Lumps in armpit

I am an adult living with ITP for more than 30 years. I have been fortunate that while my counts remain 30,000-60,000, I remain mostly asymptomatic.

Recently I have seen a lump form in my armpit. I am going to see a GP. I worry if this lump could have anything to do with ITP or sign of something serious.

Anyone has had ITP with lumps forming like this?

No, have never heard of anyone here having a lump form in their arm pit caused by ITP.
I am glad you will be seeing your doctor, hope it is soon. Keep us posted - hope all is well for you!!

Thank you for the good wishes. Doctor started me on a course of antibiotics.
Lets see how it goes.

If you are not happy with the doctor's decision can you seek another opinion?
I hope this does the trick for you - know you must be concerned.

pawanbindal wrote: I am an adult living with ITP for more than 30 years. I have been fortunate that while my counts remain 30,000-60,000, I remain mostly asymptomatic.

Sounds like me. I suspect I have had ITP since I had Chickenpox back when I was 3 or so.

Recently I have seen a lump form in my armpit. I am going to see a GP. I worry if this lump could have anything to do with ITP or sign of something serious.

Anyone has had ITP with lumps forming like this?

When I was in my early 20s one day I happen to notice it looked like one lymph node under one arm was slightly larger than the other. It bulged out a bit. Do you think it is possible you've had this lump for a much longer time and just didn't realize it?

Have you ever had steroid or IVIG treatments? If so, let me guess. You don't respond to steroids and you do respond nicely to IVIG?

I am newly diagnosed; about 7 weeks. Interesting topic. I had a CT scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis. One of the things that my blood doc saw on the report was '2 right axillary lymph nodes are mildly prominent measuring up to 1 cm in short axis' with recommend ultrasound to determine character of lymph nodes.
I had annual with my gyn just 2 weeks prior to ITP diagnosis and nothing was found on physical exam. I had a mamo on the same day as the CT scan and it came back normal. My blood doc ordered the ultra sound of the lymph nodes. It will be interesting to see what that reveals.

Hi Linda (I'm Melinda )
Welcome! How is your platelet count doing? Are you on any treatment? What "signs" did you have before your diagnosis? I looked like I had been beaten in a back alley with a 2x4 - I was very colorful.
Please let us know how your ultrasound goes - hoping all is well for you!

doing well; last count first of March was up to 63, hoping it stays and continues to move up. Not doing any treatment, will have another ultrasound of lymph in armpit in 3 weeks. Had consult with surgeon for spleen removal, of which I am not a fan of right now - think it's too soon and my primary thinks it's too soon as well. Last treatment was rituxan the end of January and have had both the mederna covid shots. Overall, feeling well and no signs of bruising or red spots. I am of the opinion that the trigger for ITP was my gastric bypass surgery in July and ITP diagnosis end of October; only signs was the bruising (that was being monitored), full blown colorful on back of thigh was the sure sign something was wrong; dex treatment and 4 platelet transfusions then rituxan - in between the steriod, had a steroid shot for possible medication hives to the meds given to protect the stomach, then had shingles in early November thought to been brought on by the steroids... still having nerve pain from shingles...

linda3plus3 wrote: doing well; last count first of March was up to 63, hoping it stays and continues to move up. Not doing any treatment, will have another ultrasound of lymph in armpit in 3 weeks. Had consult with surgeon for spleen removal, of which I am not a fan of right now - think it's too soon and my primary thinks it's too soon as well. Last treatment was rituxan the end of January and have had both the mederna covid shots. Overall, feeling well and no signs of bruising or red spots. I am of the opinion that the trigger for ITP was my gastric bypass surgery in July and ITP diagnosis end of October; only signs was the bruising (that was being monitored), full blown colorful on back of thigh was the sure sign something was wrong; dex treatment and 4 platelet transfusions then rituxan - in between the steriod, had a steroid shot for possible medication hives to the meds given to protect the stomach, then had shingles in early November thought to been brought on by the steroids... still having nerve pain from shingles...

I'm glad to hear that your counts are doing well and that you were able to get your vaccine. I can't believe that they are already talking about a splenectomy when you really haven't tried many ITP treatments!! If I understand correctly, they have only tried Rituxan and a pulse of Dexamethasone. Platelet transfusions are not considered treatments for ITP (the immune system will just eat them right up, and they should only be used as a rescue measure if you are experiencing active bleeding or dangerous symptoms).

There are so many ITP treatments that you might want to discuss with your doctor: Promacta/eltrombopag, Tavalisse/fostamatinib, NPlate/romiplostim, etc. etc. There are many others out there and I would try just about all of them before signing up for a splenectomy! I personally had a splenectomy as a child (I've had ITP most of my life), and it didn't work for me. A splenectomy will also introduce some concerns with regards to a higher susceptibility to sepsis and other management issues.

If your hematologist doesn't know anything about the modern ITP treatments and just thinks that a splenectomy is the next order of business, then it's probably time to get a new hematologist. There are some old school doctors out there who are not up on the latest research into ITP.

Independent of all that, however, a count around 60 with no symptoms is actually great! If I could maintain a count of around 60 without taking any medication and without any bleeding, I would just sit tight and do nothing! Sadly, my numbers run lower (20-40 range), and I do have to treat when I encounter problems with bleeding. It's great that you are doing your research and don't let them talk you into giving up a working organ (your spleen) without trying any other treatments. Best of luck and keep us posted.

Thanks for checking in Linda - was wondering about you.
Good an eye is being kept on the armpit lymph nodes.
You know a count of 63 is really good - I don't think any good hematologist would recommend a splenectomy with that count! (my sister-in-law was married to a thoracic surgeon - back in 1989 when I was diagnosed he recommended I get a splenectomy, since he or no other doctor could tell me YES YOU WILL BE CURED that was just not an option to me - as my sister-in-law said, a surgeon does surgery so of course he would tell me get my spleen removed - it is still in the location God put it in!)


Regarding shingles - I have had them 2x; 1st time in back on right side of waist & that was before ITP, 2nd time in the middle of my back up near shoulder blades over 10 years into ITP & not on any treatment. Neither time was fun, but thankfully diagnosed early. Both times I was under a lot of anxiety & stress - the 1st time thanks to the next door neighbor from hell and the 2nd time because I was upset a tetanus booster dropped my count to the gutter and I might have to go on prednisone again (that was recommended but I declined, had a WinRho IV instead). Anxiety & stress is a cause too - could you have been anxious due to the lymph glands & ITP and all that was going on?

What are you doing for the nerve pain from the shingles? Hope that will go away soon, it's not fun at all!

Keep us posted on how you are doing!

Linda have a look at this www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcC329pd-fY .
Our UK ITP guru talking about the latest guidelines for ITP treatment.
Great count by the way