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Swollen Lymph Node In Neck, Headache, Shoulder And Neck Hurt, Chest Pain. Do I Have Sarcoidosis?
Question: I've had a large swollen lymph node in my left neck for about six months I've been put on antibiotics which didn't help. Then finally I got referred to a surgeon who did a catscan which found more swollen nodes in my neck and chest. I am tired all the time like I have to sleep 12 hours a night and take a nap just to get throug the day and I am only 23 years old. My left shoulder back and neck hurt most of the time and I get terrible headaches also I've noticed that I can't drink alcohol anymore it causes me to have severe neck pain and chest pain that makes me feel like I can't breath. The surgeon doesn't seem to be concerned but I can't keep going on so tired. My dd was recently diagnosed with sarcoidosis and I do have an it all over which I read can be related to that I'm just not sure if I should just wait it out for my next appointment or say something
Hello and thank you for submitting your question.
Your question is a good one and I will work on providing you with some good information and recommendations regarding the symptoms which you are experiencing.
From the information you have submitted it seems as if you have a lymph node which you can feel in addition to other lymph nodes which were found on the CT scan. There are a number of things which can cause enlargement of lymph nodes.
The most common cause is a viral infection. We sometimes referred to this type of infection as mononucleosis. This will typically also carry along with it a significant degree of fatigue. This will also sometimes last for 3 to 6 weeks and sometimes even longer.
I think it is important that your general doctor also check a few different blood tests. I would recommend certainly a complete blood count in addition to a metabolic profile. I would also suggest a Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH), also a blood test for Epstein-Barr virus as well as Cytomegalovirus (CMV) would be appropriate in order to help determine if there is an infection which is causing your symptoms.
A more worrisome and rare cause of this type of thing would be a type of lymphoma. Again this would be exceedingly rare in your case but certainly is not something that I would want to ignore. Sometimes if lymph nodes remain large over a long period of time the surgeon can remove one of the lymph nodes so that a pathologist can look at it under the microscope. This would help them again rule out any type of worrisome disorder such as lymphoma. Again I don't want you to worry that you have lymphoma, but I want you to know that these are the things that we sometimes consider.
Again I thank you for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert
Your question is a good one and I will work on providing you with some good information and recommendations regarding the symptoms which you are experiencing.
From the information you have submitted it seems as if you have a lymph node which you can feel in addition to other lymph nodes which were found on the CT scan. There are a number of things which can cause enlargement of lymph nodes.
The most common cause is a viral infection. We sometimes referred to this type of infection as mononucleosis. This will typically also carry along with it a significant degree of fatigue. This will also sometimes last for 3 to 6 weeks and sometimes even longer.
I think it is important that your general doctor also check a few different blood tests. I would recommend certainly a complete blood count in addition to a metabolic profile. I would also suggest a Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH), also a blood test for Epstein-Barr virus as well as Cytomegalovirus (CMV) would be appropriate in order to help determine if there is an infection which is causing your symptoms.
A more worrisome and rare cause of this type of thing would be a type of lymphoma. Again this would be exceedingly rare in your case but certainly is not something that I would want to ignore. Sometimes if lymph nodes remain large over a long period of time the surgeon can remove one of the lymph nodes so that a pathologist can look at it under the microscope. This would help them again rule out any type of worrisome disorder such as lymphoma. Again I don't want you to worry that you have lymphoma, but I want you to know that these are the things that we sometimes consider.
Again I thank you for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert
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