another side effect for me?

[his3707]

Saturday, I woke up in the middle of the night with a swollen lymph node on the left side of my neck under my year.  It went down for a while and then in the after noon it came back and is very painful.  I can hardly open my mouth.  I am running a low grade fever and had my shot on Friday night.  I looked in the archives and there was some posts associated with swollen lymph nodes.  I havnt seen any recent comments.   Im in week 17 of 48 of incivek/p/r.   Anyone been dealing with this?

[meakea]

I treated with riba and Pegasys for 48 weeks and, during my treatment, I had issues with swollen lymph nodes.  It started about the same time as you.  It first started with swollen nodes in my groin area on both sides.  Those returned to normal after a few days and then the nodes in my neck (mostly in the back of my neck) became swollen and would increase and decrease in size all during the rest of my treatment.  I had no infection...it was just a reaction to the tx meds.  

Of course, I did tell my NP about it and they "watched them" but I never needed anything done about it.  As soon as treatment ended, they returned to normal and have remained that way since.  (I'm 2 years post treatment).

Of course, as others have said, you could have an infection going on and, if that's the case, don't fear the antibiotics.  If it's not an infection, don't fear, it will go away when treatment ends.  

Of note, I did have to take one course of antibiotics during my treatment (it was before the swollen nodes showed up) and I suffered no ill effects from the antibiotics.

Good luck!

[his3707]

thanks for all your kind words, Im feeling pretty crappy right now.  Feels like the flu,  I would attribute it to the shot, but I havnt had any clear side effects from that since shot 1.  The only thing that has seemed to help at all for this  is IB profin.  At least I can get out of bed for a while.   I hope to be better by Tuesday, sure dont want to start anitbiotics if I dont need toooo.

[researchmonkey326]

I had about three sx surface all about the same time- sore throat, swolllen lymph nodes and cough.  The lymph nodes were the ones on the back of my head (also had the rash on my scalp then), under my ears and on my neck.  My doctor was careful and had me go for lung x-ray and extra bloodwork because my ANC ran low almost my entire treatment.  Unfortunately, my insurance company would not cover neupogen unless I actually got an infection - so stupid.  Anyway, I had almost weekly cbc's after that.  Luckily, no infections developed but the potential is there especially for things like skin infections if you have a rash so let your doc know right away. From what I understand the swollen nodes are not a very common sx of treatment but does happen to some of us and I do still have them a little.  Hope you feel better.

[take2]

Hi, I'm in treatment week 7 w/Incivek. Last week I developed a weird lymph node issue too. In my right armpit, came on quickly, subsided after 24 hrs and then came back with vengence two days later. Red, swollen to the size of a golf ball and so painful I couldn't even put my arm down. I used warm compresses which helped immediately. Eventually it went away and hasn't returned.

I can't speak for the rest of the community but I am prone to infections no matter what my WBC is. Something about this medicine brings out the worst in some of us. The first time I went through treatment (with Interferon & Ribavirin) I developed an infection in my jaw  that was so bad I required extensive dental surgery. This time around I've already fought off a stye, the lymph node thing, and a sinus infection. Talked to my doctor about the lymph node issue and we agreed to keep an eye on it. If it does come back we'll address it then.

I also researched lymph node problems among HCV patients undergoing treatment and although there wasn't alot of historical data on this website, if you broaden your search  you'll find more than just a few people who battle chronic lymph node issues, especially in the head and neck area, nduring treatment.

It is scarey for sure. Swollen lymph nodes lead to all sorts of worries which I don't really want to stress about right now. Mine went away and I'm holding my breath that it doesn't return. If you're not as fortunate then it's time to call your doctor asap. I'll be here, we'll all be here for you. Please keep me posted.

Margie

[flcyclist]

We've been watching my ANC very carefully since week 8 when it went in the low 300's.  Since I go 2x/week for the neupogen shot, I have them run a cbc at the same time just prior to the shot.  I notice the levels go very low after Friday's shot, and on Monday's sometime see it down around 400.  Then on Thursday on the second cbc/neupogen shot, it is back near 700 or more.  

As eureka and desrt mentioned, an infection due to a low ANC/wbc is a possibility.  Don't let this continue long before addressing it.  My hematologist had me a bit worried with some of his stories resulting from infection.  

[eureka254]

Agree with desrt; a low ANC can significantly increase your susceptibility to infection.  Everyone's immune system is different, and even though my husband's white cell counts never got low enough for intervention, he got a few nasty infections that needed antibiotics during treatment.  Definitely check on your neutrophil counts... hope you feel better soon!

[desrt]

Be sure and get those results. If you need to go on antibiotics, it's important info for the Rxing physician to have.
You might also search the archives on discussions about neupogen.

[his3707]

I just had them done on Friday.  I sent an email asking since they told me my potassium level was 3.0.  I figured they would have those results also.  They didnt say anything.  My wbc has been low for a long while but as far as I know not in a danger level.  

[desrt]

How long ago was your last bloodwork and what were your white cell count numbers?