Fact 3: Symptomatology
DLBCL has often been dubbed a “silent” disease, not for its lack of symptoms, but because of their subtlety. The primary indicators, swollen yet painless lymph nodes, are often brushed off. These nodes, when affected, can be felt in regions like the neck, armpits, or even the groin.
A fever is the body’s alarm bell. But when it comes to DLBCL, this fever is persistent and often unexplained. More confounding is its pairing with night sweats and chilling episodes. It’s easy to misattribute these symptoms to more common ailments, thereby missing early warning signs.
Unintended weight loss might seem like a dream to some but is a red flag when it comes to health diagnostics. With DLBCL, this weight loss isn’t a result of dieting or increased activity but an offshoot of the body’s response to the disease.
DLBCL has a knack for sapping one’s energy. Affected individuals often find themselves trapped in a cycle of relentless fatigue. This exhaustion doesn’t discriminate, affecting both those who’ve rested adequately and those who haven’t. Coupled with this can be a shortness of breath or even a persistent cough, further clouding the diagnostic process. (3)
