Dercum's Disease

Imagine waking up one day and noticing that you have bumps all over your body. If you are like most people, you will contact your doctor to make an appointment or you will head to an urgent care clinic or the emergency room. You may even take some pain relievers to try to help control the pain. However, for a person with Dercum's disease, waking up with these types of bumps is a daily event and the pain isn't at all controllable with medications. This is only one part of the horror of this disease.

Early Stages

In the early stages of Dercum's disease, disproportionate weight gain, flu-like aching and fatigue are common. Additionally, you may find that you bruise easily and that you are susceptible to catching colds and other communicable diseases. Because these symptoms can point to other conditions, a diagnosis of Dercum's disease is often not even considered. For some people, the disease never progresses past this stage, so a diagnosis is made only after years of testing and monitoring the symptoms.

Advanced Stages

A person with the advanced stages of Dercum's disease develops lumps, called lipomas, which are actually benign fatty tumors. While lipomas are actually a common condition, lipomas caused by Dercum's disease are set apart from others because they are extremely painful. The pain may come and go, it may be constant, it may occur only when the area near the lipoma is moved or it may occur only when the lipoma is touched.

Other Effects of Dercum's Disease

Nosebleeds, epilepsy, depression, cyanosis (skin turning a bluish tint), and tremors are also common in people who suffer from Dercum's disease. Oftentimes, the patient's lifestyle is restricted because of the pain and the requirement to minimize stress and physical activity as part of trying to control the disease. Working may be out of the question if the work involves a lot of physical activity or if the job demands don't allow for time off necessitated by the disease.

A Friend's Story

When I was in the Navy, my roommate suffered from Dercum's disease. She had no idea that she had this disease when she joined. During boot camp, the vigorous schedule had her feeling tired-more so than other recruits. Once she moved to her next station, which is where we were roommates, the fatigue continued despite the lax schedule. As time progressed, so did her Dercum's disease. After two years of testing, she was diagnosed with Dercum's disease when she developed lipomas. Shortly after, she was medically discharged because of her inability to do her job due to the Dercum's disease.

Conclusion

Dercum's disease is difficult for doctor's to diagnose because it is so rare and most doctors don't have extensive training in fatty tissue diseases. As is the case with any chronic and progressive disease, Dercum's disease often requires permanent lifestyle changes.

Sources:

http://www.genome.gov/17516629

http://www.dercumsociety.com/intro.html