Pain in Armpits

[dj8]

I have had pain in my armpits which comes and goes for the last five months. Have had CAT scan which showed no abnormalities. Pain seems to increase with mental stress or pysical excercise. Any ideas? Thanks

[Mentadent]

Could it be swollen lymph nodes in your axillary region? I used to get very painful nodes when I was in full symptoms of my chronic fatigue/fibro, so painful I couldn't put my arms down.

[PlateletGal]

Just a thought and I've never had this done before, but they say it helps. You may want to try getting a lymph drainage massage and see if that helps you feel better.

[hm2007]

Wow, I too have pain in my armpits and back of the knees.  Though I can't feel any swollen lymph nodes there, I do have some in my neck.  

[dj8]

I was checked and there is no enlargement of the lymph nodes yet the ones under my armpits are painful. Are these symptoms typical of CFS?

[dj8]

Could you tell me what other symptoms you experienced them and how quickly they came on and how long they lasted? Thanks

[Mentadent]

Well, let's see...

My symptoms from Epstein Barr were feelings of fatigue, mild sore throats, low grade fevers, night sweats, and just feeling unwell and depressed. And, of course, the horrible armpit pain from my nodes, plus swollen nodes in my neck. This occured ten plus years ago.

My fibro symtoms are more recent, in the last couple years, and include all over body pain, like I've been hit by a truck, joint popping, fuzzy headedness (is that even a word??) and muscle twitching.

With the Epstein Barr, my symptoms were what I would consider acute for about two-three months solid. Then, they became intermittent, and would only flare up in times of stress. This went on for maybe two years, then slowly tapered off completely. I only had the acute armpit pain for a couple weeks, thank goodness! Aside from all the weird looks it causes, walking around with your arms propped up like you're getting ready to fly gets really tiring.

The fibro symptoms are on and off, but being on a medicine called Cymbalta has cleared up most of the really bad pain. Now I mostly get mild aching in my joints from time to time, and the occasional odd sensations in my hands/arms/feet. Isn't the human body capable of strange things?

One thing that seemed to help my armpit lymph nodes was to rub (and I know this sounds gross) castor oil on the affected area at night, and sleep with it on. For whatever reason, castor oil promotes lymph drainage. If you do this, be sure to wear old pajamas that you do not care about, because this will get very, very gooey. Lucky for me, when I was doing this treatment I was sleeping alone! If you have a bed partner, be sure to warn them of your sticky status!

Good luck figuring out what's going on. If you have anymore questions, please feel free to ask, and I will try my best to answer.

Menty

[dj8]

My symptoms came on shortly after a traumatics experience. I already had an anxiety disorder. It was a day after a sexual encounter and I started to experience hot flashes. Then i felt nauseous for a couple of months in the mornings. I also experienced a chronic mild soar throat and for the last couple of months I have had the armpit pain which does appear to get more intense with stress. it has been almost six months now since encounter. I have heard that my sypmtoms fit CFS quite a bit. Currently. when I get home i eat dinner and then crash by like eight O'Clock and then get up around 3:00 AM. i was also recently diagnosed with a moderate case of sleep apnea so I am not sure how this plays into it. My energy level overall dropped and I went through a period of around a monthe where i experienced brain fogginess. currently I drink caffeine when I start to fell out of it. Any insights or ideas would be helpful thanks

[dj8]

I also forgot to mention that i deveoped thrush a few days fter the traumatic experience as well.

[Mentadent]

Have you had a complete physical exam? It may be helpful to have your doc run some bloodwork, just to make sure everything is normal.

[dj8]

On the normal blood work  that was done everything was normal.Di you say you had CFS? How long did your symptoms last and ghow do you feel now?

[kazzo]

I have been suffering with a pain in the armpit since last August. Originally, I had a breast absess (abscess) and had three lots of anti-biotics. The pain in the armpit occured within days of having the absess (abscess) and has not gone away since. It is worse if I move my arm inwards, out to the front or twist it. I still have the lumps where the absess (abscess) was but the breast speciallist has said that this is an enlarged duct gland because I have had a mammogram and ultrasound and they are happy with it. I have had x-rays, am currently on my second physio but they can,t pin point any problem and going to Rheumatology next month for an appointment. No-one seems to be able to tell me what the problem is. I was reading this site and I have constant soar throats and thrush and am forever taking flu capsules because I feel so run down and tired. I just want someone to diagnose the problem! I go back to the breast specialist is April.

[vze15]

It may not a coincidence that we both have similar experience. I have an experience like yours. Now I am 36. When I was 18 I had my first sexual encounter. I had a feverish feeling after few days. I was scared of some sexual disease in those days and gradually developed some kind of depressive symptoms and chronic fatigue. I also had coated tongue, oral thrush and pain in armpit. During those days I wasn't aware of CFS or Fibromyalgia. These symptoms went on for many years until finally I went for a thorough medical checkup including for sexual diseases. But nothing was detected. After that I slowly recovered from these symptoms except fatigue, slurred speaking, difficulty picking words during conversation and brain fogginess. It definitely affected my career growth from a bright executive to average middle manager. I would have severe relapse each time I have a new sexual encounter and stay like that for several months. It seems that exactly same worrying thoughts cause exactly same symptoms as if brain is precisely tuned. Even very recently I have a severe relapse and I am trying to recover. Symptoms are same, but with more severity: painful armpit, white coating, oral thrush, sore throat, severe fatigue, and not going away.  Another, at this time I live in the USA with cold climate from very warm climate where I originally come from. The symptom’s severity varies with temperature changes, lower the temperature, sever the symptoms.

[Sally555]

You can get a tendinitis-type injury in your armpits.  It appears after activity and will radiate down toward your wrist.  It's often caused by driving.  Mimic steering your car for a few minutes and if your armpits ache, buy an ultrasound machine from the internet (under $250), look up Grey's Anatomy and blast away.  If you are on anti-flammatories like Ibprofen, stop taking them. They delay healing according to the American Journal of Sports Medicine (www.postgradmed.com/issues/2003/0103/stovitz.htm).  Good luck.  If your doctor tells you this is a load of ****, ask him how many patients he has cured.

[goffy]

i believe your thrush and sore throat symptons or caused by to much yeast in your system. try taking acidophilus from a health food store. it has beneficial organisims, immune funtion, and helps aid in digestion. you can go on line and find this product also. it doesn't hurt to try it. it has worked for me.

[JillsHealth]

I am now 40 y.o. female.  I got married when I was 26 and experienced five straight years of emotional abuse from a man whom I thought loved me and wanted to marry me.  Needless to say, we finally got divorced after two more years of paperwork/court, etc.  During the divorce years, I started to have swelling in my L armpit, which I believe was brought on by extreme stress and depression.  When the swelling did not subside, I went to my doctor, who did not really have any ideas or helpful advice, expect that he felt no lump.  So he forwarded me for a mammogram and surgical consult.  The good news was that the mammogram came back negative, and I did not need any surgery.  The surgeon informed me that the swelling was due to "extra breast tissue."  I said why would my breast tissue suddenly go to my armpit when I am in my 30's.  He did not have an explanation as to why it happened, only that is was not that unusual.  I started to notice that during each menstral cycle, I will have increased tenderness and discomfort in that same armpit.  It seems that because it is "breast tissue" it is sensitive to the hormonal changes that occur during a woman's menstral cycle.   So, as if general breast tenderness wasn't already an annoyance, now I have tenderness in my armpit area every month, too!  Darn.  It's something I guess I will have to live with.  I suppose if it ever gets terribly annoying, I could see about getting the "extra breast tissue removed" from my armpit area.  Can any of you relate to this experience? Thanks, Jill