Symptoms

People with CLL may experience the following symptoms. Sometimes, people with CLL do not show any of these symptoms. Or, these symptoms may be caused by a medical condition that is not cancer. If you are concerned about a symptom on this list, please talk with your doctor. Often, people are diagnosed with CLL when the doctor finds a high white blood count during a blood test done for other reasons.

• Swelling of lymph nodes in the neck, under the arms, or in the groin. This symptom is probably the most common one that people with CLL first notice.
  
  
• Discomfort or fullness in the upper left part of the abdomen, due to enlargement of the spleen
  
  
• Fatigue
  
  
• Fever and infection
  
  
• Abnormal bleeding
  
  
• Shortness of breath
  
  
• Weight loss

Also, people with CLL have a poorly regulated immune system, and their bodies can sometimes make abnormal antibodies against their own red blood cells and/or platelets, destroying these cells and resulting in anemia (low levels of red blood cells) or a low platelet count. These are called autoantibodies. This process can occur at any time during the course of the disease and is not necessarily related to the severity of CLL.