The most common symptoms of leukaemia are as follows:

• Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
  • symptoms resulting from low blood cell counts, including tiredness, weakness, shortness of breath, fever, infections that don’t go away, bruising and bleeding easily
  • weight loss
  • night sweats
  • loss of appetite
  • swelling in the abdomen, as a result of buildup of leukaemia cells in the liver and spleen
  • enlarged lymph nodes
  • pain in the bones or joints
  • symptoms resulting from an enlarged thymus (a specialised organ of the immune system, located in the chest), including coughing and trouble breathing, and a serious syndrome caused by the thymus pressing on the superior vena cava (the major vein that carries blood from the upper body back to the heart)
• Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)
  • symptoms resulting from low blood cell counts, including tiredness, weakness, feeling cold, headaches, shortness of breath, fever, infections that don’t go away, bruising and bleeding easily
  • symptoms similar to stroke that result from clogging of blood vessels with leukaemia cells
  • weight loss
  • night sweats
  • loss of appetite
  • problems with bleeding and clotting
  • pain in the bones or joints
  • swelling in the abdomen, as a result of buildup of leukaemia cells in the liver and spleen
  • skin rash, caused by collection of leukaemia cells under the skin
  • bleeding gums
  • enlarged lymph nodes
• Chronic lymphoblastic leukaemia (CLL: note that people with CLL often do not have any symptoms)
  • tiredness
  • weakness
  • fever
  • weight loss
  • night sweats
  • enlarged lymph nodes
  • swelling in the abdomen, as a result of buildup of leukaemia cells in the liver and spleen
  • symptoms resulting from low blood cell counts, including tiredness, weakness, shortness of breath, infections that don’t go away, bruising and bleeding easily
• Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)
  • tiredness
  • weakness
  • fever
  • weight loss
  • night sweats
  • bone pain
  • swelling in the abdomen, as a result of buildup of leukaemia cells in the liver and spleen
  • symptoms resulting from low blood cell counts, including tiredness, weakness, shortness of breath, infections that don’t go away, bruising and bleeding easily.

Many conditions can cause these symptoms, not just leukaemia. If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor.