CT shows borderline enlarged lymph nodes?

[lovely13]

I recently had a CT of my neck done.  I have been sick for a year, with swollen lymph nodes for 8 months out of that year.  I am confused by the measurement of the lymph nodes.  I was wondering if someone could explain if I should be concerned by the size or if these are still considered normal.
Here are the sizes of the lymph nodes in my neck.  Are they considered large enough to biopsy? Also medically speaking what does borderline enlarged lymph nodes mean?
1.2cm  longitudinally and 1cm in AP dimension
1.7 cm  longitudinally  and 9mm in AP dimension
1.8 cm longitudinally and 9mm in AP dimension
1.6 cm longitudinally and 1.5 cm dimension.

[Ken_PA]

There is a very long thread here about pain in nodes from alcohol. Lots of people get terrified because a websearch tells them that is a sign of Hodgkins Lymphoma. But the people in the thread almost always have other causes, usually relating to the vasodilation effects on their nodes.

I'm guessing you are in your twenties and Hodgkins Lymphoma (as opposed to non-Hodgkins Lymphoma) is the most likely for that age group. I mention all this so you don't get terrified from hearing about alcohol and node pain  :)


As far as singing: would you say that you normally would put a lot of stress on the tissue of the throat? That could conceivably stir up mast cells if you happen to have MCs that are either too numerous or overly active. You could try 'mast cell stabilizers'.

[Ken_PA]

These are minor but common features of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:
temperature dysregulation
alcohol intolerance

exercise intolerance would generally mean feeling sick, as if with flu, after exercise

But what is CFS? No one really knows anyway and it not uncoincidentally has several names. AFAIK, there is still no test for it.

-------

Itching could well be from histamine from mast cells.

It's interesting about your varying experience with alcohol. Seemingly, you sometimes have very little acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH enzyme) but at other times you have a lot of ALDH and also alcohol dehydrogenase.  That's probably too detailed for you unless you intend to be your own #1 diagnostician. You'd have to become something of an expert in yourself. You already have discovered that regular mainline medicine is not much help to you.

ALDH also helps a person clear the byproducts of exercise.

I think that having been very fit and active before CFS is not uncommon, especially in women.

[Ken_PA]

do you feel light headed when you stand?
(orthostatic intolerance)

[lovely13]

I take no meds and nothing big changed in my life.  Only family disease is my paternal grandmother has low thyroid.  When I get cold usually my temp in in the low 97s.  I have struggled with alcohol.  Several time I drank it made my lymph nodes hurt(while I was drinking not the day after)  Then also if I drink It either has no effect( I could drink a lot and not feel it or I feel it only in my legs and it usually makes me feel like I have a hangover instantly. So I don't drink anymore.  I can exercise but do not a lot bc of fatigue.  No rashes but I do itch a lot at night around torso and I find myself itching my neck a lot during the day.  Tried to see if I could draw line on sternum was not sure? I have always leaned more towards autoimmune till the nodes showed up.  They came up fast but then stayed the same.  Oh no lightheaded when I stand

[Ken_PA]

years, not tears... or both, I suppose.


btw, if your nodes haven't gotten larger in 8 months, then that tends a lot against lymphoma, too. If every node got large suddenly instead of continuously growing, that tends against lymphoma.

Before an excisional biopsy, a sono would likely be wanted anyway by most docs. The presence of a 'fatty hilum' would pretty much rule out lymphoma.

[Ken_PA]

Some things:
- any new medication when it started
- change of where you live or work when it started
(allergic)

- any family history of autoimmunity or bad allergies
(genetic predisposition)

- bad reactions to bee stings
- frequent rashes
- can you draw a line on your sternum with your fingernail
(mast cell conditions)

- when you get chills, is your temperature normal or not?
- can't tolerate alcohol
- can't tolerate exercise
(similar to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome aka immune dysfunction)


The throat is full of mast cells. So is the GI tract and the skin. Immune disorders are mysterious and can commonly take tears to diagnose.

Since lymphoma is a cancer of immune cells, immune dysfunction will have symptoms in common.

[Ken_PA]

Hi. They are not so large as to jump to thinking aboiut lymphoma. For all but the last one, the shape is okay. On the last one, is that a submandibular (on either side of windpipe) node? They are naturally more rounded.

Looking through your posting history, I would guess that your inflammation (which must be maddening for you) comes from:
- some unusual infection, such as a virus
- some allergy
- immune system running wild

Did you happen to start off with a very bad cold years ago?

P.S. They do seem larger than merely "borderline enlarged ".

[lovely13]

The second to last one said it was in the anterior triangle in the carotid space and the last one was just superiorly in this same region. Not sure where that is?
I thought at first I might be hypothyroid but doctors say thyroid is fine.  I do have a lot of the symptoms of lymphoma so they looked into that.  Very frustrating, I have been sick for a year and it seems to be getting worse.  Also whatever is causing this sickness is causing me to have problems with talking and singing in regards to easy vocal fatigue.  I have look into that too but no answers. Thank you for your answer.   Also non of this started after a cold