Swollen Nodes: Left Armpit And Above Left Clavicle

Also I haven't really had any other symptoms. My left breast does feel thicker than it used to but it still feels just like fibrocystic changes to me...but I also have VERY fibrocystic breasts that are a little on the large side (DD) so I would think that would make it harder to feel any new lumps? Also, I am only 27, so I wouldn't think it would be breast cancer, although I know that is a possibility. The only other symptoms that I have had is that I have had bouts of fatigue from time to time. Again, any help would be appreciated.

Have you lost you appetite recently?
Have you lost some weight unintentionally?
Are you experiencing night sweats?
Can you notice some red patches on your skin?
Do you have severe itchy skin, especially on your legs and feet?
Do you feel chest pain or other respiratory difficulties?

Thanks for your response...I lost about 30 lbs a little over a year ago very suddenly but I had just gotten off of 300 mgs of zoloft so I attributed the weight loss to that. I've sort of lost my appetite over the last four or five days actually, but that also could be stress.

I had scaly, red itchy patches that were kind of oily on my scalp over the summer a couple of times that I have never gotten before. I was going to go to a dermatoligist but they went away after I started using a shampoo with salicyclic acid. I had one itchy, scaly patch by my temple but it went away on it's own. They were more pink than red. I haven't had any of those episodes in about 3 months though.

I have experienced a lot of night sweat episodes over the last month but not every night. I haven't had to change my clothes or anything but when I wake up my hair is curly and my pillow and sheets are damp.

I have severe itchiness in my feet but that too comes and goes. My armpit where the nodes are is kinda itchy and tingly and the left side of my neck has a weird sensation to it.

I smoke, so I have a smoker's cough and congestion. About three to four months ago though I started having random sharp pains in my upper left chest and it scared me b/c I always think it's my heart. Those come and go and sometimes it just feels like gas is trapped there.

My father's a doctor (orthopeadic surgeon, however), so I just always ask him stuff. He just says go to my Ob/GYN which I am doing. Do I need a primary care doctor as well probably?

I don't find your skin problem on your scalp associated with other symptoms you are experiencing for the last few months.
Scaly, itchy, red skin and stubborn dandruff are symptom of very common skin problem called Seborrheic dermatitis. This disorder predominately affects the scalp
and you may experience periods when your signs and symptoms improve alternating with times when they become worse.
It's neither harmful nor contagious and you got the right treatment.

Does fibrocystic breast disease affect one or both breast?
Do you have swollen, tender breasts, and one or more lumps?
Do you feel breast pain?
Do you know that fibrocystic changes may make breast examination and mammography more difficult to interpret, early cancerous lesions may occasionally be overlooked?


Have you been experiencing fever for over one week?
Do you have chills or a feeling of temperature swings?
Lymph node swelling, often in the upper body area, fatigue, weight loss - usually at least 10% over a short time, night sweats, itching without an apparent cause or rash, are symptoms of lymphoma.
Please, visit your doctor and ask for lymph node biopsy!
Take care!
Marija

I now have a hump on my sternum as if something has pushed it up and moved my pressed on my rib to the right as well. I have burning sensations there and it itches sometimes. My father is an orthopedist (sp?) and I am making him do a chest x-ray next week. He says it's probably nothing, but I just think it is strange that all of these symptoms have come on in the last five months or so. I have had severe tightness in my chest for up to a year now but I have always assumed it was anxiety, along with the chest pain. My friend looked at the hump and said the only way that they would think I could get that was from being body-slammed, but I have not been hurt or had any trauma to my chest.
Lately sometimes when I eat, it feels like food gets trapped where the hump is...and I have been increasingly getting shorter and shorter of breath. I have a low-grade fever sometimes during the day and I can always feel when I have it, but it comes and goes.

I also have found a huge knot at the bottom of my neck on the left side, same side as the supraclavicular node and armpit nodes, that I thought was a tension knot but it does not hurt and has not gone down in over three weeks once. I can see where it seems swollen at the left side of my neck at the bottom, and I wouldn't think a tension knot would be able to see anything. Will they be able to see if I have anything causing my sternum to protrude the way it is on just an x-ray?
Thanks for all your input. I am very concerned.

There are numerous causes for sternal masses, but in your case that is very indicative for lymphoma.
Do you have sensations of abdominal pressure or pain?

If lymphoma involves the lymphatic tissue of the thymus, the gland located in front of the heart, it may cause chest pain. In addition, an enlarged thymus may press on nearby structures such as the trachea (windpipe) or the large vein that carries blood from the head and arms back to the heart.
Pressure on the trachea can lead to coughing, fatigue, shortness of breath, and other respiratory difficulties. Pressure on the superior vena cava may produce a swelling of the head and arms.

Chest X-ray can show if there are enlarged lymph nodes in your chest, in the middle of your chest, in the area called the mediastinum. These enlarged lymph nodes or more possible " lymphoma process" that has affected the marrow of your sternum, is causing the sternum hump. CT scan will give more precise visualization of the sernum and other organs inside the chests.

You need a lymph node biopsy immediately.
Best wishes!
Marija

Hi, My mum had Lymph node cancer on her right side and died 5 years later at 39. I have a lump on my right nodes in armpit which has been there about 9 wks and lump on left clavical at base of neck which only appeared recently. I have no appetite, fatigued all the time, loss of appetite and night sweats.

Can anyone help pls?
I do smoke and got chest pains around the same time as the lump in my armpit but have now gone. I also have a weakness in my right arm due to the lump in my armpit.

Many thanks!

