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Thread: Swollen lymph nodes

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    , , USA.
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    1

    Swollen lymph nodes

    In December, I was diagnosed (by ultrasound) with several enlarged lymph nodes on the right side of my neck (lower cervical area). The funny thing is I thought I felt a difference in my neck all last year and I went to 3 different doctors on 4 occasions who all said my neck was fine. My PCP did a chest xray and blood work which was normal. I also had a fine needs aspiration biopsy of the largest node which came back negative for malignancy and negative for B & T cell lymphoma. I then went to an ENT specialist who did an exam (normal) and put me on antibiotics for 1 month. The problem is I have been on antibiotics for over 3 weeks and the nodes are still enlarged. They are also sore, both when touched, when I turn my neck a certain way and even sometimes I get pain off and on without doing anything. Ironically, this all seems to have gotten worse after the needle biopsy, which seems to have made the nodes sorer and even more enlarged. The needle biopsy was 4 weeks ago. I also have severe health anxiety and am convinced I have lymphoma. I don't have any other symptoms such as fevers, night sweats, etc. I did read on the internet that if you have lymphoma, the glands will hurt more after drinking. Well for the last week or two, this seems to happen to me immediately after I drink and then it goes away. I don't know if I an anticipating this will happen since I am so convinced I have lymphoma or it is real. I feel so worn out with worry. I don't understand why these glands are swollen other than something very serious. Has anyone else had this and if so, how long did the glands stay swollen and sore and what was the cause? Thank you for your response.
    Mary Ann

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    , , United Kingdom.
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    Hello,do a search for swollen lymph nodes and you will find lots of posts on the subject. I have to say if they have done all those tests, it is highly unlikely they have missed anything. Did you have a whole lymph biopsy or just a needle one? Me and Chronic Fatigue Syndrmoe can cause swollen lymph nodes. Also, if you are a teacher/lots of contact with general public, that could casue swollen lymph nodes. I imagine the lymph nodes would be sore for several weks after a biopsy - it is quite invasive. Not sure what to suggest really, other than if it is lymphoma, at least it is one of the more 'curable' cancers. I do think they would have fouind some anomaly by now though. Hope this helps and you have my sympathy- I have larger than normal glands, but apprently I can only feel them becasue I am so skinny. Also, if you had an illness such as whooping cough/glandular fever, your lymph glands can remain swollen for months and months, sometimes permanently. The more you prod and feel them, the more sore they will be, t00 - apprently just touching them can make them swell. I have a very prominent one on my neck, too and I've just had to learn to accept, i'm afraid.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    , , United Kingdom.
    Posts
    46,966
    Try these..

    lymphoma/leukaemia fear
    lymphoma at 17? unlikely i know...but still...
    Cant get lymphoma out of my mind
    lymphoma at 17? unlikely i know...but still...
    Cant get lymphoma out of my mind


    Swollen Lymph Nodes
    Swollen lymph nodes
    swollen lymph nodes
    Swollen lymph glands
    another cancer scare..
    Swollen lymph glands


    Nicola

    People will forget what you said
    People will forget what you did
    But people will never forget how you made them feel

  4. #4

    Exclamation Re: Swollen lymph nodes

    I have been to the doctor today and could not believe the way he treated me. I have 4 swollen lymph glands under my right arm and about 5 large glands in my groin. He said he was in a rush and could not spend to mush time on me! If I just fill you in I have had these for about 8 years!!! Yes 8 years. I have seen specialists and had tests and was even sent back from travelling when I found the ones in my groin and went to a doctor. I have been told many a thing including:I am skinny and I can feel more.. I must have been very ill as a baby and that is why they are always going to be swollen. They found out I had glandular fever as a baby and have even said it must have been this. I have had many blood tests and have just been referred to a specialist again today. I have never had a biopsy I should say but I think I am due one. I have only seen this doctor about 3 times and he told me today that glands this size are normal!!! and I look perfectly healthy!!! If I just tell you that I have had a cough for a year and a half that has wrecked my life as I have not been able to get rid of it. Its kept me awake at night and gets worse then a bit better then bad again. Well I did some research last night as I am sick of the different things they keep giving me at the doctors and guess what it could actually be linked to Lymphomia!!! I said this to my doctor today and he said they are seperate things and I only have time to deal with the one thing you will have to come back for another appointmentabout the cough!!!! I told him they could be linked and he just went quiet!! I dont think he even knew! I feel so tierd and almost dare I say like giving up on this one. I feel my health is not right and I am not a worrier just feel that doctors just dont know what to do with you and it feels like they play with your life at times. I know that is not all doctors but I just cant seem to get to the bottom of the reason for my swollen glands. They are not painful but the ones in my groin really ache when I have been to the gym. I went back to the doctors today because one of the lumps under my arm feels bigger. I would say that the bigger one is about a cm and half and the other a cm across. The one in my groin are from a cm to a cm and a half with a couple of a smaller size. They are rubbery and the ones under my arm move around. Is there anyone out there that is having a similar experiene or could give me a bit of feedback??? I would really appreciate it.
    Last edited by geogeo; 19-08-08 at 13:29.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    , , United Kingdom.
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    Re: Swollen lymph nodes

    Hello,
    I think after having them for eight years, you can assume that if it was lymphoma, you would know by now! when I went to see a lympohma specialsit, she said they will swell enormously, quite quickly - often to the size of golf ball/tennis ball. the reasons the docs gave you are all perfectly valid reasons for haivng permanently enlarged glands - illness as a child can indeed cause enalrged glands permanently.

