PLEASE see a Doctor asap. A Medical Doctor, PA or Nurse Practitioner. I am a retired military PA and RN and your symptoms "sound" like you may have a "Lymph system" problem which can be very serious. Chiropractors are excellent for certain conditions but please see a Physician.
Please see all "Docmex" posts. After 10 years of Doctors, Labs, CAT scans and X-Rays, etc. my wife has Finally been seen by a "Neuroendocrinologist" and diagnosed with Cushing's syndrome, a.k.a. "Hypercortisolism". She also has Hypothyroidism and takes Levothyroxine. It began in 2004 with swelling on one side of her neck and progressing to both sides of her neck. These 'fat pads' or 'gel like' pads would increase and decrease in size. They are not 'water'. They are actually 'fat tissue' which is encapsulated and 'movable', between the shoulder and neck above the clavicles (collarbones) and now the swelling includes her abdomen. She is 59 y/o and her abdomen looks like she is 9 months pregnant. She is taking Lasix, Aldactone and HCTZ (Hydrochlorothyazide) for diuretics and still has edema in her feet and ankles. After all this time we finally have a diagnosis. Cushing's may be caused by a Pituitary tumor or Adrenal gland tumors. If you have these symptoms, please see a Endocrinologist. God Bless and take care, Docmex
I TOO HAVE SWELLING AROUND THE NECK AREA. SEEMS AS THOUGH THE SWELLING VARIES IN SIZE hAVE PARKINSONS. fIRST NOTICED THE SWELLING AFTER TAKING
CARBADOPA/levadopa for the first time. Appeared about 10 days after starting meds.
Dr said to stop meds. Now he suggested I try meds once more. Same thing happened.
However, after stoppin g the meds for about 2 weeks, I still have some swelling
going to see my neurologist tomorrow. will keep site informed.
PS Also have chronic lymphocetic leukemia. could it be related??
Drinking alcohol can cause the swelling..
Yes, certainly can be related to the leukemia. What age group are you in? Male or female? Suggest you see a Endocrinologist as well. Good luck and God Bless.
thank you for info I am female age 84. See an oncologist 4 times yearly. Due to see him in Nov. Did not mention this problem when I last visited him.. Was so sure it was an allergic reaction due to Carbadopa/levadopa meds. Saw neurologist yesterday he suggested I try once more. When sweling occurs I should go immediately to his office for him to observe.
HI. I am a 47 yr old female. I live in Grand Cayman. A friend pointed out the swelling above my left clavicle a few months ago. I hadnt really noticed it until she pointed it out. Same description as most ...sort of a gel-like-feeling swollen area. The I noticed a bit of a swelling in same are on right side. Went to my doctor and she said because its on both sides, and she examined me and no real "lumps", she said not glandular, not lymphoma. I asked what it could be and she had plenty of bloodwork done for me, when tests came back she said my inflammatory marker was high, but all other tests were normal, thank goodness. :) Now scheduled for an ultrasound of neck and thyroid.
Again I asked what it could be and she said, could be fatty tissue (why symmetrical?), could be related to my hypothyroidism (I notice many people list this as a medical condition), could be lung related (I didnt know but she stated that lung tissue can reach up by clavicle. I have had a weird long lasting cough (few months) and have mild asthma at times but havent had to get a nebulizer treatment for 2 years now
I have not taken any steroids in the past 6 years or so. Had c-section but almost 7 years ago. Always have some sort of stress going on, but dont notice the swelling fluctuate with the stress.
I suppose once I get the ulstrasound then we will go from there. I am happy to see so many other posters with this same matter, to know it is not a rare occurence..
Good luck to all, and please keep posting as you get your results etc from your doctors.
I have had the same swelling on both sides - looks like I am retaining water in my neck. Been to three doctors all had no answer. Had ultrasound on thyroid completely normal. No pain but it looks unattractive with open necklines. Always looking to see if anyone else looks like me but so far have not noticed anyone. Had xrays on collarbone and shoulder also. If anyone has a diagnosis please let me know.
I am going around trying to post on a number of these boards.
The main reason is that whenever you search for "supraclavicular swelling" it almost always comes back with lymph nodes, and all of the awful things that this "probably" entails.
