What are the signs and symptoms of sarcoidosis?

Many people who have sarcoidosis have no symptoms. Often, the condition is discovered by accident only because a person has a chest X-ray for another reason, such as a pre-employment X-ray.

Some people have very few symptoms, but others have many.

Symptoms usually depend on which organs the disease affects.

Lung symptoms:

Shortness of breath

A dry cough that doesn’t bring up phlegm, or mucus

Wheezing

Pain in the middle of your chest that gets worse when you breathe deeply or cough (rare).

Lymph node symptoms:

Enlarged and sometimes tender lymph nodes – most often those in the neck and chest but sometimes those under the chin, in the arm pits, or in the groin.

Skin symptoms:

Various types of bumps, ulcers, or, rarely, flat areas of discolored skin, that appear mostly near the nose, eyes, back, arms, legs, and scalp. They usually itch but aren’t painful. They usually last a long time.

Painful bumps that usually appear on the ankles and shins and can be warm, tender, red or purple-to-red in color, and slightly raised. This is called erythema- nodosum. A person may have fever and swollen ankles and joint pain along with the bumps. The bumps often are an early sign of sarcoidosis, but they occur in other diseases too. The bumps usually go away in weeks to months, even without treatment.

Disfiguring skin sores that may affect your nose, nasal passages, cheeks, ears, eyelids, and fingers. This is called lupus pernio. The sores tend to be ongoing and can return after treatment is over.

Eye symptoms:

Burning, itching, tearing, pain

Red eye

Sensitivity to light

Dryness

Floaters (i.e., seeing black spots)

Blurred vision

Reduced color vision

Reduced visual clearness

Blindness (in rare cases).

Heart symptoms:

Shortness of breath

Swelling in the legs

Wheezing

Coughing

Irregular heartbeat, including palpitations (a fluttering feeling of rapid heartbeats) and skipped beats

Sudden loss of consciousness

Sudden death.

Joint and muscle symptoms:

Joint stiffness or swelling – usually in the ankles, feet, and hands.

Joint pain.

Muscle aches (myalgias).

Muscle pain, a mass in a muscle, or muscle weakness.

Painful arthritis in the ankles that results from erythema nodosum. It may need treatment but usually clears up in several weeks.

Painless arthritis that can last for months or even years. It should be treated.

Bone symptoms:

Painless holes in the bones.

Painless swelling, most often in the fingers.

Anemia that results from granulomas affecting the bone marrow. This usually should be treated.

Liver symptoms:

Fever

Fatigue

Itching

Pain in the upper right part of the abdomen, under the right ribs

Enlarged liver.

Parotid and other salivary gland symptoms:

Swelling, which makes the cheeks look puffy

Excessive dryness in the mouth and throat.

Blood, urinary tract, and kidney symptoms:

Increased calcium in the blood or urine, which can lead to painful kidney stones

Confusion

Increased urination.

Nervous system symptoms:

Headaches.

Vision problems.

Weakness or numbness of an arm or leg.

Coma (rare).

Drooping of one side of the face that results from sarcoidosis affecting a facial nerve. This can be confused with Bell’s palsy, a disorder that may be caused by a virus.

Paralysis of your arms or legs that results from sarcoidosis affecting the spinal cord.

Weakness, pain, or a “stinging needles” sensation in areas where many nerves are affected by sarcoidosis.

Pituitary gland symptoms (rare):

Headaches

Vision problems

Weakness or numbness of an arm or leg

Coma (rare).

Other symptoms:

Nasal obstruction or frequent bouts of sinusitis.

Enlarged spleen, which leads to a decrease in platelets in the blood and pain in the upper left abdomen. Platelets are needed to help the blood clot.

Sarcoidosis may also cause more general symptoms, including:

Uneasiness, feeling sick (malaise), an overall feeling of ill health

Tiredness, fatigue, weakness

Loss of appetite or weight

Fever

Night sweats

Sleep problems

These general symptoms are often caused by other conditions. If a person has these general symptoms but doesn’t have symptoms from affected organs, he or she probably does not have sarcoidosis.

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Disclaimer:

The comments from individuals, regarding their personal experiences with treatments of choice, successes or disappointments relating to specific medications, either medical prescriptions and or alternative homeopathic medicines or nutritional substances, is not intended to provide a basis for action in particular circumstances without consideration and consultation by a competent physician or professional. Please consult your primary care physician or doctor who is attending to your health care as a safety precaution. In addition, the posting of testimonials or any comparative information is for the sole purpose of offering information, education, and alternative opportunities for our readers and in no way should be construed as a directive on the part of the Armsted R. Christian Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent physician or professional person should be sought.