Lymph node anxiety

[laura95]

21 years old, female, otherwise healthy except suffering from mild depression and anxiety.

3 weeks ago I noticed a lymph node in my neck, it's certainly no more than a finger width so around 1cm, almost feels like the size of a baked bean. Not soft but definitely not rock hard either. Not painful and I can easily move it around. No change in size over the 3 weeks.

This has sent my anxiety into overdrive, causing me to search around for other lymph nodes. Of course I found one, in my right armpit, very deep down. This one is ever so slightly bigger, maybe just over 1cm. It's movable but hard. Also not painful.

I understand that lymph nodes can naturally vary in size around the body and between people. But I'm just panicking like crazy firstly because there's no obvious cause for them to enlarge, I haven't been unwell with anything in almost a year, but secondly because of the massive difference in size between these two nodes and the rest in my body, which are maybe rice grain sized.

I have no other symptoms at all, no weight loss, night sweats etc that are classical of lymphoma, which is what I'm anxious over. I went to the GP yesterday who felt my neck and armpit and said that both were normal, although I'm not convinced that he felt the node in my armpit as it is very deep in.

The anxiety over this is making me unwell in itself, I feel like I'm stuck in a massive rut. I'm trying to seperate my anxiety from the lumps and look at them more rationally, but there's no denying that they're there. Any help, advice or reassurance please :-(

[SLA]

Try and fine reassurance from within.

An expert checked them and said they were fine. Constantly prodding and focus on them will only make you more aware of them, and you'll find silly reasons to worry. They are not "lumps" they are lymph nodes.

You are not unwell.

[AccountantAndy]

Hi Laura

I've had a lymph node on the side of my neck ever since I was 17 (i'm over 40 now....). I found it during hospital visits for bad acne at the time and it's been there ever since.

At the time the doctor did look at it and said it was completely normal but to come back if there was any very noticeable changes in size and feel. Needless to say I've never been back and I quite often forgot it's even there!

You've done the most important thing in getting it checked out, you now have to put trust in what the doctors are saying, which is easier said than done I know.

I hope this helps a little.

[axolotl]

Hi Laura

I've had a lymph node on the side of my neck ever since I was 17 (i'm over 40 now....). I found it during hospital visits for bad acne at the time and it's been there ever since.

Sorry to be pedantic but we all "have a lymph node", in fact we have several, it's the name of organs we all have in our body, not something that's wrong with us.

[AccountantAndy]

Axolotl - I understand what you're saying but I'm presuming the discovery of something that you're not instantly familiar with and therefore getting anxious about it is the issue here.

[laura95]

I understand what you're saying but I'm presuming the discovery of something that you're not instantly familiar with and therefore getting anxious about it is the issue here.

That's exactly the issue, I've felt teeny tiny nodes all over my body before so it's just the panic of finding one (or 2 in my case) that are significantly bigger than the majority. But then that leads me to question of whether these that I feel are 'abnornal' are in fact normal and just on the upper end of the scale of variation in node size, as I know they vary in size alot.