Swollen glands update #3

[Darren1]

Hello!

Well this is becoming a very long story with no conclusion at the moment!

I have been to the doctors this morning after waiting 3 weeks since my last blood test (which showed nothing). For new readers, my concern is somekind of lymphoma or advanced cancer.

He was running really late and seemed in a very bad mood which didn't help!

I told him my concerns.

- Pain in neck and underarms are no better
- New pains running down my sides and lower back
- Worried that my glands are swelling in my entire body
- Worried that maybe its an advance cancer which has spread to my lymph glands.
- I have lost weight
- I have no appetite
- Worried about waking up sweating but not sure if it classifys as a night sweat
- Worrying is affecting all aspects of my life

First of all he seemed to be agreeing with me that it could be cancer! He said that people with advanced cancer or tumours in their body experience all sorts of pain in different places depending on what nerves are affected.
I started to panic at this stage! But he said he sees a lot of people with cancer and they are rather quite poorly! Apparently I'm not!! He said that my blood markers would be all over the place if I had advance disease and also there would be symptoms of an original tumor e.g. bleeding in stools etc.
He said my blood tests are all within normal range !

He said I am not going to die in the next 6 months! I can't believe how blunt he was being.

He said regarding the anxiety and depression would I like help with that??? He has given me a prescription for Prozac! I've never had antidepressants before!

He has agreed to refer me to a heamatologist but has told me to be prepared they may not find anything wrong and the anxiety of going for tests etc. He said it 3-4 week referral.

He is also sending me for a chest xray to check for lymph nodes - i think if this is clear it will put my mind at rest.

One important thing I pointed out was that NICE guidelines state that swollen glands for 6 weeks or more should be referred urgently to be seen within 2 weeks. He told me that there are swollen glands and there are swollen glands - mine are not big enough to worry about!!

I can't believe how blunt he was being and inconsiderate!! It is as if he is ignoring all my symptoms! How can a GP rely on a blood test so much?

[Darren1]

what do people think?

[joelhall]

I think your doctor is certainly not ignoring your symptoms, but has a lot of knowledge and experience and knows there is nothing alarming in your symptoms to be worrying about.

[Darren1]

I think your doctor is certainly not ignoring your symptoms, but has a lot of knowledge and experience and knows there is nothing alarming in your symptoms to be worrying about.

I keep reading that neck pain is a symptom of head and neck cancers or mets to the lymph nodes in the neck.

The pain and stiffness in my neck is at times unbearable! I don't understand why he has not sent me for an MRI or CT scan purely for this reason!

If there were tumours in the lymph glands of my neck, would they be growing in 2months? All the lymph nodes I can feel are still the same size (pea sized) and the stiffness/pain comes and goes but never completely goes.

Could there be a a completely differential diagnosis causing all this pain? Pain killers do not even help!

[joelhall]

Neck pain is a symptoms of pulled muscles, sleeping funny, cheap pillows, shortsightedness, colds, 'flu, whipash, arthritis, ankylising spondylitis, stress, toothache referred pain, anxiety, shoulder problems, headaches, stenosis, trapped nerves, turning the head funny, muscle tension, and prodding and poking it as well.
You should always remember that one symptom does not make a disease. It is very easy to fall into the trap of assuming the worst, but simply as a symptom is linked does not by a lon shot indicate an illness.

I think that sometimes internet sources are slightly irresponsible, as a list of symptoms never usually tells people what order they occur in, what sort of pain there is, the direct cause of a symptom and the clinical signs that a doctor can see when checking a certain symptom.

[Darren1]

this process has made me lose all faith in the NHS. it just seems obvious to me that somebody with neck pain/swollen glands should be sent for imaging to see what the hell is going on. am i being unreasonable?

[joelhall]

No not everyone should be sent for screening. If you had a visible lump around the collar bone or neck, with abnormal leukocyte numbers, normocytic anaemia, atypical WBC morphology and lymphoid stem cells in the blood, then I'd be worried.

[Darren1]

are blood tests really that definitive and trusted?

Would Metastasis to the lymph nodes make something showup in the blood result? If things had got as far as lymph nodes in my neck and armpits - would there be other signs? I am worried about cancer of unknown primary.

[joelhall]

I can think of quite a few clinical signs, which I'm reluctant to post here. As for the bloods, yes there are numerous signs, most of which are picked up on a FBC.

[Darren1]

i just can't cope with the unknown anymore. i dont care what it is anymore, i just want to know! ive never been in this situation in my life before, ive always thought doctors can find out whats wrong. i doubt seeing the heamatologist in 4 weeks time will help.

[joelhall]

I'm sure it will help out alot. Keep us posted.:)

[AuntieMoosie]

Hello Darren :)

You do seem to be tying yourself up in knots about this and you are continually feeding your anxiety with more and more fear, most of which are unfounded.

