“Enlarged lymph nodes for 9 weeks”
Hi, I am a 19-year-old female. I have had Swollen lymph nodes for 9 weeks, I had a CT done 2 weeks ago. It showed "prominent caliber of the cervical lymph nodes". The CT also showed an enlarged thyroid. I was also tested for mono, strep, and other infections. All were neg. I had a CBC with diff and a basic metabolic panel. All of the blood tests were normal. The Dr. gave me 7 days of antibiotics (amoxicillin), 3 times a day, just to see if the lymph nodes would go down. My lymph nodes still have not gone down with the antibiotics. I was referred by my PCP to an ENT. That appointment is in two weeks. I feel very uneasy and anxious about this because the Dr. said they could not completely rule out lymphoma, so that is why I have the ENT referral. Could this be something else instead of lymphoma, even though I was negative for infections?
Female | 19 years old
Complaint duration: 2 1/2 months
Medications: none
Conditions: none
1 Answer
It could be simple inflammation. Just because you have enlarged lymph nodes that don't completely go away, does not mean there is something wrong. You can do a biopsy of the LN to test for lymphoma which is likely what the ENT will offer you. But if it's negative then the lymph nodes may just be general inflammation. There are other rare conditions that can be tested for, but they would also show up as abnormal tissue in the biopsy.
