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What Causes Swollen Lymph Behind Ear, Near Neck, Tongue Lesion And Toe Fungus?

Posted on Fri, 24 Oct 2014

Question: I have swollen lymph behind ear and in neck area. Which I read can indicate HIV. I have tested negative at 4 weeks 8 weeks 10 weeks 13 weeks 17weeks and 29 weeks. And I still have these swollen lymphs stiff neck tongue lession toe fungus which all came with the flu like illness and still persist. Doctors ran blood test cbc everything good. I also had full std panel at 21 weeks all clear. All doctors seem to dismiss my symptoms because of good blood work but I suspect what I have is viral because I have been prescribed many antibiotics and none work.

Answered by Dr. Abubakar Siddiqh (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Requires interventional investigations

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

I had gone through your question and understand your concerns.

I see similar cases amongst young people who visit my clinic, painless lymphnode enlargement since months, where HIV negative, complete blood picture report were normal could be due to

The First possibility is hidden cancers- tonsil, retro Molor trigone, base of tongue, fossa of Rosen muller.

The Second possibility is infections- infectious mononeuclosis, lymphoma, tuberculosis.

I suggest you to to consult ent surgeon and get detailed ent examination, fine needle aspiration cytology of neck node and other tests like laryngoscopy, nasopharyngoscopy.

blood tests like peripheral smear for cell type, ultrasound abdomen to see for organomegaly, x ray chest- tuberculosis.

I suggests you to go ahead for these tests to rule out the cause.

Hope this answers your question, if you have additional questions or follow up questions then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your questions.

Wishing you good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju

Follow up: Dr. Abubakar Siddiqh (46 hours later)

When trying to diagnose HIV do we count from night of sexual contact or when flu like illness came. Because if I measure from night of contact its 7 month but from illness is 6 month negative. All my symptoms point to HIV I went to ent and he said nodes are small and should not be worried about. But I still have slight blurry vision, fatigue, and shortness of breath.

Answered by Dr. Abubakar Siddiqh (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
needs ent consultations and interventions.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thanks for considering my answer and for your follow up.

If you are in suspicion, you can go for-

1.Assessment of viral load: detection of virus or viral antigen: HIV RNA or branched DNA (bDNA) assay.

2. full blood count-FBC: anaemia, thrombocytopenia, lymphocytopenia with reduced CD4 cell count.

3.Assessment of other infections: eg, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, cytomegalovirus (CMV), toxoplasma, syphilis, varicella.

I suggest you to visit an ent surgeon and get appropriate guidance and investigations for definitive diagnosis.

Hope this answers your question, if you have additional questions or follow up questions then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your questions.

wishing you good health.

Note: Get personalized answers to your HIV related queries You can choose to talk face to face with your doctor. Book a Video Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Ashwin Bhandari