GP's say lymph nodes are fine but can't shake the worry

[thomas1998]

I've had my lymph nodes checked by multiple GP's on different occasions over the last 18 months, every single time they've assured me they feel completely benign, pea-sized, soft, mobile, nothing to worry about. Yet when I lay down and feel it, it seriously feels like a 4cm long sausage in my neck that I can rock back and forth, taking up two index fingers.

I just can't shake the worry that they aren't feeling it right and it's massive hidden under there. My GP said because it's a superficial lymph node, it's on top of other neck tissue and it'll feel/look bigger when you twist your neck. She also suggested my (rather bad) acne on my chest & back is likely activating them (I have another one above my left collarbone that scares me, she felt it and didn't even comment on it)

Basically my point is, does anyone feel like theirs are much larger than the GP said, and how to get over the clearly irrational fear that 5 different GP's aren't feeling them right.. she booked me in for bloods tomorrow just to make sure.

[Fishmanpa]

Fear tends to make things worse than they are. Many here refer to normal nodes as "swollen" or "enlarged" when in fact they're clinically normal as are yours.

You're in with a large group of node worriers on the site.

Positive thoughts

[thomas1998]

Thanks Fishmanpa, I appreciate the reassurance. I just really worry and feel like she's felt it wrong, cause when I feel it the way she did I can understand why it feels 'pea sized', but when I press down from a different angle it's so much bigger :( I can feel it across both index fingers and move it. I tell myself it's because it's on other normal neck tissue but I feel nothing like it on the opposite side, it's like it's much longer than it is 'thick'.

[Fishmanpa]

You have no idea what they're supposed to feel like nor do you know how to properly check. Trust your doctor and stop poking and prodding!

Positive thoughts

[thomas1998]

You are right, I've been poking the one on my neck so much over the last few days the skin is literally red and sore.. it's time to stop.

[julieta79]

Interesting. everyone worries about these type of lymph nodes that are palpated only when you twist your neck. Is it posterior triangle node? That can be googled sorry :) Level 5 nodes of the posterior triangle are very common in adults, and palpated only when you twist your neck because the muscle pushes them.
I was checked by oral cancer expert, and my 1cm node in that area was considered "sub clinical, totally normal".


Looks like cancer nodes are very different than normal...and doctors know what to look for. I did lose 4 months of sleep about it though...but once a expert told me, I just have no real reason to worry anymore

[thomas1998]

Thanks for the reply, it can be palpated easily at all times unfortunately, it just feels even bigger when I twist my neck or I'm laying down. But yeah it is that particular node. I'm hoping it feels larger because I've poked it so much.

[julieta79]

Drs are very good at finding what node is ok, and what not. this is very basic skill. I have no doubt you are ok. But you need to find a way to relax somehow. I know its very hard. For me, a very specialist oncologist did the trick. But...I am 200% sure you are ok

[thomas1998]

Got blood test results today, full blood count 'satisfactory' and thyroid levels normal. That's relieving, surely if something like a lymphoma had been developing the last 18 months it'd have shown up in my bloods by now.

[KK77]

Got blood test results today, full blood count 'satisfactory' and thyroid levels normal. That's relieving, surely if something like a lymphoma had been developing the last 18 months it'd have shown up in my bloods by now.

If you don't stamp out that last bit of doubt it will soon reignite into another HA episode.

Act now and work on your anxiety disorder.

[laine2018]

I am there with you . I discovered one on my right side last week . It at one angle feels small and like a pea and I love it the other way and to me it feels huge . I wish I never came across it . I have pushed on it so much I have made it hurt. I'm beyond paranoid that it's going to grow and be sinister . I'm afraid to go to the doctor . I need to learn to stop poking and prodding . I can tell its outside of the muscle and I can find it super easy .

[thomas1998]

Sounds exactly like mine. I urge you to go to the doctor, not because I think it's serious, but for the reassurance of a professional which I know you will get when they feel it :) It's known that constantly poking them can inflame them.

[Nelloc]

You don’t know how reassuring this post was, because I have a node exactly like this. I had glandular fever a while back and it never went back down to normal size, feels like a bean from one angle but if you feel about (and I mean really dig down to the point of giving myself a bruise) it feels long and sausage shaped and moves around a lot. I do get concerned about it but it’s been there for so long that I try to forget, I think if they were really as big and as sinister as we thought they were they’d be glaringly obvious sticking out of our necks.

[Leslie735]

I have 2 on my left side in that same area. One I've had scanned twice, the other I just noticed recently. Dr isn't concerned. I try to be positive about it but it's not easy. I also feel one under my jaw but on the right side. I don't know if the big L. Occurs on just one side or both. Ugh!

[GingerFish]

I can totally relate! I don't just check my lymph nodes the normal way, I feel them with my head and neck at all different angles and when lying down and when lying down, they feel about 3 or 4 times bigger than when I feel them normally. Freaked me out when I first noticed this! Even the tiny poppy seed ones felt huge when lying down.