Swollen lymph nodes are still here...

[DrG00GLE]

It's been many months since I noticed a swollen lymph node in my neck, probably around November. Since then I have noticed 7 more... 7! I've been to 3 doctors and posted on this forum a couple times, yet none of these doctors will give me the right answer. I am young, about to enter high school, and I've just about had it with worrying day after day yet I can't seem to get the motivation to get it biopsied. I'd do anything for the tests to come back clear but I know that, knowing me, it's going to be bad. They haven't grown, but seem to have appeared from nowhere. I've had a sinus infection, a ear infection, and what seems to be a cold for a while as well... the doctors think the lymph nodes are because of these, but how?

[PASchoolSyndrome]

Lymph nodes swell because of infection.. Like sinuses, ears, and colds.. That is literally their job.

Please trust your doctors. Myself and a couple of other posters can absolutely relate but the truth is if 3 doctors have cleared you.. you're clear.

[Toaster]

What doctors consider swollen and what health anxiety sufferers consider swollen are very different.

I thought I had a huge one in my neck. Doctor laughed and said to come back when it was as large as a grape. It was tiny and just normal anatomy.

[Fishmanpa]

What doctors consider swollen and what health anxiety sufferers consider swollen are very different.

Exactly!... HA sufferers will use the term "swollen" despite clear medical reports to validate their irrational thoughts and perceptions. It's affirmed all over the forum. As a Head and Neck cancer survivor, I know intimately what "swollen" nodes are and it's not what's described here.

Positive thoughts

[GlassPinata]

Normal sized (as in "not overweight") people can always feel lymph nodes in their necks.
In children and teens, they are even more prominent and easily felt.
Nothing under 2 cms is really going to worry a doctor, especially in a kid. Kids have more reactive lymph nodes than adults; many kids (including mine) have swollen lymph nodes all winter long.
The doctors are telling you not to worry because 1. your lymph nodes are actually normal size, not swollen at all, or 2. they are slightly swollen due to the colds and sinus infections. This is called "reactive lymph nodes". It is their job to swell up and help you fight off infections.

While it is normal to have swollen lymph nodes after a cold (even weeks or months after, in some cases), there are some other characteristics that lymph nodes have when they signify a serious problem. They are not just swollen. They are fixed and hard. They swell rapidly, to an enormous size- like a golf ball. Something you can not just feel, but actually see when you look in the mirror. They do not come and go, shrink and grow.
This is why the three doctors you have seen have not been worried. Your swollen lymph nodes do not have any of these characteristics. If they did, the doctors would have ordered an immediate biopsy. They do not play around when they suspect a kid might have cancer.
Obviously, they have examined your lymph nodes and determined that they are merely reactive nodes, a response to your recent infections.
I'll tell you one more thing about lymph nodes- the more you poke and prod at them, the bigger they get. Really. You may be keeping your reactive nodes enlarged by messing with them.
Try to avoid touching them at all- if you must, check them lightly once a day.
I'll bet you will notice that when you stop messing with them, they will begin to subside. Although you'll probably always be able to feel them, because it is normal to be able to feel the lymph nodes in your neck.

Sorry if any of this sounded harsh, but I hate to see a young person ruining their life over this nonsense. When I was your age, I was just the same. I thought I saw signs of cancer everywhere.
And you know what? Now I'm 44, and nothing has changed. I went through a lymph node scare just last month! For the hundredth time in my life. And not one of those times was it ever cancer. I've basically wasted my entire life worrying about dying, when in truth I've never even been sick.
Don't let this happen to you.
If you can't stop worrying about your lymph nodes (or other aspects of your health), please speak to a trusted adult. You may need counseling. You may need medication. What you must not do is waste your life on this. Health anxiety can literally steal all the joy from your life. Don't let that happen.
Three doctors say you're fine. You're fine. Address your health anxiety if it continues.

Best wishes.

[DrG00GLE]

Thanks for the information guys, I will try and get through this, my dad is taking me to the ENT to solve this once and for all. I'm honestly scared but it is how it is. You guys talk about how I'm over exaggerating, and that might be true for some of the nodes, but I've approximated one to be around 2 cm, it was my first lymph node, and trust me, it's pretty big. Then again I know some of you guys have probably been through this and know more than me... Wish me luck I guess?

[Mav]

Normal sized (as in "not overweight") people can always feel lymph nodes in their necks.
In children and teens, they are even more prominent and easily felt.
Nothing under 2 cms is really going to worry a doctor, especially in a kid. Kids have more reactive lymph nodes than adults; many kids (including mine) have swollen lymph nodes all winter long.
The doctors are telling you not to worry because 1. your lymph nodes are actually normal size, not swollen at all, or 2. they are slightly swollen due to the colds and sinus infections. This is called "reactive lymph nodes". It is their job to swell up and help you fight off infections.

While it is normal to have swollen lymph nodes after a cold (even weeks or months after, in some cases), there are some other characteristics that lymph nodes have when they signify a serious problem. They are not just swollen. They are fixed and hard. They swell rapidly, to an enormous size- like a golf ball. Something you can not just feel, but actually see when you look in the mirror. They do not come and go, shrink and grow.
This is why the three doctors you have seen have not been worried. Your swollen lymph nodes do not have any of these characteristics. If they did, the doctors would have ordered an immediate biopsy. They do not play around when they suspect a kid might have cancer.
Obviously, they have examined your lymph nodes and determined that they are merely reactive nodes, a response to your recent infections.
I'll tell you one more thing about lymph nodes- the more you poke and prod at them, the bigger they get. Really. You may be keeping your reactive nodes enlarged by messing with them.
Try to avoid touching them at all- if you must, check them lightly once a day.
I'll bet you will notice that when you stop messing with them, they will begin to subside. Although you'll probably always be able to feel them, because it is normal to be able to feel the lymph nodes in your neck.

Sorry if any of this sounded harsh, but I hate to see a young person ruining their life over this nonsense. When I was your age, I was just the same. I thought I saw signs of cancer everywhere.
And you know what? Now I'm 44, and nothing has changed. I went through a lymph node scare just last month! For the hundredth time in my life. And not one of those times was it ever cancer. I've basically wasted my entire life worrying about dying, when in truth I've never even been sick.
Don't let this happen to you.
If you can't stop worrying about your lymph nodes (or other aspects of your health), please speak to a trusted adult. You may need counseling. You may need medication. What you must not do is waste your life on this. Health anxiety can literally steal all the joy from your life. Don't let that happen.
Three doctors say you're fine. You're fine. Address your health anxiety if it continues.

Best wishes.

This really helpful actually, thanks. :):)

[DrG00GLE]

Alright, to update: I went to the doctor, and told him what I thought. He told me I had swollen lymph nodes in my neck as well as "shotty nodes" in my groin area. I finally got him to get me tested so he has ordered 3 tests, a CBC, a EBV, and a Lyme test. Thanks

[Fishmanpa]

I'm sure all will be fine. You have a history of obsessively poking and prodding and that definitely aggravates nodes, can make them swell and go shotty. Let us know how you get on and do your best not to poke and prod in the mean time ;)

Positive thoughts

[DrG00GLE]

after a ton of waiting, i have finally gotten the results and it came back normal for cbc, negative for lyme, and apparently mixed results for mono and my doctor has ordered another test. blood pressure was pretty high because of my anxiety :). thankfully, I feel a lot better now