Lymph nodes

[cassie1975]

I posted last week, I had found a lump behind my ear. I went to the doctors and her prescribed antibiotics for a infection. I was ok for a couple of days but then went back to self checking. I am convinced the lump has got bigger despite reassurance from a fellow health anxiety sufferer and my husband !! but I now have a constant ache down the left side of my neck. I have avoided medical websites and have been using self help books to try and manage with the health anxiety. I am doing a lot better than before but would you go back to the doctors ?? Just after some advice/reassurance really thanks

[jarmummy123]

I have a tender lump which is a lymph node come up ebhind my ear.

It hurts when I press on it.

I feel full of cold today so maybe thats why it has come up, only noticed it on sunday. I am going to leave it until next week as they can take a couple of weeks to go down, but thanks to Dr Google my mind is racing.

[Greenman50]

The constant ache is probably from checking it (prodding)??

Iive done this myself , it aches so you check if its gone bigger , you give it another prod , mmm is it bigger ? , so another prod , no its the same (more acheing ) so you touch it again , now your mind is really on it so the ache seems worse , so you touch it again ...

Thats what most of us do , my 11 year old has had one on his neck for 6 years like the size of a small pea , the dr isn,t bothered and he isn,t because he is only a kid but if he fiddled with it i guarantee his neck would ache .
Drs don,t seem very concerned about lypmh nodes because they see it every week , just keep in contact with the Dr but sometimes they never go down apparantly
Do you see where i,m comeing from



x

[Acidomoduso]

Unfortunately i am back to worrying myself about lymph nodes myself.
As i am almost sure mine is nothing more than HA, though - so are your worries. You have had them checked and all is OK. They would be on you like a shot if they thought there was somthing wrong.

I seem to be constantly poking the nodes around my neck and under my chin. They feel swollen, but the reason i started to prod them was because they kind of ache and sometimes twinge a bit when i turn my neck in a certain way. They also make me feel like my mouth needs to salivate (sort of a prickly feeling under the jaw coupled with an ache) and yet my mouth is dry (that's probably the anxiety!). Prodding doesn't help the situation though so we need to leave them alone.

I've also convinced myself that my glands in my neck and above my collarbone are swollen. Kind of like down where the tendon of your neck goes and then halfway along the collar bone. I know that this is psychosomatic and my worry is exacerbating the feeling. I was in Tesco last night and i felt very spaced out and a little dizzy so it's getting to me a bit. Problem is, i am waiting for some x-ray results for a chest and back pain and i've had a cough for ages with no real signs of fever or colds so my stress levels (and my HA levels) are pushed to the limit! Stress and HA do not go together so we've got to try and eliminate stress to try and calm our HA.

[cassie1975]

Thanks Mel2, I am appreciative of your reply and I do understand where you are coming from, this is the second time Health Anxiety has hit me like a ton of bricks. This hopefully is a minor setback and will try to regain control again. I am still in the reassurance stage but I am much better than last time it isnt constantly in my thoughts and find writing down my worries help me a great deal. Thanks again

---------- Post added at 10:09 ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 ----------

Thanks ACIDO, Its nice to know people are in the same situation as you, you sometimes feel alone in what you are suffering. When you feel like this your mind works overtime. I am determined to deal with this again and overcome my thoughts. I do keep telling myself My Doctor has seen me, but I always have that doubt. I suppose thats what health anxiety is ! thanks for your reply much appreciated

[swgrl09]

It can take a while for the antibiotics to work sometimes. Make sure you finish the whole course, and even then the node can stay up for a while (sometimes forever even) and it is perfectly ok. Also if it hurts that is a good sign, it means it is reactive and not malignant.

[cassie1975]

oh my god, mine are not hurting !!!!!!!!!!!! I have just had a major panic attack are you sure. I feel sick to my stomach anyone else had lymph nodes that dont hurt please !!

[swgrl09]

Oh no, please don't worry! I did not mean to scare you. I have plenty that I can feel that don't hurt at all and are just fine. Some feel up to 2 cm long. I just thought you mentioned that you had pain from it. But not hurting does not mean it is malignant.

[cassie1975]

I know you didnt mean to scare me but this week has been hard for me. I have gone from having numerous panic attacks to dealing with it ok then back again. The actual lymph node doesnt hurt but my neck and ear does. I may stay off here for a while just till I can see things a little better. My husband and friend have assured me it Has gone down so hopefully will calm down a bit.