Both sides of neck swelling above collarbone

I had a tooth pulled a while back and took antibiotics, but it wasn't badly infected.

My last Cat scan showed I have a chronic sinus infection. But I have no symptoms of a sinus infection.  It showed no water retention in my neck and no pockets of air in my neck...only one very slightly swollen lymph node in the left side of my neck on my lymph chain. The doctor said no need to worry about it. I am starting on yet another antibiotic for two weeks and hope it will make a difference.

I still continue to be sick. I had to leave work today because I feel like I am being choked, my neck is so swollen. I am sick to my stomach, with blurry vision and feel like I am somewhat short of breath. Most everyone that sees my neck when it is swollen cannot believe that a Dr wouldn't be most concerned and working hard to find out what this could be at a faster pace. It has been 10 months of testing and still no answers.

I hope you don't have lymphoma, Shanbear. I hope the antibiotics make a difference for you, smrt1997. I know how you are feeling, Jaclan. Everyone hang in there. You are all in my prayers. Let's keep each other posted...maybe together we can find an answer!!

Hi all,

I am 34, smoker, drinker (not heavy), one child, gallblader removed, asthmatic. I take prednisone & my pill levlen daily. All of my maternal relatives have some form of thyroid disorder

That god im not alone. I lost my 47 year old mother 3 years ago to lung cancer.....she was diagnosed by a lump on her clavical...you can imagine my panic!!

I noticed my 'gel like' lump just above my collar bone on the left side only about 5 month ago after a few rounds of zumba :-) I noticed the lump & also had a slight tingling down the left arm. At first I just put it to a pulled muscle, then I started to worry  as it would not go away. I was sent for ultasound, ct & had bloods done. The ultrasound came back as a 'tissue mass', but not harmful ?! Even the  nurses taking the scan found the lump strange, ct showed build up (cant remember what of, not harmful) in between my c5/6 & blood looked fine. The Dr sent me to physio! & even the physio said get a second opinion :-) Seond dr said it was because i was overweight....can u believe that! Now third dr I saw this morning, apparently he has seen this only once before in a young girl, he couldnt remember what the specialist he sent her to had called it but it involve surgery on the lymph glad & tying it off?? I have an appointment with this Dr & will keep you all posted.

I find it more painful when im stress & have what feels like muscular pain in my arm,also find when i am stressed & the lump is more noticeable I am tired & usualy have a headache.

One thought was hashimotos thyroiditis, blood have show nothing.

Good luck to all! & please let us know how you go

kc 

Hi KC! I hope this Dr will be able to find out what is wrong. Please keep us posted!!!

I have not been feeling well at all the past couple of weeks. It seems like my illness comes and goes. The neck swelling pretty much is with me daily. Some days it bothers me a lot and some days it isn't so bad. Sometimes it comes with a headache, muscle aches, choky feeling, shortness of breath, nausea, tiredness, and blurry vision.  This past few weeks my upper back has been bothering me a lot. When I am feeling this sickly, all I can do is cry!

I haven't been to the Drs for about a month or so because every time I go, they look at me like I am crazy. I don't really think Drs care like they used to. I am thinking of trying a different hospital system with a whole new set of Drs. Not sure what else to do.....

Has anyone found a definite cuz and a cure? I'm now 36 prominent painless swelling began the day after I gave birth almost 2 years ago. We figured it was hormonal and it was normal post delivery swelling that would go away in about a week but I was shocked to hear the OB say he'd never seen it before. It's on both sides but mainly the left. It reduced significantly a few weeks later but has never gone away completely. It has flare ups that seem to happen when I'm tired but could also be the cause of my fatigue, hard to tell. I've been tested for EVERYTHING and no luck. Im fit, and thin and have never been on any ongoing medication. I'm otherwise a healthy person and only had a short term issue with thuroiditus after my second delivery but it never required medication and it eventually went back to normal. I have noticed that since this swelling began I gag easier and don't like anything touching my neck to firmly like heavy jewelry or a tight scarf or I feel a choking sensation. I'm desperatefor an answer, not only because I'm concerned about the health issue but because it has defiantly lowered my self confidence. I feel so ugly with this unattractive swollen neck. my thoughts are that this is either hormonal as it began te day after delivery when there is a massive change in levels, or an injury since I pushed extremlyn hard ad delivered very fast due to the baby being stressed. Any thoughts or similarities?

Both sides of my neck swell up but mostly on the left side also. I relate to the flare ups of my swollen neck and my other symptoms. I can go weeks without feeling any sickness and feel great and then go weeks with symptoms and be completely down and out. I cannot stand anything around my neck either, no necklaces at all. I have been through testing for almost a year and no answers. My quality of life has gone down because I can't plan anything in advance because I never know how I will feel from day to day. I also just want to know is what this is. I questioned my dr that maybe it could be an autoimmune disease since it has flare ups, but my tests come back normal.

I have the same lumps and I asked my husband who is a family practice doctor if he knew what they were. He said that the membrane at the top of the lungs is breaking down with age and/or weight and the lung is pushing up on the tissue. I haven't been to anyone else yet, but by the sounds of it I shouldn't expect a diagnosis.

