Protocol for Diagnosing Swollen Glands Posted: 06-28-06 23:38pm
Hello,
I have had some serious neck gland issues
for a while now. On and off over my life I
have had sore throats and swollen glands,
usually once a year. However, they have
gotten worse and more frequent over the
past six months. I am a 2nd year teacher,
and since January I have been almost
constantly sick. It all started with a flu
that I had for a couple of days in
January. About a month later my gland
started to swell during the night on one
side. (I have always had swellings with
this one gland on the right hand side of
my neck). Overnight it got very big, it
looked like the mumps, so I went to the
ER. They ran blood tests and everything
was ok. So I went home with antibiotics. I
then went to my regular dr who sent me for
an ultrasound. The radiologist said that
it looked as though there may have been a
stone in my gland. Which could be true
because I did swell up more when I ate any
food. So my dr. told me to suck on sour
candies. After about 7 days I was back to
normal. I am not sure if it was the
candies or the antibiotics! Anyways, after
that I have had about 4 more gland
swellings and sore throats one after the
other. Always with my right neck gland
becoming very large. I have become very
anxious and stressed about always being
sick. So a coworker suggested that I go to
a nauturopath. She said that my gland was
still swollen and gave me a variety of
herbs and vitamins to take and
reccommended I come back again. I do have
an appt booked with my reg. dr. but she is
very hard to get in to see. So with all
these swellings, I have just rested and
not gone in. BUT now after my last sore
throat, I feel much better but my gland in
still swollen and my neck feels very tight
and it is hard to swollow, like there is a
lump in it and my voice is raspy. Please
help me, I am stressed about this and the
more stressed I get, the worse it is.
I recommend you consult an ENT-specialist
for a throat examination. Most likely, the
doctor will request a fine needle biopsy
(punition) to explore those swollen lymph
nodes. Standard blood examinations and
some specific serological tests (HIV,
infective mononucleosis) will also be
requested as part of protocol for
diagnosing these symptoms.
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