Hi all!

I'm new here, though I've been suffering from health anxiety on and off for a number of years. I had it under control for a while, but then the past few weeks, it's come flaring up again.

Basically for about 2-3 weeks, I've had swollen lymph nodes on both sides of my neck, sort of under my ears/jaw bone. The one on the right is not very big at all, but the one on the left is sort of sausage-shaped and fluctuates in size, up to about 1.5 to 2 cm in the evenings sometimes. I also have a slightly stuffy (but not painful) ear on that side, I don't have a throat ache or sinus issues or anything though, but I sneeze a bit sometimes. In short: I'm not really ill and I'm super worried these nodes have been up for a while now.

I did go see the doctor three days ago, she felt my neck and seemed to think my nodes weren't particularly swollen at all, basically prescribed my an antibiotic for my ear (which doesn't seem to be especially working...) and sent me on my way, told me I'd probably been having a virus for a bit too because lots of people are ill, to make sure to get plenty of vitamins and exercise, etc. This reassured me... for about six hours, and then I started Googling and worrying and freaking out again. Obviously I've also been poking at these lymph nodes hard for about 1.5 weeks now, which also probably doesn't help...

So basically, any advice re: how to overcome this? It's really getting in the way of my day to day productivity, making me anxious, keeping me awake, etc. It's just awful and I'm not sure how to cope. I'm getting married in six months and can't stop thinking that I'm probably lethally ill and will die soon, etc. It's so awful.

Thanks so much for any help or advice you can offer.