# Swollen lymph nodes in my neck



## Hassan Shirazi (Oct 26, 2018)

I hope you guys are having a good day.
So I'm just going to get right into it. Over the past six or so months I've been having swollen lymph nodes in my neck. They swell up, are slightly painful, and then go away (at least I think they go away) for a while only to return again in a month or two. I've always ignored it, though. This time, the swollen nodes aligned with my monthly medicine refreshment appointment with my doctor, so I happened to ask her about it. She recommended an ultrasound to look into what could be wrong, and it is tomorrow. And I genuinely have no words to describe how scared I am about the outcome tomorrow. I keep thinking of outcomes that could be and it really is worrying me a ton.

I'm sorry for just jumping into it directly, it's just that I'm super worried, and apparently lost my manners! I'm very hopeful someone here will be able to answer this mystery that's been bothering the life out of me.

Thanks in advance,
Hassan.


----------



## KARNAK (Oct 27, 2018)

Hi @Hassan Shirazi welcome to the forum . I can`t advise you on your problem but wish you good luck with your appointment. Please come back to the forum and let us know how you got on, regards.


----------



## Amigo (Oct 27, 2018)

Hi Hassan,

It’s understandable to be concerned but try not to let your imagination run away with you to sinister reasons because our lymph nodes, also called lymph glands, play a vital role in our body's ability to fight off infections. They function as filters, trapping viruses, bacteria and other causes of illnesses before they can infect other parts of your body.

There’s a multitude of reasons they can swell and when painful are usually attributable to some kind of infection.

Have your ultrasound which is no problem and totally painless. Your GP may also want to run a battery of blood tests which can really show what’s going on.

Hope all goes well, please let us know.

Oh and keep away from Dr Google. He doesn’t know your individual case! 

Amigo


----------



## Jon (Oct 27, 2018)

Hi,i have had the same problem on the left side of my neck and went to the doctor last Feb.I actually seen the first doctor who felt the swollen lymph nodes and she said she would send me for a non urgent ultrasound,which would mean a bit of a wait.I then seen another doctor a month later as I was getting anxious and she felt them and said there was nothing to be worried about as they felt slightly swollen but ok in every other way.So after 8 months I had my ultrasound two weeks ago and the radiologist who was doing it said the left side ones were very slightly swollen but not to worry as he sees this all the time.They were just a mere millimetre bigger than normal.The report he sent to my doc said everything in my neck was satisfactory and nothing out of the ordinary.I may add that the job I do puts pressure on the left side of my neck as I twist it to the left on average about 2000 times a day so he said it was probably irritation on the nodes from stress on the left neck muscles.Dunno if this will help but lymph nodes do get raised for all types of non serious reasons.I have been at my wits end for 8 months thinking I had neck cancer and all sorts.The more you feel these things the more they tend to swell and get irritated.


----------



## Ljc (Oct 27, 2018)

From early childhood to my mid teens my lymph glands were up and down like a yo-yo hardly a month went by without them swelling up  they still popped up occasionally till my mid twenties. Sometimes I was obviously ill colds etc other times I felt quite well. It was just that they were doing their job of catching  viruses .
Though I am no medic I think that as yours go down again means it’s more likely yours are filtering out viruses


----------



## KARNAK (Oct 27, 2018)

Good news, you can stop worrying now .


----------



## missclb (Oct 28, 2018)

Hi Hassan,

Good luck with your appointment. Just wanted to jump on and say that mine have been swollen recently, but after a bit of poking a prodding, they put it down to stress, which is completely understandable as I have been much more stressed than usual recently (house move + two seriously ill family members). Apparently they can take time to go back to normal. I've got my fingers crossed for you.


----------



## Diabetes UK (Oct 30, 2018)

Hi Hassan,
How did the ultrasound go? It's understandable that you have been so worried about this but fingers crossed it is something simple.
Let us know how you are.

Best wishes x


----------

