View Full Version : 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
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.
nomorepanic
10-02-07, 16:18
Try these..
lymphoma/leukaemia fear
lymphoma at 17? unlikely i know...but still... (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6584)
Cant get lymphoma out of my mind (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7050)
lymphoma at 17? unlikely i know...but still... (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6584)
Cant get lymphoma out of my mind (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7050)
Swollen Lymph Nodes
Swollen lymph nodes (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17375)
swollen lymph nodes (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=13525)
Swollen lymph glands (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15811)
another cancer scare.. (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15862)
Swollen lymph glands (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15810)
Nicola
People will forget what you said
People will forget what you did
But people will never forget how you made them feel
:weep: :unsure: 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.
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!
ps - finally, the size of your glands is actually totally normal -enlarged glands are ones that are at least an inch across!
confsed777
14-10-08, 21:11
:ohmy:
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 :scared15: .
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?
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!
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
wiskersonkittens
12-05-09, 15:35
For about 6 weeks now, I have had a pain in my left side (between my ribs and stomach)-- it has come and gone, but if I get in a certain position, there it is! I went to the doctor and upon initial exam he thought it was muscular, but decided to do an ultrasound anyway (obviously couldn't feel anything ominous during the initial exam). Well . . in the results it was noted my spleen was slightly enlarged and there was a lymph node sort of near my stomach, which he did say was common -- they come and go. But, he suggested since it is causing me pain, we do a CT scan on me. Again, that darn lymph node made itself known and he said it is a little large, but knowing that I am a worrier he reassured me that he wasn't concerned, but it would be best to do further testing . .. sooooooo, Friday I have to get an MRI done and at some point after that get it biopsied.
I am scared-- I just don't know what is causing this freakish thing. I can come up with several awful diseases -- actually, google can! ha! I am just praying whatever it is can be fixed.
I am not fatigued, and I haven't experienced the usual symptoms of lymphoma, which my doc said I would have experienced by now. AND, last year was a very difficult year for me health anxiety wise, so I went to the ER twice, and several doctors appointments and had lots of blood work (my last blood test was in October) and everything came back perfect. I would imagine my white blood cells would have been off if I was getting cancer, but I am not an expert. I just keep trying to reassure myself.
Now, I am obsessively checking my body for more lymph nodes (now the right side of my neck feels larger than the left!) -- which isn't good because if I THINK I found one, I feel that adrenaline rush. I am constantly checking my temperature and weight to make sure I am not getting out of the ordinary fevers or suddenly losing weight. So far still no night sweats.
I have been blessed with good health all my life, so this is new territory for me -- and really, once the doctors actually find something you kind of realize you were really healthy the whole time and it was your thoughts making you feel otherwise. I feel like an idiot for worrying about everything before. :doh: Now, I feel I have something to worry about, even though my doctor doesn't, he's just being cautious. I am just wanting this resolved. The unknown is the worst. I can't help but wonder if this is the beginning of the end for me. :weep: Or the beginning of the end of my health anxieties and a new, healthier life? :yesyes: Hugs, Wiskers ~
Your're not an idiot by worrying about your health. Problem is, if you look on the net, swollen lymph nodes seem to be bad news - we ignore the first line that says most lumps are okay. I'm worrying myself sick even though my blood tests were okay and it seems for ever before I get my ultra sound result. What does a swollen lymph gland actually feel like - does anyone know? Do they always stay enlarged if they don't go away in a few weeks? Are they normally tender/not tender? So many questions go around in your head till you feel sick. My neck is different on one side to the other - I think alot of people's are.
alexanderthegreat
15-01-10, 02:52
I'm new here, and firstly I'd just like to say its really reassuring to find a place on the internet where people seem to go through the same things I do. Every few months or so something goes slightly wrong with my body and i assume the worst. I'm absolutely terrified of serious illness and death, particularly the big C. Currently, the glands in my neck have been going up and down, and as usual, I've done soem searching on the internet. This is always a bad idea; I get so worried and anxious I can't relax, or be happy, or sleep. Searching for 'swollen glands' I ended up here; for the past 2-3 weeks the glands in my neck have been going up and down. I don't seem to have any symptoms, although I fear I may be having problems with my testicle again; I may/may not have a cyst and/or it may be prone to infection. Over the past two days I've been getting the occassional muscle aches in my arms and legs but reason that they may be to do with the glands in my groin and armpits? Again, I'd just like to say how happy I am I found this site and to know that other people seem to get themselves so wound up from 'cyberchondria'.
Thanks,
Alexander
Deanster101
22-04-10, 10:51
Hi all
Had a swollen lymph node on the right side of my neck for a month now and made the massive mistake of putting that into google.....wow. I think its a disgrace how a lot of these self-diagnosis websites seem to spend most of their time telling us its probably cancer and we're going to die, rather than the alternatives. I spent hours searching for stats and found that the chance of myself (26 year old male) developing lymphoma is only 0.4%!!
Firstly i should say that the node is rather large (about 2.5cm in diameter), smooth and flat like a pebble, but i can sort of move it around. What is a little worrying is that it was tender for a few days but weeks later its still big and not tender at all, and because of that i'm going back to the doctor's in about 3 weeks (just to give it a little more time to go down). It did happen when i started seeing my girlfriend though, and it could possibly be glandular fever, which would explain why penicillin isn't working as its a viral infection.
Anyway keep calm guys and remember loads of infections can cause your nodes to swell up. Even if it turns out to be serious this website has made me feel a hell of a lot better!
Hi,
I know this is very late compared to everyone elses reply.
but I had swollen lymph nodes in my neck and it ended up that I had Kikuchi disease, which is a very rare self limiting disease - They are still not sure of the cause. It can last up to 6 months which happened in my case. I wasn't ill with it but people can have fever. I had swollen Lymph glands, joint pain and dryness in my mouth.The only way that it can be diagnosed is through a Lymph node biopsy as FNA does not always show anything. Differential diagnosis is SLE and lymphoma
I went through this exact same thing 2 years ago. Had several enlarged nodes, doc was concerned and ordered an array of tests. I had blood tests and a CT scan of my neck. The scan confirmed the nodes were larger than normal but not malignant. Never knew the cause, eventually they went down. At the time I was totally panicked, could not stop worrying about lymphoma. Sometimes we just dont know the cause of enlarged glands. They fight infection in our body and we dont always know what triggers them to enlarge. I still find that when I get enlarged nodes if I have a cold, and even one time I had an enlarged node for something as minor as a cut! As long as the doc has checked you out and your tests are normal, no need to worry. GIve it time, the nodes will eventually settle down. Sometimes once they are inflamed it takes a lot longer for them to return to "normal" size.
ellsonrose
16-01-14, 22:41
Hello! I hope someone reads this soon I'm freaking out a bit. Ive had a swollen lymph node in the left hand side of my neck for as long as I can remember, I used to suffer from a lot of tonsillitis when I was little and assumed it has just remained swollen since then. I also have one under my jaw which must be about 2cm, again I assumed this was because of tonsilitis.
I went to the doctors back in October about some back pain (recently been diagnosed with a few small lypomas which can be felt because I'm quite petite, and a schmorls node which has been causing some pain)....I mentioned these nodes at my appointment because I had googled (bad I know!) and read that swollen lymph nodes and back pain can sometimes mean something quite scary, ie the C word.
I had some blood work done and they found a slightly raised white blood count of around 12,000, which in a follow up blood test has decreased to around 11,000. I recently have found two more swollen nodes either side of my neck, in the same position, although these are really teeny, smaller than a pea.
I'm just scared really, and I blame over thinking and google! But I read about these people, who have such symptoms and it turns out to be dreadful! Any suggestions or reassurance would be amazing right now.
Thankyou
Dissension
17-01-14, 00:30
The probability of cancer is sufficiently low that I wouldn't worry, particularly given the apparent time lapse between onset of the original symptom and now. White blood cell count can be affected even by fairly trivial infections and lymph nodes sometimes also swell as a result of those minor illnesses.
As an ED/A&E nurse once passed on to me, "There are only two things in life I don't worry about: the things I can control, because I can make them better, and the things beyond my control, because worrying won't help anyway."
Your physician invested sufficient time and energy getting their medical degree that they likely know what they're doing. If there were anything to be concerned over, the physician would order additional testing. If you're particularly bothered, you may want to call up and ascertain whether a biopsy or other diagnostic test would be feasible.
ellsonrose
18-01-14, 13:12
True, deep down I know this, and I know to trust a qualified GP rather than all these stories on the internet! It does cause the mind to wonder though and for me to search for symptoms.
I've recently been getting occasional chest pains, that last no more than a few seconds at a time which I know are most likely due to the stress of all this than anything else! I also read this could be because of swollen lymph nodes, however this pain is felt right under the skin, almost on the bone and I can feel no lumps or bumps there.
Its all happening at a time when I'm moving house and starting a new job and this is really putting a dampener on what should be an exciting time to be honest! I have an ultra sound next week and I'm praying thatll be the end of it! Sorry to moan, thank you for your response, its reassuring to know other people are in the same boat!
Is it possible to just have large lymph nodes? Especially after a childhood which was interrupted by tonsillitis at least every 6 months! (seem to have grown out of it now- touch wood, not had a bout of it for almost 2 years :) yet these pesky glands are still swollen!)
Frederick1337
12-05-14, 05:53
Hi all. First off, let me say that I have had swollen lymph nodes on only one side of my neck for about 12 years. There is no ryme or reason for this, however after 12 years and doing a hell of a lot of Google panic research ( by the way all tests come back negative or normal ) I have come to the invariable conclusion that because I had a surgery on my lower spine when I was 13 years old, that I may have a slow lymph system. Evidently the Lumbar region can effect this. What I would like to convey here today, is that after 12 years of panic and anxiety, I have finally found a website that actually calms me down and makes me think that life isn't so bad after all. Thank you all for your courageous posts, now I know I am not alone. There are so many things that can effect your lymph nodes and not be a life threatening problem. One thing is for sure though, we can all use a little relax a therapy when first we Google to diagnose.:shrug: Again, thank you all, and I am thinking it is a bit ironic that this is a U.K. website, probably because I am an old Red Coat at heart and I guess I am truly an imperialist.
Anyway, GOD bless you all, and may all of your lymph problems be non fatal. :bighug1:
I leave you with this prayer, it always helps me so much:
Praise you LORD GOD of gods, to YOU goes glory, honor, and dominion, all things LORD. I Love you LORD GOD of gods. Thank you LORD GOD of gods.
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