Symptoms:

Symptoms usually start slowly. Joint paint is the most common initial symptom. After that, often several years later, symptoms of gastrointestinal (GI) infection develop. Other symptoms may include:

• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Gray to brown skin color
• Joint pain
• Memory loss
• Mental changes
• Weight loss

Signs and tests:

Possible signs:

• Enlarged lymph glands
• Fatty stools
• Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding
• Heart murmur
• Swelling in body tissues (edema)

Tests to diagnose Whipple's disease may include:

• Complete blood count (CBC)
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of the affected tissue for Tropheryma whippelii
• Small bowel biopsy
• Upper GI endoscopy (viewing the intestines with a flexible, lighted tube in a process called enteroscopy )

This disease may also change the results of the following tests:

• Albumin levels in the blood
• Unabsorbed fat in the stools (fecal fat)
• Intestinal absorption of a type of sugar (d-xylose absorption)