Carcinoid syndrome

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Symptoms

By Mayo Clinic staff

The signs and symptoms depend on which chemicals your carcinoid tumor secretes into your bloodstream. The most common carcinoid syndrome symptoms include:

  • Skin flushing. The skin on your face and upper chest feels hot and changes color — ranging from pink to red to purple. Flushing episodes may last from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. Flushing may happen for no obvious reason, though sometimes it can be provoked by eating food or drinking alcohol.
  • Facial skin lesions. Purplish areas of spider-like veins may appear on the noses and upper lips of people who've had carcinoid syndrome for many years.
  • Diarrhea. Frequent, watery stools accompanied by painful abdominal cramps may signal carcinoid syndrome.
  • Difficulty breathing. Asthma-like signs and symptoms, such as wheezing and shortness of breath, may occur at the same time you experience skin flushing.

DS00690

May 3, 2008

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