About seven months ago, I started having a diffuse, shifting itch all over my body. At first, the itch would only appear for a few seconds at a time, in different areas – sometimes on my arm, then in a different spot. It would happen when I lightly touched or stroked my skin. After that, it would disappear again. But over the months, the itch has become stronger and more persistent. Now it’s there constantly, all over the body, never fully going away. Sometimes it’s milder, but there are also times when it’s very strong and almost unbearable.
It’s a deep, drilling itch, hard to describe. Especially in the neck area, I get waves of sensations that feel like thousands of tiny needle pricks, but it can also happen elsewhere. It’s not the kind of itch that makes me scratch until I bleed – in fact, scratching doesn’t help and often makes it feel more like pain than itch.
Lymph nodes (palpable for around 7 months, or maybe longer
Bloodwork
My question:
Has anyone here experienced such a diffuse, persistent itch with lymphoma?
How did your itch start?
Did any of you have lymph nodes that appeared normal on ultrasound, but still turned out to be lymphoma?
Hi Joschij and welcome to this corner of the Community. So sorry to hear about the challenges you are having.
Itching is indeed seen as one of the many Symptoms of Lymphoma both Hodgkin’s and Non Hodgkin’s Lymphomas.
I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 44 with a rare (8 in a million) incurable but treatable type of Cutaneous T-Cell NHL (a type of slow growing Low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma) called Mycosis Fungodes.
This presented as a small developing rash on my back, my bloods were perfect and nothing was abnormal with my lymph nodes apart from being raised from time to time…… a normal reaction of the bodies lymphatic system to fighting infection or illness.
It took a full year and 6 skin biopsies to eventually prove what my great Dermatologist was 99% sure I had.
I eventually reached Stage 4a in late 2013 when a second, also rare (4 in a million) type of aggressive Peripheral T-Cell NHL (a type of fast growing High-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma) was then presenting….. a lymph-node in my neck just kept growing and by the time a biopsy was done and results came back I had a mass the size of a brick in my neck…….. but this was all treatable.
You obviously have been having tests done so you need to keep working with your medical professionals to work through the jigsaw puzzle of what this ultimately can be.….. basically the Diagnosis of Lymphoma requires a biopsy and scans.
