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Sarcoidosis Symptoms
Various factors affect the sarcoidosis signs and symptoms a person will experience, depending on the organ of the body that is affected by the disease. In general, symptoms include fever, fatigue, and loss of appetite. However, in many cases, symptoms of sarcoidosis never develop. If a person has general symptoms but no organ-specific symptoms, they most likely do not have sarcoidosis.
Many people who have sarcoidosis have no apparent symptoms. Often, the condition is discovered by accident, only because a person has had a chest x-ray for another reason, such as a pre-employment x-ray.
Some people have few sarcoidosis symptoms; others have many.
Symptoms usually depend on which organs the disease affects. The organs that can be affected by sarcoidosis include the:
- Lungs
- Lymph nodes
- Skin
- Eyes
- Heart
- Muscles and joints
- Bones
- Liver
- Parotid and other salivary glands
- Blood, urinary tract, or kidneys
- Pituitary gland.
When sarcoidosis occurs in the lungs, symptoms can include:
- Shortness of breath
- A dry cough that doesn't bring up phlegm or mucus
- Wheezing
- Pain in the middle of the chest that gets worse when you breathe deeply or cough (this is rare).
When sarcoidosis occurs in the lymph nodes, symptoms include enlarged and sometimes tender lymph nodes. The lymph nodes most commonly affected are in the:
- Neck
- Chest.
Sarcoidosis can also affect lymph nodes in the:
- Chin
- Armpits
- Groin.
Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD