ITP, dry and brittle nails, excessive hair loss, itchy scalp, lump behind ear. Autoimmune disease?
Patient: I ve recently been diagnosed with ITP. I also have very dry brittle nails and have had excessive hair loss for several years now. Lately i have had extremely itchy scalp and Yesterday I discovered a painful lump on the base of my skull behind my ear. Could this be some sort of autoimmune problem like Lupus or even worse a lymphoma? I m concerned. Doctor: Hello, Autoimmune conditions can co-exist with ITP so your symptoms of brittle nails, alopecia would fit in provided at least 2 other criteria were fulfilled to diagnose SLE. There are several others such as discoid rash, malar rash (butterfly rash), serositis, arthritis, blood abnormalities, CNS abnormalities, ANA positive, ACL abs etc so a thorough clinical & lab reports are required before such a diagnosis is done. Swollen lymph nodes (if that is what is the painful lump behind the ear) can be a presenting feature in some SLE patients as well. Thanks.