do lymph nodes ever go away??

[NLEWLAD]

been poz for 4-5 months now and my lymps are still big - not noticable but i can feel them enlarged

do they ever reduce back to normal or am i suck with them now larger than normal?

[AndyArrow]

I'm certainly no expert and can only speak to my personal experience in that after time they did go back down to normal size.

[BlueMoon]

Mine subsided after only a few weeks of HAART.

[BassMan]

Lymphadenopathy (enlarged lymph nodes) is quite common with many infections and HIV is no different; this is especially so during primary HIV infection, but it can occur at any stage. As long as the lymph nodes are not unusually tender it's not usually a cause for concern. Your doc will want to check them from time to time though, just to make sure the enlargement is solely due to your HIV.

The lymph nodes are reacting to your HIV infection. Once this is brought under control (say by starting meds) they'll probably return to a more normal size. I had enlarged submandibular (under the jaw) and inguinal (in the groin) nodes like bullets until I started meds. They're quite normal now.

Carl
Manchester, UK

[NLEWLAD]

thanks carl

my nodes by my jaw are large atm  not noticable but they do seem to have an erection and have done since diagnosis

good to know when i start meds they will go down

when i touch them they do tingle though is this ok

[BassMan]

when i touch them they do tingle though is this ok

Well, I'm not a doctor. Some tenderness in the node in early infection is common, but there can be other causes for enlarged lymph nodes such as an infection of the node itself. If you're at all concerned, the best advice anyone could give you would be raise it with your doc; he/she will be able to rule out any other causes and put your mind at rest, though given your recent seroconversion I'd be surprised if it was anythng other than HIV-related lymphadenopathy.

[NLEWLAD]

thanks carl

was a slight concern to me coz i thought after 4-5 months they would go away

i know i am a newbie but its all new to me,

i do feel i have lernt a lot since becoming poz but there is stuff that i still need advice on

thanks carl

see u at fed xx

[Blixer]

Newlad, mine didn't return to normal size until I started treatment.  Actually, enlarged lymph nodes was what got me to the doctor in the first place.  The first doctor I went to just blew it off as an infection.  I finally got back to my regular doctor and she started running tests.  Since she knew I was gay she ran an HIV test that came back positive.  Mine started with one swelling in my neck, two months later I noticed a bunch more in my neck and under my chin, then in my groin.  That's when the doctor got involved and ran some tests.  They were swollen for about 7 months before I started HAART and about 2 months after HAART they had returned to pretty much normal size.  So that's my experience for what it's worth.  As others have stated, swollen lymph nodes are a common reaction to your body's attempt to fight an infection.  In this case, fighting the HIV.  There is also a temptation to "check them out" all the time.  This can lead to them being somewhat tender.

[J.R.E.]

Hey..

Mine are normal size. Every,once in a great while they may enlarge slightly, but very seldom. Stop probing , poking and squeezing your nodes. You'll piss them off...    They enlarge for a reason.
The only time I can remember my nodes being larger than life, was prior to starting meds. After starting meds, they went back to normal quite fast.


Ray

[SoSadTooBad]

mine were enlarged until I started meds - after about 4 weeks of meds, they went back to normal and stayed that way.  that said, when I get any sort of cold or flu, they get pissed off pretty easily, but they go back to normal quickly.

[shadowfluid]

Mine went down immed. upon starting HAART. 

[pozattitude]

I had walnut size nodes on my neck but they went back to "normal" size once I started HAART.  They were very sensitive at a point, but that was because I was obsessed with them and couldn't stop poking at them...my word of advice...just leave them alone 

Rich

[BT65]

Mine were only enlarged during seroconversion (that I can remember).