The following symptoms and complaints may indicate polycythemia:
- Drowsiness
- Weight loss
- Headache
- Lip cyanosis (blue lips; unoxygenated hemoglobin rises to more than 5 g/dL in capillary blood)
- Upper abdominal discomfort
- Paresthesias (insensations) in the extremities.
- Weakness
- Dizziness (Vertigo)
- Sweating
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
The following symptoms and complaints may indicate polycythaemia vera:
- Nonspecific symptoms:
- Pruritus; aquagenic pruritus (incidence: 30-50%); also occurring in chronic myeloid monocytic leukemia, CMML.
- Night sweats (nocturnal sweating).
- Chronic fatigue (fatigue)
- Fever
- Bone pain
- Concentration problems
- Cephalgia (headache)
- Dyspnea (shortness of breath or shortness of breath).
- Weight loss
- Facial redness due to increased blood filling of the vessels (plethora).
- Lip cyanosis
- Microvascular symptoms (symptoms of the smallest blood vessels):
- Erythromelagia (seizure-like painful redness and swelling of the extremities after exposure to heat).
- Transient ischemia (temporary reduced blood flow) of the brain → cerebral ischemia with symptoms ranging from mild dizziness to apoplexy (stroke).
- Visual disturbances
- Paresthesia (numbness and tingling in the hands or feet).
- Vertigo
- Macrovascular symptoms (symptoms of the large blood vessels):
- Ischemia of the coronary vessels (reduced blood flow in the coronary arteries) → angina pectoris (“chest tightness”; sudden pain in the heart area) to myocardial infarction (heart attack).
- Apoplexy (stroke)
- Peripheral circulatory disorders (acrocyanosis) or peripheral arterial occlusive disease (pAVK).
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
- Pulmonary embolism (LE)
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Many of the possible symptoms of polycythaemia vera are not specific to the disease!
In bold symptoms or complaints that PV patients have found very difficult.