I am 39 year old mail and have been struggling with headaches, muscle pain, neck stiffness, pins an needles, eye spasms, and so on for the last 2 years. I have had swelling around the base of my neck and above the clavicles for some time. I say some time because my physio pointed it out to me in January, but I have no idea how long it has been like this. The swelling would be almost non-existent on waking but by the middle of the day would be a puffy collar on both sides of my neck, albeit worse on my left. This being said after 2 years of struggling on a daily basis with my health the last 6 months have been the best I have been for a long time thanks primarily to exercising more, eating better, and committing to get on and enjoy my life and stop worrying that I may drop down dead any minute.
Physio and I agreed that as it was on both sides and as it changed throughout the day it was probably okay. However after 6 months of physio constantly remarking about it (and how it was never a good place to have swelling as it could only be gland related), me only finding sinister reasons for supraclavicular swelling whenever I searched online, and me being convinced that I could see a small mass in the middle of the puffy swelling on the left side, I went to see GP. GP could see the small mass in the middle of the swelling (so my anxiety has not sent me completely round the twist) and referred me for ultrasound.
Had ultrasound today, and everything was normal (whatever normal means these days)! The reason I wanted to come on here, and why I will post on other boards is that where supraclavicular swelling is concerned almost everything you read online suggests this is only caused by enlarged lymph nodes and is a very bad sign. Whilst it can be caused by this, and can be a sign of sinister things, it can also be caused by other things. Now I don't know if mine is muscular, caused by poor posture, another symptom of my anxiety, or something else, but it is not my lymph nodes. So, just because someone has supraclavicular swelling it is not automatically something sinister and there may be a perfectly normal explanation for this.
If you have supraclavicular swelling, and especially if you can feel a node, do get it checked out by a medical professional because it "might" be something sinister and the sooner you know the sooner you can fight back. However, don't believe all of what you read online, and don't worry yourself into an even worse state. Supraclavicular swelling is not necessarily lymph nodes, and it is not necessarily something sinister.
I wish you all good health, I only now realise how much I took it for granted for so long.
I waiting for someone to say a doc solved this. I have swelling too, but I have pain and throbing. Whole front collar bone area sore
I too have swelling in the neck collarbone region on both sides. First started on the right side and now it has moved over to the left side as well. I have been through 3 different antibiotics and a Rocephin/Decadron injection and a week of Prednisone steroid to help reduce the swelling.. No luck. Had ultrasounds of the right and left neck area and the thyroid.. Nothing. Today I went for a CT scan of the head and neck. I will hopefully get the results tomorrow.
I am 45 years old and in overall good health with no persistent problems. I too have searched the net with no real information regarding this swelling. It is painless, soft, and just there.
Though I hate someone else is having this problem, it is good to see that someone else is dealing with this too. Please keep me informed if anyone gets an answer to this problem and I will do the same.
Thank you.
I too have swelling in both sides of my neck right above the collar bone.
Went to my doctor, she said she did not fell any lymph nodes that were
swollen. Don't know what to do now. Could this be associated with my
lungs? Maybe theres something going on there.
Thanks.Hilda
I see this is an old post but these symptoms are the same as mine; waiting for insurance to approve a CT scan. Did you find anything out about yours?
I've just stopped taking Prednisone after being on them just over a month for a sever Urticaria flare up. I reduced the dosage gradually, but the day after my last pill I got this swelling on both sides of my neck above the collar bone. It hurts to press on, and is uncomfortable with certain movement.
I'm booked for an ultrasound anyway to check another small lump in my neck which came up about 3 months ago, this is booked for tomorrow morning, so I will ask about this swelling then.
17 years ago I had a very similar Urticaria attack, but that time I was in hospital on IV steroids. A doctor decided to stop them suddenly in week three to see if it helped the Urticaria, but it didn't and my neck and head went huge at the time, taking a couple of days to go down. I remember them saying it was a reaction to the steroids being stopped, great being a Guinea Pig!
Recently with my last Urticaria flare up my neck and face went huge for about a week, but while I was on the steroids. This was the urticaria though, and this above the collar bone swelling has only happened after stopping the steroids.
I don't know what's causing this, but I feel it has something to do with the steroids in my case. I hope we all find the right answers. Please feel free to reply and contact me.