went to Turkey last week on a golfing holiday (six rounds, 1 walking & 5 buggying). When I got back home my wife was alarmed at the size of the bruise on my thigh stretching down from my hip socket to halfway down my thigh.

Having trawled the internet I came across a condition known as Purpura. This is bruising linked to cancer and Leukaemia. Has anyone else experienced this? The golf exercise could have ruptured tiny blood vessels as I have a sedentary job (Driving Instructor). My platelets are a bit low according to my GP but to be honest they do not have much knowledge of my Leukaemia and I will be getting in touch with my Consultant next week.

So, has any other CLL patient experienced this? Could it be associated with the change from capsule to tablet? (Would seem doubtful but interested in exploring any avenue to help my GP understand my disease.)

Kind regards, Peter

[cajunjeff]

I have been on ibrutinib for two years now and have had two episodes of spontaneous bruising like you describe, one on my side and one on my bicep. They were deep, dark bruises and bruises I couldn’t relate to any particular trauma.

Who knows, maybe I bumped my side and didn’t remember it. I do have low platelets, but not too low. They average about 125 now.

Both of my bruises cleared up in a week or two. Neither bruise was painful. I wrote them both off to ibrutinib use which is known to cause some spontaneous bleeds.

I would report it to your Cll doctor, but my guess is that it is not a big deal, that your bruise will resolve and that no one will be able to tell you for sure what brought it on.

[Wessex in reply to cajunjeff]

Thank yo Jeff, Having read the MIMS I'm aware that the Ibrutinib can cause bruising through under skin bleeding.

I've been on the drug since December 2016 straight after NICE decided to fund it. I'll have to go to the hospital and try to arrange an appointment with my Consultant.

All very worrying.

[cajunjeff in reply to Wessex]

Hey Wessex, it’s not for me to tell you to worry or not. All I can tell you is I had two deep bruising events like you have described that were painless and went away on their own. I never had my bruises checked out, they occurred in between scheduled visits and were not causing any symptoms for me.

I think it’s wise to get your bruise checked out. But I do think some bruising like you describe is typical with ibrutinib use and usually not a big deal. The article I link to reports that over half of the people taking Ibrutinib will experience some, mostly minor, bleeding events.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Good luck, I hope your bruise turns out to be no big deal like mine did. The one on my side was a sight to see too, very dark and covered a lot of territory. The one on my arm looked like I lost a punch me in the arm contest.

[country76]

I woke up one night with cramps in the large muscles of my right thigh. I had a hard time getting the muscles to release the cramp. The next morning not only was my whole thigh one large bruise, however one of the muscles was still swollen and tight as well as my thigh.

I went to the ER worried about a blood clot. They did an ultrasound, found no clot however confirmed the brusing was manly under the skin.

My oncologist told me it was characteristic of Ibrutinib to bruise under the skin.

[suz02]

I experienced some bothersome side effects (it was 2 -3 years ago) -- and requested to go back on the 3 tablets and felt better.

[Sam-1]

Ibrutinib known side effects is inhibiting the clotting process , also it rarely cause subdural bleeding. Check with your hematologist , he more likely will reduce the dose or switch to acalabrutinib. That what happened to me.