Stomach heavy is due to a swollen spleen?

[Sagarcanada]

My wife has had CLL since 2020 and is still in the W&W stage. For the past few months, she has complained that her stomach is becoming heavy, implying that it is full of food. I take care of my wife. I seek additional posts. I don't find much of it. I suppose that could be related to a swollen spleen. Our next appointment is on May 13 at the Princess Margaret Cancer Hospital in Toronto. I am considering discussing this with the physician. Do any of you CLL fellows have comparable experiences? I'd love to hear. 😍

[Newdawn Administrator]

Hi Sagarcanada,

It is quite possible to have this sensation in the stomach with a swollen spleen and when my spleen had enlarged to twice its normal size, I experienced this. Splenomegaly can result in a feeling of fullness even without eating or after eating a small amount because the spleen is pressing on your stomach. A large meal will certainly cause this uncomfortable feeling. It’s advisable to have smaller, more regular meals to avoid this discomfort and to make sure the spleen area is protected as much as possible.

Obviously only your wife’s physician can tell you whether her spleen is enlarged and this is usually done by means of palpating the area by physical examination or/and an ultrasound scan. A normal spleen is approx 11cm. Treatment normally shrinks it back to normal or near normal size.

Best wishes,

Newdawn

[Sagarcanada in reply to Newdawn]

Hello Newdawn,

Thank you so much for your informative feedback. I am gathering facts and experiences to discuss with the physician. I wish you all the best for your health.

[scryer99]

Feelings of fullness, mild to moderate pain along the left ribcage, pain when sneezing/coughing, acid reflux, digestive issues, and firmness of the abdomen are all potential signs of splenomegaly. It generally develops slowly (weeks/months) and is treatable, though there are some risks when the spleen becomes massive enough to extend well below the ribcage.

It is caused by accumulation of CLL lymphocytes in your spleen. Some people have this, some don’t.

It is treatable when caught in time, and generally resolves quickly once cancer treatment actually starts.

If your wife starts feeling sharp pain under the left ribcage, take it seriously. Very swollen spleens can lacerate or rupture. But you are probably some ways away from having to worry about that.

I didn’t take that advice, and ended up in the ER. All worked out in the end. More on that here: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

[Sagarcanada in reply to scryer99]

Hello, Scryer99. Thank you very much for your amazing response. She does not have severe pain, but she is uncomfortable and getting heavy stomatch. I will consider all of your experiences and consult with the doctors. I wish you the best.

[Schubert1870]

Hi Sacarcanada,

I am currently going through the heavy, bloated feeling in my stomach, and have to wear loose clothing in order to make it somewhat easier to eat. I feel like there's a basketball in there! I wasn't imagining it because I just went through a complete series of tests since being restaged as if I were a new CLL patient. The CT scan says the following : "Significant multistation lymphadenopathy above and below the diaphragm. Moderate splenomegaly" Has your wife had a CT scan at some point? Please know that she is definitely not alone. It's not painful, but it's very uncomfortable, as I imagine your wife is feeling as well.

Best to both you and her.

Regards,

Schubert

[Sagarcanada in reply to Schubert1870]

Hello Schubert1870

Thank you so much for your experiences. It is quite valuable and will be beneficial to us.

[Pearlpink]

hi. I had a feeling of fullness and my abdomen used to swell after eating. I had an very large spleen, which disappeared with treatment xx

[Sagarcanada in reply to Pearlpink]

Thank you for your experiences. I wish you good health.

[Big_Dee]

Hello Sagarcanada

I had "full stomach feeling", due to massive bulky lymph nodes in abdomen. Did not have enlarged spleen. It did cause a noticeable distended stomach. Blessings.

[Sagarcanada in reply to Big_Dee]

Hello_Dee,

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. Wish your good health.

[Willowbug]

I have CLL and have the full stomach feeling and it’s due to a hiatal hernia.

[Sagarcanada in reply to Willowbug]

Thank you for sharing your experiences; they will be beneficial to us.

