underarm pain and other various maladies

[Mhawk]

I was diagnosed two years ago with positive ANA, AntiRo, AntiLa and severe sicca symptoms in eyes and mouth. My rheum. retired over the summer and while I am transitioning to another I am falling apart. I have been having sporadic bouts where my blood pressure and pulse go sky high out of nowhere (the first time I went to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack!), then a few weeks later I started to get numbness and tingling in my hands, arms, feet, face. Sometimes its also my tongue with the back of my throat feeling numb/painful. And now the last couple weeks I have having really bad pain in my armpit area. I am seeing a GI for small intestinal bacteria overgrowth so also have GI issues. Lastly, horrible insomnia.

Cardiologist ruled out heart problem and internist said he doesn't know why my armpits hurt. See Rhuem. and nuerologist in March. Until then just wondering if all of this craziness could be the Sjogren's....

Thanks in advance.
Maria

[SunshineDaydream]

Welcome to the forum, Maria. Sorry to hear you are having problems while transitioning to a new rheumatologist. Sjogren's is a systemic disease so it can affect any number of body parts other than mouth and eyes in a variety of ways at any given time. The issues you are noticing are described in literature about Sjogren's and have been discussed in board posts, so I think they could be related to Sjogren's. You are definitely not alone.

Painful armpits sounds like it might be associated with lymph nodes. Perhaps check to see if they are swollen or enlarged?

It sounds like you are on the right track with the specialists you have seen to rule out problems and the specialists you are scheduled to see. Appointments a month or more away seem like a long time when you are in discomfort or have a health concern. When that happens to me, I occasionally call the doctor's office to see if there have been any cancellations so I can move my appointment sooner. You might be interested in doing that, too.

[bartolo]

Few thoughts:

1. First check carefully if you have any rash, redness or swelling in the armpit. This can be from a local infection.

2. Think if you had an infection anywhere in the arm. This can spread to armpit.

3. Check for lumps. Allow your arm to freely hang down, then check an armpit by deep palpation. A painful lump is usually caused by an infection. A doctor may check this more reliably, though.

4. Rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases can present with armpit lumps, which can be small and either painful or not.

5. Armpit pain is very unlikely a symptom of

• Heart disease.  Heart-related pain (angina pectoris) lasts for less than 5 minutes at a time, is behind the breastbone and can radiate to the neck, jaw, shoulder and down the inside of the upper arm or forearm, but does not likely occurs only or predominantly in the armpit.
• Anxiety
• Breast cancer or other cancer, such as lymphoma you can have lumps in the armpits, which are typically painless.

Or if you can check for more possible causes:
http://www.ehealthstar.com/underarm-armpit-pain.php

6. Tingling and numbness is obviously a neurological issue, which can be, among other, caused by deficiency of vitamin B complex (vitamin B12, folate...) and this may be caused, for example, by small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

I can't recommend anything, but on your place my thoughts would go:
- Blood test for common vitamin/mineral deficiencies
- Test for SIBO or other intestinal issue...they could be parasites...so stool test for parasites.

I have a strong feeling that it goes : intestinal malabsorption > decreased levels of vitamins/minerals in the blood > nerve damage (neuropathy) > tingling.

[Mhawk]

Thanks for the replies.

I have tested positive for SIBO, so I already know that is part of the GI issues. My B12 is on the low side of normal, but the dr. doesn't think it is low enough to be causing the numbness/tingling issues.

I did one round of rifaximin/neomycin sulfate for the SIBO but got hearing loss from the neomycin sulfate so I only did 1/2 of that (had to stop). I will retest for SIBO on Friday to see if the one course worked or not.

I am fairly certain I don't have an infection in my armpit, and did have an internal med dr. look for that, so I am guessing at this point maybe its just autoimmune related.

thanks

[bartolo]

Even if it is "only" autoimmune related, it seems quite obvious to me that your nerves are affected. Neomycin causing hearing loss is another sign of nerve vulnerability.

SIBO must have a cause - one of them is low gastric acid (hypochlorhydria), which can occur in autoimmune gastritis, which can result in low vitamin B12 absorption and pernicious anemia. Neurological symptoms (tingling, numbness) may develop even in the absence of anemia. So, if your blood tests are fine, this does not exclude vitamin B12 deficiency as a cause of neurological symptoms.

[Princess Tusi]

Hi Maria,
I too get pain in the armpit, mine comes with pain in the breast usually as well and seems to be lymph node related although they're not swollen but it hurts to just have my arm resting on them. My CRP levels are usually slightly elevated so I don't know if that is part of it. So I really don't have much to offer, just wanted to say you're not alone 😸
Caroline