Just came from my general Dr who is an internal specialist doctor. She said there is no more she can do for me. She has no more tests she can run. All she could suggest is that I maybe go back to the pulmonary doctor once again and see if there is anything more he can come up with. I am feeling so defeated...not sure where to go next. It's all like a ladder effect. You are sick. You're doctor gives up on you. No diagnosis. The specialists' you see sign off on you that they don't see anything wrong in any tests. They treat you like your a quack. You have a job now and carry the medical insurance for you and your family. You miss tons of work because you are sick with no diagnosis. The only way you can get FLMA is to have a diagnosis. You're job is in jeapordy. IF you lose your job, you lose your health insurance and a needed income. You go to work sick, barely being able to function, to keep your job. It takes all you can do to keep your head up some days. You come home and your not able to keep up with your duties around the house. You're exhausted. Your in pain. Your neck feels like a tie is too tight around it. Your sick to your stomach. You don't even know to help yourself. Then one day you wake up and you feel good and it can last for weeks. And life is good.... Then boom....the whole cycle starts over again. You're neck swells for what reason???? Why is there no answer in any test? Why would a doctor just give up?

Hi Everyone!  I had a really bad week. Ended up in the ER again on Saturday night all night. Throat was very swollen and had breathing issues. They gave me a shot of an epipen but it didn't do anything so I guess that means its not allergy related. Dr in the ER said my neck looks like I have Brancial Cleft cysts. That is the first explanation of anything from any doctor that I have had so far. I have an appointment at Cleveland Clinic Head and Neck institute tomorrow afternoon. Hoping for some answers. I hope everyone is doing ok.

've had this off and on tightening in my throat for about four months (at first I was convinced it was thyroid - obvious thing but now I don't think it is). It all started with what seemed like a some sort of acute illness, I got really sore arms and legs so much so I couldnt exericse and it was tiresome to walk stairs and hurt to hold my arms in the air for more than a few seconds. Then my neck ballooned and was troublesome. This all coincided with a rash I developed after a semi-deep cut I got on neck from a necklace/chain cutting into me. *subsequently diagnosed as fungal skin infection - given cream and is clearing up*

But it subsided and has continued to ebb and flow for the past four months. Sometimes it goes a week without having anything. It defintely feels like a gel pack in my neck, either side of my trachea. It can ebb and flow from hour to hour. Its mad!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to the docs in Dec 10 but it just so happened it was down at this point and the doc said 'I can't feel anything to get excited about.' So blood tests - esr, cbc, thyroid , b12 and folate (family history of pernicious anemia) and all back normal. Well I say normal, esr slightly elevated but nothing to get excited about again.

It persisted off and on so I head back to the doctors. This time she can feel 'something' and a referral to the ENT is now in order. Waiting on information.

This last week I have had a few days of chest pain. More like a tightness or heaviness in the centre of my chest.

I can also feel a small smelling in my left armpit!

Has anyone experienced this!!!

I STILL have no answers. Extracted tooth area has healed and yet I still have the swollen area above my collarbone. Going to see my primary tomorrow. Haven't seen her since before the tooth was pulled. Spent 2 months on various antibiotics prescribed by the oral surgeon. Lump never went down. Primary doc said we can put our heads together and figure this out. I sure hope she doesn't give up on me! the more swollen it gets, the weaker my left side gets. ugh! I will keep you all posted. Please do the same. 

Have you been tested for mono?  I wonder this about others on this site also?  I had neck swelling and swelling by my clavicles for 2 months and was finally tested for mono... which I've had for three months since then. Also some others here (women) may be pre or menopausal and need their hormones to be tested.  Mono can also turn into chronic fatigue syndrome.   Dadams9041 wrote:

I was tested for mono and I don't have it. Thank you for sharing. I went to Head and Neck Institute at Cleveland Clinic and the Doctor there said that I do not have cancer, cysts, or anything in my neck. Went to Rheumotologist and Immunologist yesterday and today and they do not think that it is autoimmune disease, or Angioedema, but they ordered several blood tests, as well as 24 hour urine test. I gave 18 vials of blood between yesterday and today to run all the tests. Last February I had allergy testing done for the top 30 allergies and all came out with negative. They are checking for auto immune disease, vitamin deficiencies, protein issues, other allergies, and others. Allergist wants me to try taking 1 pill per day of an over the counter Allegra or Zyrtec to see if it will prevent swelling episodes. Has anyone tried this for their neck swelling?

I too the the swelling.  I first noticed it when I tried the HCG drops for weight loss.  My gums were very sore and when I looked in the mirror, my neck looked like I'd swallowed 2 lemons.  This died down until last week, when my gums got sore again from one night of not brushing.  The first time, my dr. brushed it off, but did give me a blood test.  All good.  I plan to go to dr. tomorrow, but am frustrated to read of the lack of answers here.  I did have a cortisone shot for my foot, like the other gal said and I'm on synthroid for my thyroid.  I could lose 20 pounds.

For all of you who have gotten the "YOU ARE FINE" from your doctors but still feel like dirt, please go see a chiropractor.  Just by chance, in the midst of one of my worst symptom attacks, my son's chiropractor asked to take a look at me.  After an xray of my neck, it was very apparent that my "c" vertebrae were severely out of alignment.  When the C1 especially is compromised, it can produce all these crazy symptoms.  I had a horse riding accident in my younger years and it's possible it all started then.  Then, as I grew older, my body kept dealing with the misalignment but in the last few years, has been "angered" by sitting at a desk all day or working in the yard.  I am about one month into being adjusted and 90% of my symptoms are gone now. 

Shanbear,

I have been waiting to hear how you are. Please let us know!

I really sympathize with everything you talked about.