[W00dfin]

After 8 years of WW, I was given FCR treatment. Prior to the treatment, I had been unable to eat more than half of my usual meal. Within a couple of days after that first treatment, my appetite completely recovered apparently due to my spleen shrinking back to normal and no longer pressing against my stomach.

[Sagarcanada in reply to W00dfin]

Hello W00dfin,

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. I wish you good health.

[AnneHill in reply to W00dfin]

That sounds exactly the experience I had. I could only eat tiny meals and was losing weight. A scan showed my spleen was enlarged and my lymphnodes from my neck to my groin were enlarged. That was 14 years ago and I hope I am wrong but my stomach is extended and I eat smaller meals.

[Aerobobcat]

Hi Sagarcanada,

I would agree with Newdawn’s response to your question.

I too suffered with Splenomegaly my spleen actually reached 30cm and was the reason I was referred to the Ibrutinib trials back in 2013/14.

A recent CT scan showed it to be 16cm and even now I still feel stomach discomfort and fullness and eat much smaller meals than before my CLL diagnosis.

Clearly this is an issue you need to discuss with your clinicians.

My best wishes

Aerobobcat

[Sagarcanada]

Hello Aerobobcat,

Thank you so much for your response. Yes, I agree that it could be connected to spleen enlargement due to CLL, which I will discuss during our next meeting. Wish you all the best.

[Aerobobcat in reply to Sagarcanada]

Thanks and hope all goes well

[Sagarcanada in reply to Aerobobcat]

Hello Aerobobcat,

Thanks. It appears that you were already treated and you are now in remission?

[Aerobobcat in reply to Sagarcanada]

Yes, technically in remission although my Ibrutinib treatment was stopped after 10 years because of the risk of cardiac toxicity.

I have been told that my next treatment will be one of the new medications and not retreated with Ibrutinib.

[New-bee-cell]

Hello Sagarcanada,

Although my spleen is not very enlarged, I have a cluster of nodes near my stomach that create an early feeling of fullness. I, unintentionally, lost some weight when I didn’t pay attention to how small my food portions (guided by my decreased appetite) had become. The cluster of nodes was not found during manual examination. A CT scan found it (hidden in my rib cage). I am not sure if my small stature (1.5 m) has contributed to the nodes clustering together, but it might be factor. Perhaps it is the combination of the enlarging spleen and the particular constellation of abdominal nodes? My kindest thoughts are with you and your wife as you prepare for her next appointment at (the excellent) Princess Margaret facility.

[Sagarcanada in reply to New-bee-cell]

Hello New-bee-cell,

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. I am currently reading literature on it and gathering information. During our next appointment, I will discuss these issues with the physician. I believe Princes Margaret is a good facility, and Dr. Chen is an excellent physician, therefore we are optimistic. Good luck with your health.

[BeckyLUSA]

I had that same feeling, and it got to the point that I was losing weight because I could not eat enough. Even smaller, more frequent meals did not do the trick. My enlarged spleen shrunk quite quickly once I started my treatment.

BeckyL USA

[Sagarcanada in reply to BeckyLUSA]

Dear BeckyLUSA,

My wife is also loosing weight steadily. She got the sense that her tummy was full all the time. May I ask when you started treatment?

[BeckyLUSA in reply to Sagarcanada]

I was diagnosed in Feb 2016 and started in the the “fullness “ feeling about Nov 2016. I started treatment on the Captivate Trial in August 2017.

Hope your wife gets some relief soon.

[Sagarcanada in reply to BeckyLUSA]

Thanks very much. Best wishes with your CLL adventure!

[skipro]

yes

My spleen has significantly enlarged with CLL, shrank to normal with FCR, doubled in size after relapse, then promptly shrank back to normal once I started V+O Tx.

Good luck and god bless

Skipro

[Sagarcanada in reply to skipro]

Dear Skipro,

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. All the best on your CLL adventure!