Non hodgkin's Disease?

im very nervous please help me figure this out. im 23yr male in good health never had anything wrong.here is my story. for about a year now i had werid things happen. first i was getting tired and feeling sick w/o a temp. i went to the doctor did blood work nothing showed up at all, eveyrhting looked good. back in oct a month after this i was getting lower back pain in the kidney area and a little lower. so my dr sends me for a ultrasound of the kidneys, showed no stones or tumors in that area. then i was getting stomach pain for months so i got another ultrasound, nothing showed excpet a slightly enlarged spleen. he sends me to a heamotagolist, he does blood work and nothing shows, he said he thinks i have epstein barr. i was telling him about my back pain that comes and goes hasnt got worse or better. he said maybe he should get a ctscan to check the lymph nodes. but didnt think it was necessary. so i decided not to do it. the pain comes and goes is in the lower back really low.

i work out alot but when the pain started in oct i wasnt working out. i had several blood tests and ultrasounds. but im just gettign nervous since i had a friend my age when he was 18 have severe back pain for about a year was getting worse and he was having black bowel, finally he could barely walk and he wound up having non hodgkins. now i dont have bowel issues and this deosnt effect my walking. its just im 23yrs old and i shouldnt be having back pain since oct. im really nervous thinking i have cancer or something im freaking out everyday so nervous, my doctor thinks i should see a psychiatrist bc im becoming a hyprocrondiac. what should i do, should i get a mri or ct scan of my lower back. do u think this is non hodgkins. or just muscle. please help me. i dont know what to do

If you have had non-hodgkins lymphoma for over a year, you would probably be dead or at least extremely sick by now, so you can rule out lymphoma. The symptoms you are describing are all probably unrelated, and they are things that occur in normal, healthy people. The spleen is supposed to enlarge when a person is fighting off an illness-that's the purpose of the spleen. Nearly everyone has occasional back pain and stomach problems. Transient pain in the kidney areas is often caused by excess gas. There's a good chance nothing is wrong with you except that you are way over-reacting to things that are not really problems. I'm in my late 40's and hardly a day goes by when I don't experience minor pain, stiffness, or discomfort somewhere that comes and goes, but I consider myself to be extremely healthy. I agree with the doctor that suggested a visit to a psychiatrist or other type of therapist. The problem you have isn't the symptoms--its your reaction to those symptoms--you need to learn how to accept these things and quit worrying about them.

If your doctor already did a biopsy for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, than you should be all set. Sometimes lymph nodes swell from simple infections that can be treated with antibiotics. Because of the enlarged spleen, I'd avoid strenuous activities and keep an eye on the lymph nodes there. Doctors can measure their size, and if they're more than an inch, there's probably something wrong.

An tender, enlarged spleen is a pretty common indicator of Epstein-Barr, so your doctor might be right. The symptoms seem to match, but EB usually only lasts about 6 months Getting a blood antibody test will confirm it or deny it.

Those two diseases are very closely related, so its difficult to tell the difference. Testing will give you the cold hard facts. Just keep monitoring your conditions and inform your doctor if anything out of the ordinary happens. Best of luck, hope you feel better!

Generally, Lymphoma is the rapid, uncontrolled production of a malignant Lymphoid clone leading to immune system failure, other blood cell disruption, invasion of normal body tissues by the abnormal clone, and profound metabolic disturbance. The time frame of the "indolent" subtypes of lymphoma to cause these disturbances is typically 5 to 10 years, versus "aggressive" lymphomas which (if unsuccessfully treated) are generally fatal within 2 years. Paradoxically, aggressive lymphomas are more responsive to treatment than the indolent variety. Since nearly all patients with untreated lymphomas will eventually succumb to the disease, Lymphoma is ultimately an aggressive White Blood Cell cancer.

The two major types of lymphomas are Hodgkin's Disease and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Your symptoms seem to be getting worse, and you may have cancer. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is the 6th leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Approximately 95% of cases occur in adults 40 to 70 years in age. The exact cause of NHL is not known and, although a variety of risk factors have been identified, most patients with NHL have no know risk factors.

The most common symptom of NHL is a persistent swelling of lymph nodes anywhere in the body. Other symptoms may include an enlarged liver or spleen, chest pain, shortness of breath, generalized fatigue, drenching night sweats, and loss of appetite.

The treatment options for patients with NHL depend upon a variety of factors including the grade of the lymphoma (low, intermediate, or high); the stage or extent of spread of the disease, the areas of the body affected by the lymphoma, and the general health of the patient. In general, the treatment options range from "watchful waiting" in the earliest stage of the disease to high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation for patients with aggressive NHL who fail to respond to standard treatment. A variety of new treatments are also currently being investigated.
You seem a bit young to have, but you may be one of the few young patients. You should worry a little, go to a professional and discuss your disease a little more. I advise you...DON't IGNORE THE SYMPTOMS. Too many people treat their symptoms like no big deal, and then it's too late. Hope you get better!

just for your FYI .....an ultrasound would not see any enlarged deep abdominal nodes , as they are masked by gas in the colon ...even peri-vascular nodes in the abdomen are hard to differentiate . A CT may not be a bad idea ...just to be sure .