Mesothelioma is a rare and particularly deadly disease. It’s difficult to identify and diagnose. It’s even more difficult to treat. It has the potential to gradually kill you as it spreads and becomes more aggressive.

There is no cure for mesothelioma, and treatment methods are limited. But if you can catch mesothelioma early enough, you might be able to manage and control the symptoms enough to live a long and healthy life after your diagnosis.

The trouble is, catching mesothelioma early is extremely difficult. So what exactly are the main symptoms of mesothelioma? And how do you know if you’ve spotted them?

The Difficulty of Pinpointing Mesothelioma Symptoms

There are many potential symptoms of mesothelioma, but they tend to be difficult to identify, even among people who know they’ve been exposed to asbestos in the past.

There are several reasons why this is the case, including:

• Different types. Most people think of mesothelioma as a singular disease, but in reality, there are many different types of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma can develop in the lungs, around the abdomen, around the heart, or even in the testicles, though pleural mesothelioma (mesothelioma of the lungs) tends to be the most common. Although there are some symptoms that all of these variations have in common, each is associated with its own unique blend of symptoms.
• Variance. It’s also true that mesothelioma symptoms don’t develop in the same way across different individuals. Some people might notice fatigue more than others. Some people might never experience unexplained weight loss. And of course, people may notice the development of symptoms at different rates and different levels of intensity. There is no singular, “standard” set of mesothelioma symptoms as a result.
• Ambiguity. We also struggle with symptom ambiguity. Many of the symptoms of mesothelioma begin developing as mild and innocuous, such that you might not even notice them as symptoms at all. For example, you might develop a mild cough that doesn’t quite go away; coughing is somewhat normal, so you might not notice that you’re doing it a little bit more than average.
• Time for development. Mesothelioma typically develops only after a latency period, which can last from a few years to many decades. This makes it hard to notice very gradually developed symptoms, and also distances people from their known risk exposure. If it’s been decades since you were exposed to asbestos, mesothelioma might not even have occurred to you as a possibility.
• Unknown risks. If you haven’t been exposed to asbestos, you’re at negligible risk for developing mesothelioma. Thankfully, this dangerous material has been banned in most applications. However, it’s still almost impossible to be certain about whether you’ve been exposed to asbestos in the past.

Main Symptoms of Mesothelioma

With that in mind, these are some of the main symptoms you might notice as mesothelioma develops:

• Chronic fatigue. One of the hallmark symptoms of mesothelioma, and other types of cancer more broadly, is chronic fatigue. It’s normal to feel tired, especially after a long day of work, but if you seem to feel tired for no reason, and that tiredness never goes away, it could be a sign of something much worse.
• Inexplicable weight loss. Unexplained weight loss may also be a symptom of mesothelioma, though it may occur gradually.
• Fever. If you have a fever, you might think that you caught the flu or the common cold. But sometimes, it’s an indication of something more aggressive.
• Loss of appetite. A persistent lack of appetite could also be a symptom of mesothelioma, along with other types of cancer.
• Night sweats. If you start sweating persistently at night, it might be a sign of mesothelioma.
• Difficulty breathing. The same is true if you start noticing severe difficulty breathing, especially if you notice several other symptoms on this list.
• A cough that won’t go away. Most of us cough daily. We also cough frequently when we’re sick. But if you have a cough that never seems to go away, or if it seems to get worse over time, it might be a sign of lung disease, like pleural mesothelioma.
• Chest pain. Mesothelioma of the lungs and heart can both result in chest pain.
• Abdominal pain. Peritoneal mesothelioma is also associated with abdominal pain.
• Swelling or buildup. Mesothelioma might also trigger the development of swelling or buildup in the affected area.

When to Visit a Doctor

At what point should you visit a doctor about potentially having mesothelioma? The equation is going to look a little different for everyone, but the bottom line is that if you know that you’ve been exposed to asbestos in the past, or if you notice several mesothelioma symptoms that seem to be getting worse, you should visit a doctor as soon as possible.