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I had an enlarged left supraclavical lump. I had the lump biopsied in April of this year and with good results of benign with reactive lymph nodes. In June I noticed that I have a enlarged supraclavical lump (growing) on the right side along with enlarged underarm lymph nodes (both arms). I am going to my doctor this week. I am looking for what I should expect, and what questions I should ask my doctor. What could be the causes for enlarged lymph nodes? I did have a mammogram, which came back fine.
Gender: FemaleAge: 46
HiCustomer
Enlarged lymph nodes can be caused by infection, inflammation, or cancer. Reactive lymph nodes means your nodes are swollen as a result of some pathogen, such as a bacteria or virus.
There are many different conditions that can cause lymph node swelling. You doctor will most likely do a physical exam, blood tests first, then perhaps some imaging studies or xrays depending on what the blood tests show. The blood tests will include a complete blood count, liver function tests and kidney function tests. He/she may want to do another biopsy.
Your doctor will likely ask you questions about the swelling.
Most likely, another biopsy will show the same thing as the first. You and your doctor just need to pin down the cause of the swelling.
Besides my primary care doctor. Should I see a specialist who specializes in this, and if so, what kind of specialist? The only symtoms I have is chonic constipation, which the colonoscopy came back normal. Back pain, and tired.
Swelling lymph nodes can be worrisome. But try not to worry too much until you get some definitive testing done. (My sister is going through this right now also). Its hard to say what type of specialist you need until some blood tests are done to point you in the right direction for a diagnosis. There are so many things it could be, but it is "something". Like I said before, the number one cause of swelling lymph nodes is infection. You just need to find out where it is and what it is. In the absence of any other symptoms except "tired", and with a benign result on the first biopsy; "Reactive" meaning infection or inflammation--- it could be an auto-immune problem, or a viral infection (liver maybe). No sense guessing. Just get some testing done and go from there.
Nurse (RN)
36+ yrs exprience medical, surgical, wound/skin care, nutrition, geriatrics, rehab, management
Thank you!