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Swollen Lymph Node in Neck

**NEWBIE ALERT**
I am 28 years old and I had an ear infection a month and a half ago and still have a lymph node swollen in my neck. It is right by the jugular/carotid in the tonsilar zone. I have a tonsil swollen on the opposite side (minimally). I went to an ENT and he put me on a 2 week dose of bactrim. The node was painful originally but has since gotten less tender. It was originally about 1.5 cm x 2.5 cm. It shrank to about 0.5 cm x 1.5 cm in the first week or two. It has remained the same size ever since (including after the course of Bactrim). I'm going to be going back to the ENT in another week. I have been on Remicade (and in remission) since 2001. I take 1000 mg of Pentasa 4/day as well as prevacid. Like all of us I'm on the battery of vitamins as well. Have any of you had similar experiences? I understand the risks of remicade with Lymphoma so obviously I'm terrified.
 
I can understand your concern. My son is on Remicade but only for about a year now. He is also on MTX as well. He did have a swollen lymph node at some point but since he has allergies and his nodes swell when that gets bad we couldn't definitively say it was due to the med in any way, although wasn't a lot going on allergy wise at the time.

I hope you get this resolved quickly and that all is well.
 
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Just wanted to let you guys know that it ended up being something called cryptic tonsilitis. It took a load of doctors to figure this out. When you get a tonsil infection it can swell the lymph nodes by your carotid arteries. If it is acute tonsillitis, your tonsils are white and it's obvious what is wrong. If they are cryptic they are just red and a bit swollen and it can be harder to identify the problem. It can also mascarade as an ear infection because of the way the nerves work. A few rounds of antibiotics later I was fine :)
 

Trysha

Moderator
Staff member
Thank you for letting us know the good news.
It is concerning for those of us in the Remicade legion.
Hugs
Trysha
 
Thank you for this post. I constantly have inflammed tonsils and uvula as well as inflammed lymph nodes in my neck. It never gets 100% better. It gets a little better then gets worse again. Would this scenario require a round of antibiotics?
 
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