    If they were sore after a wrokout, is it not possible you have overstretched areas close to them, making them hurt? The ay you describe your glands also sounds normal - they are supposed to feel rubbery, round and smooth, and able to move. Again, the specialist said they would worry about very hard ones, irregularly shaped that you can't move.

    I am also quite slender and again the specialist (and the eight docs I saw - oops!) also said they could be felt more easily because I was so slim.

    Your phrase 'I'm not a worrier', yet you then go on to describe being kept awake at night by worrying about this problem that you've had for 8 years made me chuckle! If you really weren't a worrier, you wouldn't have laid awake all night worrying about it!

    Doctors do only have five minute slots, and I have also been told that they only have time to deal with one thing in an appointment - it's not their fault, it is true. You can always ask for a double appointment, or just make two appointments.

    I hope this makes you feel better- I fretted for ages, and actually made myself quite physically ill with worry, but I don't have lymphoma.

    Finally, particularly in the groin area, you often get what the doctors call 'shotty glands'. These are so called because they feel a bit like lead shots - exactly as you have described. They are very common. Hope you feel better soon - I think if you really had lymphoma, and had had it for eight years, you would find it hard to be at the gym, working out!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    , , United Kingdom.
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    Re: Swollen lymph nodes

    ps - finally, the size of your glands is actually totally normal -enlarged glands are ones that are at least an inch across!

  7. #7

    Unhappy Re: Swollen lymph nodes


    i discovered a lump in my armpit a few month ago but chose to ignore it. i then checked the web with the word lump in arm on a search engine and the links all were related to cancer. Suitably terrified i carried on ignoring the lump until a few days ago when i noticed the lump had grown in size and is now pink. thinking it was the end of the world i went 2 see my doc. my doc looked at it for 2 seconds and said it was nothing just a swollen lymph node caused by infection - but can u really b sure that it is "nothing" just by looking at a swollwen lump for 1 or 2 secs? the lump is quite painful now and i can totally relate to the feeling that the doc isn't taking the swollen lump seriously and being rushed out of the practice. although i have been given antibiotics to take i don't feel reassured as nothing was explained to me and i am very scared that the lump will not go away and could possibly b something worse as the doc said lumph nodes are nothing to do with cancer but the net says otherwise! i have also experienced quite bad back pain for the last year .

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    674

    Re: Swollen lymph nodes

    Listen to your doctor, not Google . You doctor has actually looked at you, examined you. With Google you just type in a few words and a bunch of stuff appears. It might bear no relation at all to what you have.

    Your lymph nodes can swell whenever your body is under attack, from anything, it could be a bacterial infection, virus, fungus, or even just a small cut or an insect bite. Usually with a minor injury or infection, just the nodes nearest the site of injury or infection will swell. I had a viral infection in my ears and sinuses and the lymph nodes under my jaw stayed swollen for almost three months. When the virus was attacking they would be sore - sometimes so sore that I would wake up in the night in agony, scrabbling around for painkillers. But they are OK now. One of them has been permanently swollen since I had an ear infection a few years ago.

    If your doctor isn't concerned then I'd try not to worry about it. If you develop further symptoms then pop back to the doc. Your back pain might be something to do with the infection or it might be unrelated. Did you talk to the doctor about it?

  9. #9

    Red face Re: Swollen lymph nodes

    I've had a swollen Lymph node in my neck for around 3 or 4 years now, it may have been longer as it's never been painful or particularly large. I grew concerned it may be Hodgkin’s and consulted my girlfriend’s step-father who is a doctor. He felt it and proclaimed "that’s nothing to worry about, if there was a problem it would be a great big rubbery thing that would be much harder and wouldn't move". He also enquired whether I was losing weight, or sweating excessively at night, which I wasn't, in fact I was probably slightly overweight at the time. And so my concerns were put to rest.

    However being the cyber-chondriac I am, a few months later I started worrying about it again and went to my GP who carried out blood tests and an examination and again found nothing concerning.

    I also suffer with fatigue from time to time and have difficulty thinking clearly, and wake up feeling un-refreshed, particularly when I've done little or too much exercise, after spending excessive amounts of time at my computer and during stressful times in my life, one doctor has suggested I'm suffering with a mild case of ME/CFS of which one common symptom is enlarged Lymph glands!

  10. #10

    Re: Swollen lymph nodes

    I too have swollen lymph glands and am really worried. Two weeks ago I woke up to find a large lump on the right hand side of my neck above the collar bone. It went down somewhat towards the evening but the swollen lump is still there. First week I was petrified and like everyone else I guess, searched 'swollen glands' and ended up in a state! My lump was tender to touch and under the squashy skin I could feel all sorts of lumps that I thought should not be there. The GP thought it may be a cyst but wasn't sure and sent me for a full blood test and thryroid test - both of which have come back as normal. Today I had an ultra sound and was sort of hoping it may be a cyst but it is not. The doctor said he didn't 'think it seemed too bad' but is writing to my GP to organise more tests. Now I have to wait for over a week before I hear from my GP! The bump is not tender now but has remained the same size. I just know how everyone else feels now when I read their posts.
    Pipp

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