scared i have lymphoma

hello i'm a 19 year old female and i'm terrified i have lymphoma or something else (also have extreme heath anxiety/hypochondria/ health ocd) about a month ago i felt one of my lymph nodes was enlarged and felt a lot bigger than when lymph nodes swell due to illness. i feel like it could've been there for longer but i only noticed a month ago - also have a smaller one above it. it's firm and easily moveable and would say it's just smaller than a grape. i went to the doctors and he said he was 100% sure it was nothing to worry about but i'm not convinced. it hasn't changed shape or size since i first noticed it but i've read so many stories about people going to the doctors for swollen lymph nodes and it was nothing at first then a few months later they got more lumps and i'm scared that's going to happen to me. i also get cramps and pains in both legs and do have itchy skin but i feel that could be anxiety related. pls help i'm going insane. 

  • Hello! I'm so sorry you're going through that I'm in a similar boat myself... I am 18 and female and went to hospital panicked about a lymph node 4 months ago just like that which they said was just glandular fever after a blood test..

    Anywho months later lymph nodes are still there with a few more and swelling has not gone down. They put me in hospital after a slightly concerning x ray for further tests to see if it's something like lymphoma but they still presume it's just glandular fever. 

    I would highly suggest pushing for a blood test just for your own peace of mind! They can see if it's glandular fever or something else that way. My GP was initially pretty dismissive thinking it was probably nothing whereas other doctors were more open to further testing. I would really suggest getting blood work but I wouldn't panic as it hasn't changed in size and it moves.  I have severe health anxiety as well which triggers my dermatitis which I then of course link to a worst case scenario of some kind of sinister rash. So I wouldn't panic about the itching either. 
     

    Best of luck!

  • did you ever get your results back?? and how big woukd u say your swollen lymph nodes are 

  • They did more blood work which has come back normal so they are very unconcerned. I got a normal chest x ray two weeks before this abnormal one which was normal so highly unlikely it is a malignant node. Will be a while before the chest CT because they are very unconcerned, they are keeping me in hospital so I can get it sooner. 

    I would say the one in my upper neck by jaw is maybe size of like you described a smaller grape, lower ones by my collar bone maybe .5 cm, and one in groin is more firm and maybe a little less than a cm.

    My glandular fever symptoms presented kind of weird as I had  no sore throat and swollen lymph nodes that were not sore at all. But I had it sort of bad with night sweats, sinusitis, and liver inflammation. The lymphadenopathy is what is kind of suspicious to the doctors as it's lasted so long.

    They do presume that it is severe health anxiety/ocd which is causing a lot of my new symptoms like globus sensation/acid reflux, lots of dermatitis and lymph node swelling not going down. Since being in hospital my health anxiety has gone away 90% since I feel like I am getting help and answers, and along with it a lot of my symptoms have become way less prominent so I would let that be an indicator of how powerful anxiety can be over your well being and body sensations  

    I really wouldn't panic too much! I would just ask for some tests to be done. But they ask a lot about night sweats, and fatigue/weight loss as those are red flags they said they look for.

    The fact that your doctor said your lymph nodes feel far from abnormal should be super reassuring! 

     

  • i’m just worried as it’s been over a month and it hasn’t gone down at all! and i’m worried and scared that it’s going to eventually get bigger or i’m going to notice more lumps and it’s making me go crazy! i hope all your results come back good and it’s nothing to worry about x