I have Sjogrens syndrome that can have a higher episodes of Lymphoma. But I just don't know if I should worry about it.
I don't know if I have lumps or not... I am really a lumpy person. Lypomas fatty lumps everywhere. any suggestions

Just had annual ckup and Dr is concerned about the feeling under my arm in the gland,now I am worried because all this time i thot it was a pulled muscle,feels tight/full especially doing a brisk walk & chest hurts sometimes like when yur way out of shape (I am). I find I end up pressing and rubbing like when you have a pulled muscle. Is this serious???I am getting auth. for a mamo. but insurance takes forever and I am so so worried I am making myself crazy. All I keep thinking is breast cancer. Any info would be comforting-Cali

I have been dealing with exhaustion & pressure & pain in abdominal area for over 3 months, then I found my neck thickening & it got hard to breath deeply & workouts are out of the questian. Now my neck & ab area is almost back to normal but my chest feels like there's a lot of pressure & food doesn't go down very fast, it sticks on it's way down, now my stomachs been burning off & on for 2 days. Just a walk across the yard takes my breath. I've had probelms with low platelets & protein that come and go, I just went for a CT scan on my throat & chest Monday so I'm waiting to hear from that. Of course the day I went I didn't feel much pressure but the technician said if there was even slight pressure they would find something. -Meredith

For gocalinumber1:

The first thing to do is to calm down. Go see a doctor and try not to get stressed about possibly having cancer. I had the worst-of-the-worst breast cancer last year, went through some fairly agressive chemo, and had 2 surgeries (one of them was major-major-major). Chemos vary, but the one that I had for breast cancer wasn't bad at all. I got a new, very challenging job on the same day (in the same hour) that I found out I had breast cancer and worked all through my first surgery and chemo, plus my beloved elderly, disabled mom declined and died while I was undergoing chemo. That period was extremely stressful, but the chemo was the least of the stressors. You just have to read the materials they give you and you need to be prepared with any meds to counter side-effects. Most of them are easy to control if you know what to do.

It is the fear of the unknown that is the worst. One way or the other, the unknown will become known and you'll have to deal with it if the outcome of the tests are bad. You can't change it and getting stressed about it will only make things worse. Cancer has the potential to be very difficult when it is advanced, so the best thing you can do is to get to the doctor and get tested ASAP. If it's early or middle stage, you have a good chance of surviving. Don't wait.

You should also try to think about this as an adventure instead of thinking "why me" if you do, indeed, have cancer. It IS an adventure that will bring an entirely different world of love and care and support. And, when you come out of it, you will be better for it. You can help others who are just starting the journey. You will be wiser and less fearful of cancer. Also, because you had cancer, your doctors will be on guard to do periodic tests to be sure that you are still OK (versus going for years without knowing). In the end, it is just another life challenge that helps you appreciate life more, and also helps you to feel and act on empathy for those less fortunate than you.

Go get tested now - you'll be OK one way or the other.

Barbara Shelby

Wow Barbara, what a great outlook! My daughter is having problems now and is scared to death she has lymphoma from searching the internet. It all started with a miscarriage... 3 D&Cs later, the bleeding has slowed down, but she has pain and cramping in the ovary area, headaches, chest pain and swollen lymph nodes. Her blood work so far looks normal... she had a low hemoglobin several weeks back, but was actively bleeding then and was hospitalized and given 2 units of blood. I am scared for her as well. I would love to show her your post, but i am afraid right now it would just worry her more. She goes back to her OB/GYN Monday for a follow up ultrasound to make sure her uterus is free of blood. I told her to make a list of all of her symptoms to tell him and to ask him to refer her to a specialist. I know she is scared, but the sooner we find out what is wrong, the better chance she'll have it can be treated and cured.

Dear mi1965,

Good for you for keeping so involved. Your advice about making a list of all of her symptoms for the doctor is excellent, as is asking to be referred to a specialist. It's so hard sometimes because you don't really know what you're dealing with. Once things become more definitive, you can really learn about them and understand what the options are.

Two notes:
(1) Be sure she doesn't visit the chat rooms or blogs for information about a potential disease. Although it is good for people trying to find a solution, it can also be too frightening because there are just so many variables. Plus, people with "success stories" don't tend to write in as much, so the outlook can seem rather grim. The best thing to do is to visit the factual medical sites and training sites and try to piece things together.

(2) If she is REALLY stressed, it might be a good idea to get her on an anti-stress medication like Ativan (starting at the low 1 mg dose). The stress of not knowing what's going on may be exacerbating her symptoms. I never really took anything before I had my medical problems, but Ativan made me feel calmer without affecting my intellect or behavior at all.

You're on the right track. Stick with the full list of symptoms and get a referral. In fact, you can phone other doctors just to ask who they would recommend. Then you can check the doctor's history. The more people refer the same doctor, the more likely that the doctor has a good reputation. The more well-known, experienced doctor you can get, the faster you can find out what's wrong. Go as near to the top as you can. If there's a female doctor near the top of the referral list, go to her. They tend to be willing to sit and listen by nature (but not always).

Barbara,
Thank you so much for your post on this site. I have been struggling recently with a constant pain in my heart region & was referred to a Cardiologist who prescribed a steroid for "inflamation in the chest wall". When I told him about the 1 inch long swollen lymph node above my left clavical he responded "I didn't feel anything". I spoke with my niece who is a nurse & told her about it and mentioned that I had shoulder pain, left arm pain & itching in the left armpit she advised that I go immediately to my Dr.

I have an appointment today with my GP and honestly feel no stress about the situation especially after reading your posts.

Thank you.