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Petechia - red dots on skin

Has anyone had experience with red dots on their skin, more formally called "petechia"?

I've noticed quite a lot of it on my legs, in a couple of clusters as well as fairly lightly generalised around the lower leg. A small amount on my lower chest too.

It doesn't hurt or itch and I otherwise feel fine. From reading up it doesn't appear to be a massive cause for concern, unless it was meningitis but given I am feeling fine that's pretty unlikely. But I just wanted to check here to see if anyone else had come across this in the past?

I'm seeing my doctor on the 14th, so will bring it up then and in any case I am out of the country until then with little access to high quality medical care. 

David. 

I have had a maybe 4 or 5 of these since starting Tasigna in OCT 2016.  Mine have never deen in clusters - just onesies.  They are one of the many skin disorders that can be caused by TKI's or by low platelet counts, which some of the TKI's can also cause.

Mine have all disappeared within a week or so. Compared to the 7 confirmed  skin cancers I have had since November, I am always happy to see a new petechia on my body. I do not have low patelets counts and have reached MMR, so I think it's just another random side effect for me anyway.  Always good to ask your doc, but probably nothing to worry about.

Thanks. Good to hear. 

I have more liked several hundred, perhaps into 4 figures worth but they at least don't seem to be getting worse. 

Maybe it'll start to clear up in the morning. 

David. 

Hi David,

If you have not taken anti malarial (quinine) or not had any other issue that would put strain on your blood vessels (prolonged vomiting etc) you might take a look at side effects from dasatinib as a possibility.    According to Daily Med drug info on adverse events with dasatinib, petechiae is on the list.

Table 2: Adverse Reactions Reported in ≥10% of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Chronic Phase CML (minimum of 60 months follow-up)

d Includes conjunctival hemorrhage, ear hemorrhage, ecchymosis, epistaxis, eye hemorrhage, gingival bleeding, hematoma, hematuria, hemoptysis, intra-abdominal hematoma, petechiae,....

see here. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=4764f37b-c9e6-4...

Hopefully this will start to clear up in the next few days. As you have another 2 weeks away it might be an idea to get your platelet count checked?

Sandy

Hi David

I am also on dasatinib and have had these red spots virtually since I started. There are thousands of them on my legs and they feel slightly raised, like goosebumps, but don't hurt or itch at all. They are tiny but visible, almost like a rash.

I have asked my doctor about them and when she saw them she said, "Ah yes, the characteristic Sprycel rash." She assured me that it wasn't because of low platelet counts or something more sinister, and explained that she has seen this on many of her patients on dasatinib.

Mine have been there for over a year already and, though mildly annoying, do not interfere with my quality of life at all. I am sure that yours are nothing to worry about and I am sure that your doctor will reassure you.

Good luck for your next appointment.

Best wishes

Martin

Hi David
I am on imatinib amd have had several petchia in a cluster over my chest. They have never caused any discomfort or irritation.
I think its just another way of making us a little more unique i am now entering my 8th year living with Cml. My bloods are ok and i feel pretty good.
Hope this helps reassure you.

Thanks everyone - all very reassuring!

It all seems to have settled down now, and I think even improved a fair bit in the last few days.

David.

A small update in case anyone bumps into this side effects.

I also had a bout of petechia in my lower ankles. It started a couple of weeks ago. At the time I was on Sprycel 140mg; now it's been 100mg for ten days, but I believe that my system is still saturated with the 140mg dosage (wash out is three weeks, more or less...) 

The inflammation was prompted by a number of insect bytes or similar irritations; I had been doing a lot of gardening, and discovered that aubergine leaves are quite stinging. Anyway, the stings and bytes turned into bruises in some areas, in some other petechia dots appeared. In a few days my ankles were generally irritated and a bit itchy.

I sent a description and pictures to my haematologist, he said that among sprycel side effects there's a general thinning of capillary vessels, that can lead to bruises.

The solution he proposed was a bland calendula-based ointment. On top of that, I applied a clay compress to the area; clay works as a powerful topic anti-inflammatory agent.

It seems to work, the thing is slowly disappearing, I'll keep my finger crossed.

By the way, something similar (minus the itch) happened also at the beginning of my treatment, and went away by itself after a few days.

Davide

Where did you get the clay compress from? I've never heard of it. If you see my post above I'm keen to try anything! Glad it's helping :-) 

Hi David: I have those red dots too.  Glad to know the formal name now. Had them since being put on dasatinib - Sprcel since 2009.  Mostly on my arms.  Little bit on my chest. Does not look unsightly.  Does not itich or burn.  I've been on 50mg of Sprcel for at least 3 years now. Still have the dots and CMR. Hope that helps, Philip

I hope compress it the exact term.

Basically, first you need to get the clay; I believe any clay might do, but the one that's usually sold for aesthetic/medical purposes is solum follonum. There might be other varieties with the same properties.

Anyway, it's like powder, or dirt; you put that in a dish, mix a tiny bit of water, and spread it on the ankle; then I put some transparent film around it, the kind you use for food; this is just for preventing stains etc. You keep it for 30min-1h, or less, and then you wash it away.

Any previous swell will be greatly reduced; I believe it happens because of osmosis. Clay is also supposed to bind to a number of toxins; some varieties are even drank, but I never went that far :)

Anyway, it was a physiotherapist that suggested it first, and it is great for any kind of muscular inflammation. Petechia is not the same thing of course, but I gave it a try and it seems to have some effect, at least with the irritation that comes with it.

 

Hey folks,
just an update on Petechia and clay.

I went to my GP for other Sprycel related issues, and since I was there I showed him my ankle.

He said that calendula-based ointments are good, but clay is far from ideal; it tends to suck out fluids, so it might be counter-productive with an issue related to capillary vessels.

I guess that the relative benefits I saw were related to the inflammation (it started with insect stings and a general irritation), rather than to the red dots itself.

I had to post this, I didn't want to spread misinformation around :)