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Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: otherplaces on June 02, 2006, 02:11:20 am

Title: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: otherplaces on June 02, 2006, 02:11:20 am

Here's something I wonder about. I was infected about 9 months ago. I had the whole crazy flu thing that was nothing like a normal flu thing. I felt pretty damn sick. My doc said it was a moderate primary infection. Whatever. Swollen lymph nodes was a part of that whole thing. But they've never really gone away. I got over the illness. I've gained back the weight. But my left lymph node almost always feels just off. It doesn't hurt. I don't feel bad physically at all. But it's almost always there. Sometimes my right one too but alot less...could one side of my body be more heavily infectedjavascript:void(0);. And sometimes it just goes away. Stress does seem to be a factor, but not always. If I haven't eaten it seems to be a factor, but that doesn't mean it goes away when I've eaten well during the day. Not much rhyme or reason to it all. My doc said swollen lymph nodes in HIV+ people isn't unusual...don't worry about it. I even read a post from a doc on thebody.com that swollen lymph nodes could be good. But my favorite is the suggestion that it's psychosomatic. Considering the same people told me my flu was psychosomatic and not HIV....I'm tired of this explanation.

What are your experiences?

thanks,
OP
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: Matty the Damned on June 02, 2006, 02:18:33 am
Here's something I wonder about. I was infected about 9 months ago. I had the whole crazy flu thing that was nothing like a normal flu thing. I felt pretty damn sick. My doc said it was a moderate primary infection. Whatever. Swollen lymph nodes was a part of that whole thing. But they've never really gone away. I got over the illness. I've gained back the weight. But my left lymph node almost always feels just off. It doesn't hurt. I don't feel bad physically at all. But it's almost always there. Sometimes my right one too but alot less...could one side of my body be more heavily infectedjavascript:void(0);. And sometimes it just goes away. Stress does seem to be a factor, but not always. If I haven't eaten it seems to be a factor, but that doesn't mean it goes away when I've eaten well during the day. Not much rhyme or reason to it all. My doc said swollen lymph nodes in HIV+ people isn't unusual...don't worry about it. I even read a post from a doc on thebody.com that swollen lymph nodes could be good. But my favorite is the suggestion that it's psychosomatic. Considering the same people told me my flu was psychosomatic and not HIV....I'm tired of this explanation.

What are your experiences?

thanks,
OP

OP,

What you experienced was the dreaded seroconversion illness, but you know that now. ;) Many HIV positive types have chronically swollen lymph nodes. I know I do. It's common early in the infection, but also later on. They will probably go down as your immune system begins to fight back against the virus.

Try not to prod your glands too much -- that also makes them swell. They're fussy little buggers.

MtD

WARNING TO ANY WORRIED WELLS THAT MAY BE READING THIS: My comments to OP about his glands are specific to his case. They have nothing to do with your stuff. I better not see comments about 'Matty the Damned said swollen glands . . . .' in the Am I Infected Forum or christ help you. I mean it. Symptom shopping is REALLY uncool and will earn my HUGE pissed offness and that of other experts and regular contributors too. You will learn that the Fear of HIV is nothing compared to the Fear of MtD.
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: otherplaces on June 02, 2006, 02:22:52 am

Yeah, but this is 9 months after seroconversion. I'm a done seroconverting. Someone needs to tell my lymph nodes to chill...shows over.
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: Tar Heel on June 02, 2006, 02:25:41 am
I was exposed May 05 and got sick the next week with bad swollen nodes etc....   The nodes flared up every few weekls until i past the year mark.  In the last few months, I feel better than i have felt in a long time (partly because I'm looking forward to this summer when last summer I was sick off and on the entire time.)

But give your body a year to adjust to the HIV.  From what I have seen and heard, most people with a decent immune system do well after that mark.  My doctor called what you are going thru as "trying to find the viral set point" which he explained as a period of time your body and the HIV battle pretty hard.

If that's the case, I'm glad I went thru it.  That means my body is on alert for problems.
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: Matty the Damned on June 02, 2006, 02:28:30 am
Yeah, but this is 9 months after seroconversion. I'm a done seroconverting. Someone needs to tell my lymph nodes to chill...shows over.

Babe,

I seroconverted about 5-6 years ago (I didn't get seroconversion illness though) and my glands are STILL swollen. They go up and down, but they're always a bit cranky. And not just the ones in my neck either. ;)

Nodes do what they do. We have little control over the blighters.

MtD
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: otherplaces on June 02, 2006, 02:36:19 am

Tar Heel,

You're just a few months ahead of me. I'm glad your nodes have gone down. Hopefully mine will do the same. I have similar memories of spending all of last august in bed sick to death and worried to death. It was hot as hell and I have no ac. Those are some bad memories. wow.

If they don't go down...will they go down when you're on meds???

OP
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: wellington on June 02, 2006, 11:14:22 am
I've suffered swollen nodes from time to time, too. Oddly enough, a flu I had in the 80's that made a node under my jaw chronically swollen has recently seen it drain. No sense putting too much weight on any one component of your body - save maybe the brain :)  I find staying in a good frame of mind the best medicine ever - besides the prescribed stuff.
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: Tar Heel on June 02, 2006, 11:15:13 am
Tar Heel,

You're just a few months ahead of me. I'm glad your nodes have gone down. Hopefully mine will do the same. I have similar memories of spending all of last august in bed sick to death and worried to death. It was hot as hell and I have no ac. Those are some bad memories. wow.

If they don't go down...will they go down when you're on meds???