Number 1, however hard it is, please don't go see Dr Google!! all he does is scare you. Good old Dr Google cannot diagnose you at all and that is because he can't see you, he can't hear you and he can't examine you, all he can, and does, do, is throw heaps of information at you, most of which you will be unable to understand.

So okay, as a matter of fact, today I'm really not feeling too good, I've got a slight headache, I feel a bit sick, a bit weak, a bit shaky and generally off.

Now if I go ask good old Dr Google about my symptoms that I have today, didn't have yesterday and probably wont have tomorrow, he'll give me all the bad news and do you know why?? because I suspect that my symptoms probably match a whole host of nasty illnesses :)

Now I could listen to Dr Google is I chose too, but I'm not going too, because I already suspect why I'm not feeling too good today, and it's because I only got about an hours sleep last night, but if I were to type my symptoms into Google, I bet that option wouldn't even come up!!! :winks:


Darren I don't think that your GP is ignoring you at all, what he's trying to do it reassure you that there is nothing seriously wrong with you, I would think that his statement that you're not going to die in 6 months time, was tongue in cheek and he was obviously trying to lighten your anxieties a bit, actually sounds like he's got a good sense of humor to me.

So you want to go off and have an MRI and other scans. Fair enough, but how is that going to make you feel any different?? If your GP were to refer you for those tests, what would that put in your mind?? It would probably feed your anxieties more, because you would then be thinking that your GP also thinks there's something really nasty happening.

Believe me, I know how it feels to be highly anxious and I've had my fair share of panic attacks for several years now too. Thankfully, I don't suffer with health anxiety but I'm currently trying to recover from agoraphobia, having been completely house bound for many years. I'm learning to face my fears and confront them full on. It's not easy, but it's doable :)

Darren fear feeds fear and sometimes the more frightened we get the more scary thoughts enter our minds and we end up in a vicious circle.

I think your GP was quite right to ask you if you needed help with your depression/anxiety, he sounds like he's very on the ball to me.

Perhaps go down that route, it will help you. You could also try some CBT which is also extremely helpful for any of the anxieties as it teaches you new ways to think.

Try as hard as you can to distract yourself when you start getting the scary thoughts, don't feed them with anything, just accept them for what they are and then try to focus on something else, all they are are thoughts, they can't hurt you and neither can the anxiety or panic that comes with them :)

I think that joel has been brilliant at trying to put your mind at rest. I don't really know, but I have a feeling he may be a doctor, consultant or perhaps a highly trained nurse, but whatever he is, he knows his stuff.

So Darren it's the doctors that you are seeking reassurance from, they are giving you that reassurance but you now have to start believing them. Why do you think that your GP would keep something from you??? Doctors spend many years studying and working really hard to be able to have their careers, the do that because they like helping and trying to cure people so it makes no sense to me at all that they would go out of their way to mislead you, it just wouldn't happen, but you have to believe that and trust them :)

Anyway I hope that some of what I've said has helped a little. Try and switch from focusing on your symptoms, to dealing with your anxiety because I'm sure that is the route of your problem.

I'm off out into my garden now for some fresh air in the hope that it wakes me up a little!! lol

I hope I haven't come across as hard or lecturing Darren, I'm not, I'm just trying to explain things as best I can to you hoping that it may help you :)

[nomorepanic]

Fab post Moosie and I think that should be put somewhere that everyone can see as well!

[AuntieMoosie]

Aww thank you so much Nic, I do try to help where I can and if I can :)

Feel free to move it to wherever you feel it would be helpful :)

Love and hugs Mandy :hugs:

[Big-B]

DR.Google is truly DR. Evil...

[amyamyamy14]

I've had 2 swollen lymph nodes/glands (One on either side) in my neck for now 2-3 years. sometimes they're hard, and sometimes they're soft. They've caused me stress over the years. I got them checked by my doctor once, he touched them and brushed it off. It annoyed me, as he didn't even examine them.

They're still the same size, like a pea (bit bigger though)

I had all the other symptoms you've described plus more including itchy armpits and blocked nose all the time (all lymphoma related), but I think its all my anxiety though.

Over time the fear decreases :-)

[Darren1]

AuntieMoosie

Thank you so much for taking the time to write me that message.

I felt like i was reading a kick in the butt (in a nice way) and you'know it was exactly what I needed. Yesterday and today I have tried to get on with my life a bit normally and certainly the anxiety has decreased. I know that just in the sense that i had a sudden desire to eat 5 packets of crisps - When Darren's appetite is OK you know things aren't too bad!!

Of course there is a worry because i don't know what is going to unfold over the next few weeks to find out what is wrong with me. I had my chest xray today and i have decided that if the phone rings, i am going to stay calm. If the xray is clear then it's one positive thing i can take onboard.

In 4 weeks i will have my appointment with the haematologist - i am happier that atlast I will finally see someone who can hopefully shed some light.

thanks again for your time - sorry I took a while to reply but i wanted to reply properly and not just post a quick thanks!

Bless you xx