Lump in neck! [Archive] - No More Panic

Arisniko1

08-07-17, 14:33

Hello there!
I am a 27 yo male and for the last two months I can't calm down from health issues and scares.
Around the 3rd of May I got bronchitis and I had a very severe cough for almost six days. I was coughing up green mucus and i had a weezing when i breathed. I got clarithromycin and an inhaling medicine to clear my airways. Almoat immediately clarithromycin gave me total taste numbing and after 6 days of taking it gave me oral candidiasis which i still got to this day. From what i can tell from checking up online and from an excellent dentist friend of mine it is not as severe as it could be so i just try to be careful on what i eat and am waiting for it to go away. Anyway for a week after ending the clarithromycin i kept feeling a lump in neck feeling and my lymph nodes and throat in general felt like swollen with no visual signs and a small irregular cough. I went back to the dr and he said it might be some residue from the bronchitis. He gave me another antibiotic for 3 days which after an xray seem to now be gone. Flash forward to the start of July and i still had the lymph nodes feeling and some scratchy throat also: a lump had formed on my left neck side on the posterior cervical area almost on top of the spinal accessory nerve ( i should note that i have a neck syndrom and i regularly rub and massage my neck on those areas which since the winter keep aching me almost as long as the sternocleimastoid muscle in front. I mention this because when i first noticed the lump it was during a self massage and the day after another self massage that i kinda hurt myself from rubbing). The lump is firm in place non tender non painful small and kinda rubbery but hard rubbery its not matted since i am only feeling a single lump and it has the size of a pea. Went back to the doctors and after he felt the lymph nodes ( he thinks that the lump is an inflamed lymph node), he checked and saw pus in my throat. He first thought it had somthing to do with my sinus and after an xray we saw that i had nothing on there accept a slight deviated septum which is logical since every february to early april i have sinus problems like severe allergies. He then said that since i have the pus it might be pharyngitis and gave me yet another antibiotic. It's 8 days now and while the throat is smooth again the pea lump is still there. Its only visible if i tilt my neck on the right side.
I have thought of everything. From a pinched nerve -since i sleep weirdly- to a lipoma and lymphoma.
It worries me that it's not hurting. Its just there. I have no other symptoms. No fever on the pharyngitis front no night sweats or abnormal fatigue. Only my neck is kinda hurting but i had that before... so aside from the neck hurting on and off in my day to day routine and the lump just there, i feel ok...
This whole thing has made me a hypochondriac. Its two months of my life constantly searching and worrying. I will be back to the doctors on monday since i only ended the antibiotic saturday morning.
Any insights or personal experience would be really helpful. I told you all my story since it has been a constant health scare since May.
Thanks!

thecyberpractitioner

10-07-17, 04:15

Hello,

First of all, I went through a similar episode of HA with neck lumps, you will get through it.

I used to write a blog, and wrote quite a substansive post about this sort of thing which Ill post below (I hope this doesn't count as some sort of advertisement, the blog is not active and I am just trying to help!):

Lymph Nodes. Two words that come together to send shivers down the spine of anyone suffering with even the mildest of Health Anxiety. To feel any form of Lymph Node is to touch the face of impending death in the minds of any Hypochondriac. Well, I can tell you that in my personal experience, this is not true. Not even in the slightest.
Before I continue, I would like to say that the following post is made up from information I have been told by my doctor, and from NHS sources. It relates to me. If you can feel your Lymph Nodes and are at all concerned, go and see your GP. The cause is 99% nothing to worry about. However, I am not a doctor, and neither are you (probably, apologies to any doctors out there), so go and get them checked out. Once you have had them checked, and have been told that they are normal and are of no cause for concern, feel free to read on.
Lymph Nodes make up part of our Lymphatic System, the part of the body designed to fight infection. In short (and this is the limit of my understanding, as told to me by my doctor) the Lymph Nodes collate White Blood Cells, primed to fight infection,which can cause them to swell. (White Blood Cells contain antibodies used to fight infections, and in some cases the Lymph Nodes deal with these natural occurrences sometimes before we even notice any side effects). When this happens, in some cases you can feel them, whilst other times you cannot. I am not going to attempt to explain the exact science behind it as I am not trained, but the point is this: There are many non-harmful reasons that can cause them to swell up. However, I do know that in very rare circumstances, they can collate harmful cells, such as cancer cells, which can also cause them to swell. As I have said, this is rare. Your GP will be able to identify any causes for concern. If he or she does not have any worries, then neither should you. Another thing that I have learned is that some Lymph Nodes have a habit of hanging around for weeks, months and even years with no sinister cause. The following is my experience with Lymph Nodes…
Following my headache/sinus infection/”brain tumour” ordeal (as detailed in the “My Journey to Health Anxiety” post), I had become obsessed with my body. I was convinced, if not a brain tumour, that something else was wrong with me. As a result, I started poking and prodding myself all over, looking for the slightest irregularity.
I have had a lump, about the size of a cm in the shape of a fleshy little ball in my neck for as long as I can remember (it’s still there now). I know that Health Anxiety tends to put a sort of “memory fence” around your brain when it comes to your body, and you can’t seem to think back to before you started stressing about your impending doom and remember what is normal and what is not. In fact, the only reason I can recall this particular irregularity is because when I wasn’t worrying, I used to feel it in my neck when I put on aftershave, and sometimes could even see a little bulge in that area of the neck when I canted my neck over to the right in the mirror whilst shaving. However, with my new-found Health Anxiety super powers, this totally harmless little lump, became a massive focus of my attention. It was (and sometimes is) the centre of my Health Anxiety.
So, like any good Cyber Practitioner, I consult the Medical School of Google to diagnose myself. And oh goody, as I suspected, enlarged Lymph Nodes in that area are definitely a sign of a spreading cancer. Marvellous. So after having just miraculously recovering from a “brain tumour”, I am now on my way to another form of cancer that has spread to my Lymph Nodes, or some kind of Lymphoma. But of course, us Cyber Practitioners are nothing if not thorough, and therefore I go on some kind of misguided neck examination mission to see if there are anymore naughty nodes. ********. One in my right jaw (about 1cm ball shaped), one in the front of my neck to the right hand sidea few cm above my collarbone (probably less than a cm, bean shaped, and what seems like a hard and fixed one at the base of my hairline on the right hand side at the top of my neck (again, about a cm). By this time, my G-Medical training tells me I am well and truly buggered. I also find out that it is common for Lymph Nodes to also swell in the armpits and groin if there are any problems. So my not-so-fact finding mission continues to my underarms. Poking and prodding continuouly until my muscles are aching. I of course discount the prodding and assume my muscles are aching on their own, and this can only be down to Lymph Nodes. Now it is my poor groins turn to face the full rath of my node hunt. I again poke and prod and find nothing. All I achieve is a very sore groin from where I have interferred with a part of my body that was to all intensive purposes just minding it’s own business and getting on with it’s job. I poked so hard down there I had blood vessels in the area showing up where I had never seen them before. This was definately not healthy. Time for a trip to the doctor (again). I set my alarm for 7.50 next morning, waiting by the phone for the moment the clock strikes 8:00, to constantly call the doctors trying to get through. I get an appointment with my preferred doctor, who knows all about my Health Anxiety and who I have built a good rapport with (see the “Trust your Doctor!” post).
I arrive at the surgery, register my arrival and take a seat in the waiting area. Thoughts of the doctors face dropping as he sends me through for a referral rush through my head over and over. I am sweating like you wouldn’t believe and my heart is beating through my chest. Have I found the answer to all of my “symptoms”?
My name is called and as I walk into his office (this place feels like a second home) as he smiles and asks me whats wrong. My doctor has dealt with plenty of my Health Anxiety problems for the last who knows how long, but as ever, calmly listens to what I have to say, and asks me some follow up questions. I am first asked to lie on the bed, where the doctor feels around my spleen area and confirms that everything feels normal. He then goes on to feel my Lymph Nodes. The one that has been there for ages, is described as perfectly normal and the fact that it has never changed is nothing to worry about. The one in my jaw is described as tiny, and shows no warning signs. The one at the front of my neck, is so small that I would never have noticed if I wasn’t poking and prodding for hours on end, and it could not even be one. And finally the one at my hairline is not a lymph node, it’s a hair folecule cyst. In my frame of mind, I am still waiting for my dreaded referral. “I can assure you this is nothing” he says calmly as he smiles. However, as I am anxious, he says that he will run a full blood count for me on the hurry up and phone me if there are any abnormalities. Whether he was a bit concerned and wanted to verify I’ll never know, but two days later I receieved no call. The day after that I phoned the surgery to double check and all was normal. We had agreed that I come back in four weeks for a check up, which I have since been to, and guess what. No problems at all. The main culprit node on my left side has even gotten smaller, so has the one in my jaw. The hairline is still a cyst and the one on the front of my neck has no change, and now he doubts even more if it even is a Lymph Node.
Once again here, the point I am making is this. If Google was right, I’d be dead by now. If I genuinely had a form of cancer, I would have noticed some sort of ill-affect by now or other symptoms. The truth of the matter is, is that some Lymph Nodes can swell from previous infections and just never go back down. It’s only when we are concious of our health and worrying about it that they become a big issue. As a result, I have come up with my own golden rules for Lymph Nodes (these are from my personal experience and how I manage them, I am not a Doctor! Do not take my comments over the opinion of your medical professional!):
1: If you can feel your Lymph Nodes and are worried, see your GP and get them checked out.
2: DON’T PROD/PLAY/FIDDLE WITH THEM! Noone has ever told me if this makes them bigger or not, but it definately made me more aware of them, and my imagination made me feel like they were huge, when in fact, they were tiny.
3: Becoming a bit of a mantra for me, but TRUST YOUR DOCTOR! If after a few weeks you still feel uneasy, go back and see them. They are not going to turn you away, and will probably more than likely appreciate if you are honest with them as to why you frequent their office.
4: Just live your life as normal! Lymph Nodes are there to protect you. Trust in your body.
I know all too well, if you google causes of enlarged Lymph Nodes, it’s nothing but doom and gloom. So don’t do it. I have spent countless hours searching for reassurance and finding nothing but stress and anxiety. The reality is is that people advising on the internet are either a)not doctors, and b) even if they are, they cannot see or feel what you are worrying about…so how could they definitiavely tell you that you are or are not okay?
I am living breathing proof that not all swollen Lymph Nodes are dangerous. Lymph Nodes are your friends. If they cause you concern, get them checked out. But if your doctor isn’t worried then dont let them get you down, embrace them! For all you know, the infection that they are fighting off could be a legitimate pain in the arse for you if they weren’t there to stop it!
If you have any comments or feedback, please get in touch at thegooglepractitioner.wordpress.com
All the best,
The Cyber Practitioner.

I hope this helps you. Please, do not worry!