Enlarged Lymph Nodes in Neck

[Chase1313]

Hello,

2009 has been the worst year of my life as it relates to my general health.  Starting at the end of February, I've been dealing with a "bout" of IBS.  It affected my appetite and all-told, I lost about 25 pounds, with other symptoms of lack of appetite, floating stools, and abdominal pain.

I went through a gauntlet of tests including an abdominal ultrasound, small bowel follow-through, colonoscopy, EGD, stool fat tests/cultures, blood tests, 2 abdominal/pelvic CT scans (one with a close look at the pancreas) and 2 ER visits.  All tests normal (did I mention I'm only 31??).

My GI said that after all of the tests, IBS was the culprit, and that the weight loss was due to a change in eating habits related to the IBS symptoms.  The explanation makes perfect sense.

Enter now, 6 months later, some general difficulty breathing (lungs feel tight and I sometimes wheeze or cough) and several lumps on the left side of my neck.  One above my throat, one right next to my throat, one next to my jaw below my ear, and the most concerning one right by my left collarbone.  They've all been noticeable for at least a month.

The collarbone is concerning because it seems to be harder than the other ones, but it's also the smallest (all lumps that I can feel seem to be under .5 cm.)  It almost feels like a tiny chip that's longer than it is wide.

My GP didn't seem concerned and said to just watch them, but I'm afraid these may be connected to my issues earlier this year and especially my weight loss.  I had a chest x-ray that was normal in February, and another one last week that was also normal.

My weight has been reasonably steady since going on Belladonna, with occasional weight spikes and dips depending on my appetite.

Should I be concerned about these enlarged lymph nodes?  Especially the one by my collarbone?  

I'm a former moderate to light smoker and I have limited family history of cancer (2 or 3 have had cancer, but all were over 85.)  Thank you for your advice.

[Kamal S Saini, MD, MRCP (UK), DM]

Hi,
IBS has been diagnosed after ruling out other, more ominous, diseases that may present with symptoms similar to yours.
A few lymph nodes on the neck, all around half a cm in size each, along with respiratory symptoms point towards an infective episode. Your doctor has examined your neck and collar bone and not found anything suggestive of lymphoma.
Please relax. Do regular warm saline gargles. If discomfort persists, please visit your doctor again.
All the best, and God Bless!

[Chase1313]

I neglected to mention that I have also been having headaches primarily occurring on the left side of my head, but sometimes on the back side at the base of my skull, and sometimes on top.  Also, I've had significant neck pain on my left side from what I assumed was muscle tension.  The muscles are very tight and hard and painful.  Sorr for the omission.  Thanks for your advice.

[junzulu1]

I have a seroma that came up after surgery on melanoma in my left thigh and keep on accumulating. A tumor has been taken out and went for pathology test. Result came up after a month with benign non carcerous cell according to pathology report. Swollen left thigh because of contineous accumulation of seroma which is now touching my groin is driving me crazy...

[wondering1719]

Hi,

I have been undergoing an extensive workup since April to determine the cause of a sedimentation rate that has been as high as 97.  I had a left axillary node biopsy 6 weeks ago that revealed reactive hyperplasia, after a few nodes showing avid and/or enlarged on PET.  Since about 10 days after the biopsy, my left breast has some chords in it just under the skin that feel taught and the skin over them retracts.  There is sometimes diffuse pain in that breast.  I had the surgery done out of state at a major facility and have not been able to get the surgeon to return my call for a week now.  My doctors at home differ from each other as to whether this is a result of the surgery or a symptom of developing inflammatory breast cancer.  My appointment with a breast specialist is not for three weeks, but I know that IBC is very aggressive and that seems like too long to wait.  I had labs done Friday and my sed rate is now 40 (0-20 ref.) and CRP is .22 (.2-10.0 ref.).  Do these labs indicate that it is likely NOT a growing cancer, or are they alarming, or irrelevant?  I need to decide whether to drop everything, leave my 2-year-old with Daddy, and fly back to the major facility for immediate diagnosis.  Thank you for your opinion.
Wondering1719

[Bextar]

I have a white patch on my tongue that looks as though its got a small ulcer in the middle. Its been there since Easter and doctors have treated me for oral thrush. Yesterday my doctor suggested seeing the Oral Surgery Clinic so he has refferred me to them. I am so worried that this may be cancer. I have been smokiing for approx 10yrs on and off.

Please can you say if you think its cancer ?

Im really really scared.

[inpain10]

Hi doctor - A quick question for you, i hope you can help me.
Will try and explain my situation best i can,

Im 30 year old male from UK - im a person fitness instructor

The start of june this year i noticed alot of BRIGHT RED blood on my stool and paper. Also i started to have really bad stomach pains, taken to A and E (ER) on 3 occasions.
after the weight loss and into july i started to gain back weight (but more on my belly i feel) and its not october and ive not bleed in 2 months atall.

The pain is constant and now it feels like its over my Liver the pain is in the liver area.Also i have a really bad stiging itching sensation under both armpits , and i little pea sized lump under my left armpit.
Im also so tried all the time.
Ive had loads of tests including 4 x LFT tests where my ALT was 77 now gone done to 44 and B/rubi is 22 My doctor says they are abit high but fine.

Other tests ive had are
HIV = neg
Hep a b c = neg
Sigmoidoscopy= fine
Camera down throat - hyutus hernia (small)
barium meal - fine
barium enema - fine
Full abdominal ultrasound - fine
chest xray- fine
stomach xray-fine
My specialist saying its IBS but i really think its a liver issue. could this be live cancer???

if you need any more info please ask i hop ive put enough down


This discussion is related to could this be cancer.

[Ordinary_me]

I came here to post a thread about this, but since it's already here...
I'm an eighteen (almost nineteen) year old male with apparently swollen lymph node. I was only kind of concerned with it for the first week or so that I noticed it, but then a friend came over to stay for a while, and it turned out he also had them. He left yesterday and after he was gone for a while he called me and said he went to the emergency room and they didn't know what was causing his lumps/swelling, and he's due for a biopsy on the 7th of November.
Now that I know it can actually be serious I'm getting scared, and I don't have health insurance. Is there any information anyone can give me about this condition?

[kousman]

Hello doctor, I am 30 year old man who recently noticed a hard painful inside the skin lump jsut under neat my scrotum. Since my notice i cant sleep and stop touching. When i roll my hand over it, it is painful and when i tried to squeeze it nothing comes off. I dont think its a pimple since i cant see a head and the lump is under my skin. Now I was wondering if it was skin cancer or something else even tough i read somewhere else that cancer lump are not painful. Is it true?

My second question and equally important is in regards to the nature of cancer lump. Now if I decided to wait before i could see a doctor in the city and the lump goes away, will it still be consider a cancer treat or not? In other words, doctor, does cancer lump goes away after ew days or does it stay longer and gets bigger? will be a lunmp that gets smaller and goes away consider a canncer treat or not? the reason im asking you this is to be able to have a certain idea of my situation because if cancer lumps does not go away that easily and gets bigger then I will have better state of mind till my next doctor visit.

thanks a million doctor for the service that your providing (this goes out also to the founders of medhelp and anyone that is associated with it)

[sreekumaran]

A related discussion, Lipo sarcoma was started.