OP
dunno.  i'm not on any meds yet.
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: Ann on June 02, 2006, 11:35:22 am
OP,

May I ask how do you know they're swollen if they're not hurting you? My guess is that you keep checking them to see if they are still swollen, and doing that will KEEP them swollen. I know because I've done that to myself. Make yourself keep your hands off them for a week at the very least and see if there isn't some improvement. If you've been touching them alot, it might take longer than that for them to go down again.

There is a form of massage called lymphatic drainage. If you continue to have problems even after you start keeping your hands off, see if you can't find a qualified practitioner in your area. They should be able to teach you how to do this to yourself as well.

Good luck with those pesky glands...

Ann
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: blondbeauty on June 02, 2006, 05:23:17 pm
Ive had swollen lymph nodes under my armpits since my infection in 2002. The Dr. says it means the immueçne system is working properly. A destroyed immune system does not produce swollen lymph nodes or any other reaction. Meds usually make the return to their original size.
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: david25luvit on June 02, 2006, 05:55:29 pm
Several people including myself had some kind of strange FLU earlier this year.  For Jerry and I it took
three weeks to get over it.....and that was with anitboitics (for me)  I've had swolllen lymph nodes in
my neck for the past four years...so I guess you say its normal for me anyway.   My ex-doctor told me
I was lucky....that he had seen some cases where only one lymph node in the neck was swollen and it
was more noticeable...  I guess he thought I was more worried about my appearance than the actual
cause....of course I know why.  And YES.  Mine ache.  David's lymph nodes in his groin were swollen for
years....  If I have to have the swelling....and the pain, I'll take it in my neck. ::)
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: otherplaces on June 02, 2006, 09:20:05 pm

It seems that maybe this is common. I don't fuss with my nodes. I try not to think about them. No poking or proding. How do I know they're swollen? Well, they just don't feel right. It's actually more like one feels weird the other fine. It's not painful or horrible...just there. I can feel it now. Like one armpit feels tighter than the other. That's all.
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: newt on June 02, 2006, 11:19:04 pm
It happens, it's an HIV thing, but like Ann says lay off and they will too, lymph glands is sensitive to constant intereference. If they get really stuck as swollen then they can be whipped out but it is a good sign in one sense cos it means the glands is sucking updead virus. They may go down. - matt

Now playing - Hawkwind: Hurry on Sundown
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: newt on June 02, 2006, 11:20:19 pm
PS - once, I had one in my armpit swell up like a cricket ball, very bad timing cos I was on a beach holiday and it was deffo visible generally

(end Hawkwind, time to go to 24 hr shop for fags)
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: BrooklynGuy on June 03, 2006, 04:50:04 pm
Boy do I have a swollen lymph node story.  Mine was actually caused by Immune Reconstitution Syndrome (MAC).  About 2 weeks after I started meds (7/05), the area under my right chin and eventually the whole right side of my neck swelled up like Frankenstein.  Round about November, part of the swollen area ruptured.  There were 2 additional "main" areas that eventually ruptured.  Still to this day there is still occasionally yellow puss that drains when I apply the hot compress which was recommended I do every evening.  I've been dealing with this since July of last year and it's just now beginning to heal so that my neck/under chin area is beginning to look semi-normal (less freakish).  My doctor tells me this condition can take upwards of a year or so to heal so I'm sort of right on track for this.  Meanwhile, I'll continue to be on the MAC meds in addition to my HIV meds for some time I guess.

Anyhow - that's my lymph node "saga".
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: thomas2013 on September 28, 2013, 07:54:55 am
Hi,

I tested positive a about 6 months ago after a feverish acute phase. Since then I've had two or three swellings in my neck.

Spots with rash appeared on penis recently, doctor and internet point towards herpes. I'm due to go on HIV meds next month so not too worried. HOWEVER this week have increasingly swollen glands between neck and jaw. When I tip my chin towards chin the glands stick out when I feel them.

Anyone recognise these symptoms?
Know if going on herpes meds will help?
Know how I can encourage these swellings to go down?
Anything else I should look out for?

All feedback welcome, if this is in the wrong place or already being dealt with on this forum please point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: aaware72 on October 01, 2013, 10:53:13 am
Hi,

I tested positive a about 6 months ago after a feverish acute phase. Since then I've had two or three swellings in my neck.

Spots with rash appeared on penis recently, doctor and internet point towards herpes. I'm due to go on HIV meds next month so not too worried.


Have you not had a test done for Herpes?  You said your DR points towards herpes?  I would think the DR would do a test?

Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: beentheredoneit on October 06, 2013, 10:14:44 am
So far, it seems like everyone has a similar story about how they have swollen lymph nodes that don't go down.

Is there anyone here who has a story about how something they tried, i.e. a supplement, diet change, etc actually reduced them in size or stopped swelling completely?
Title: Re: Swollen lymph nodes??
Post by: oksikoko on October 06, 2013, 02:43:57 pm
I have similar memories of spending all of last august in bed sick to death and worried to death. It was hot as hell and I have no ac. Those are some bad memories. wow.

This, and Downton Abbey, is what I remember most from my seroconversion and acute retroviral syndrome days. I didn't have air conditioning, but I did have a 104 degree fever which felt cool compared to the 187,000 degree weather at the time. It was fall really soon after, though, and now that fall is happening again, when the wind blows just right, I have weird flashbacks to how crappy I felt last year.

OP: I had really swollen glands (in the groin, not the neck), but they cleared up right after I started Stribild. I'm not sure if that's coincidental.