[KarolH]

Hi Everyone,

I was just curious as to how many of you might get little tiny calcium deposits under your skin. They may feel hard and typically not bigger then the size of a pea.

If you do get them do you find them near a joint most of the time? I have not heard mention of it often here and I am curious if anyone else has these lovely little rock hard balls of calcium under their skin.

Hope your all doing well.:wink2::wink2::wink2:

 

[Lily]

Hi Karol,

We have had a few here mention them, I think they are fairly common with CREST and Sclero.

love
Lily

 

[Katharine]

Hi,

I don't get these but have extensive calcium deposits on all my tendons (quite painful!).

Katharine

 

[KarolH]

Hi,

I don't get these but have extensive calcium deposits on all my tendons (quite painful!).

Can you feel them through your skin Katharine?

 

[Katharine]

Nope, they're really on the tendons, nice and deep down in the joints.

 

[Andriatigergirl]

Calcinosis

Hi all,

The deposits you mention are called Calcinosis, and they are literally extra calcium that forms under the skin. It's a branch off from scleroderma.
I've had a few lumps removed from my hands as they can get awfully painful. Also, they tend to get infected when they try to break out of your skin, which leads to more meds and more mysery!!
Sorry to be the bearer of such horrible tidings, but as we all know, there isn't much good about Lupus and it's connected issues.

Keep smiling...

A xx

 

[KarolH]

Hi A,

I do have high SCL70 antibodies and this may be scleroderma rearing it's ugly head.

 

[lazylegs]

Hi Karol,

On Wednesday a new gal joined my yoga class and she has Lupus. She also has Crest and gets Calcinosis. Hers are primarily around her elbows. Most were very small but one was rather large. She said most of hers come out on their own but she has had to have some surgically removed. It was very interesting for me since I have seen Calcinosis on the Crest symptom list but had no idea what it looked like.

Take care,
Lazylegs

 

[SarahP]

Hi Karol,

Yes, I have calcium deposits. My SLE diagnosis came in 1981. Twenty five years later I developed CREST symptoms. Rheum ran blood tests and said I have an overlap of scleroderma but SLE is the primary diagnosis since I have a high positive anti-DNA. I also have a high anti-RNP.

My calcium deposits are found on my fingers and lower legs. I have one on a finger that you can feel and see. The ones on my legs you can feel. They sometimes come to the surface but in the last 2 years have calmed down.

Since I have been on CellCept and coumadin I have not had any new ones.

Sarah

 

[KarolH]

Hi Lazy and Sarah,

My deposits are on my fingers, near my elbow, under my arms and now coming out on my shins. Mine do not hurt at all and none of them are big. I would say they compare to the size of a pea, and some smaller then that.

Thanks for your replies. Good to know I am not alone yet would not wish this on anyone.

 

[chal23]

Thank you for posting this question Karol. I have them in my elbows, ankles and this may explain what the retina specialist sees in my eye.
Are these something to worry about? I've never mentioned them to my rheumy!

 

[KarolH]

You may want to mention it to your doctor.

Do you know what antibodies you have tested positive for in your blood work?

 

[mary520]

I have some small, very hard little places on my forehead. They look white but they're not whiteheads. Maybe they are calcium deposits too. I had never heard of this before.

 

[KarolH]

Hi Mary from Kentucky..........nice to meet you.

I also have tiny little ones on my face as well.

The ones I am speaking of here are about the size of a pea.

Just very strange.

 

[forever hopeful]

i used to get them all the time on the back of my neck when i was a kid...for all i know i still do! i still feel lumps on the back of my neck and some of my lymph nodes always feel inflamed.

 

[debatat]

Hi

I have a hard white lump under my skin on palm of hand about size of a pea, it is annoying, been there a few weeks now. i dont know if it is a calcium deposit i keep meaning to ask doc.

 

[KarolH]

debatat,

It probably is. Seems it is pretty common with a lot of us.

 

[Jmaca]

Only two of mine were ever the size of a pea, and they both went away on their own, although one recurs in the same place from time to time. It's on the first joint of my ring finger. It gets very white, hurts a lot and usually damages the nail. It starts to hurt there months before I can actually see the deposit.

My elbows are lumpy with tiny calcium deposits that you can feel through the skin. They even hurt - that knife-like pain - when I put on a jacket. I have lots of little calcium deposits throughout my body, mostly on my tendons, but some on bone: elbows, spine, neck, groin, fingers, feet, toes, knees, shins.

I've read about a laser therapy that can remove them, but the last time I looked, it was still experimental. I'd give anything to not have to deal with the sharp pain from them.

 

[H_____]

KarolH,

It's my understanding that these cacium deposits are a sign of CREST scleroderma, not of lupus. Not that you can't have both, because you certainly can! I do think you should insist that your rheumatologist run the SCL-70 and anticentromere B tests. You can still have CREST if the anticentromere B test is negative, but if positive, you just need to have any two of these signs:

C = calcinosis (which you already have)
R = Raynaud's
E = Esophageal dysfunction (dry food lingers in the lower esophagus, or gastric reflux)
S = Sclerodactyly (may just be mild finger swelling in the beginning)
T = telangiectasias (purple or red marks on the face or fingers that blanch with pressure)

If the anticentromere B test is negative, you can still have CREST if you have telangiectasias and at least one other sign such as the calcinosis.

It is important to get diagnosed if you have it, because although it is incurable, there are things that can be done to slow down certain types of the damages that it can cause. Once you have a diagnosis it is important to be seen by a doctor who is very experienced at dealing with scleroderma, for most rheumatologists really don't know squat about how to deal with it once it is diagnosed! It's just that rare. There is a list of scleroderma doctors at
sclero.org. As nearly as I can tell, there are only 3 really big "scleroderma centers" in the U.S. though, and they are in Maryland (at Johns Hopkins), Boston, and New Jersey.

 

[KarolH]

Hello "H" and welcome to the boards.

Thanks for your reply here. I have tested positive for SCL70 antibodies yet always negative for anticentromere B antibodies. My Rheumatologist told me I may never develop Scleroderma yet always test positive for the scl70 antibodies.

Time will tell but in the meantime I do continue to get the hard calcium deposits under my skin. I just do watchful waiting and hope for the best.

Nice to meet you and thank you for your reply here.:wink2: