Swollen lymph nodes

[DC23]

Heya from New Zealand,

We are still waiting for test results for our 10 year old son's Crohns investigation, though surgeon said it looks like Crohns

He has had surgery to repair damage from perianal lesions around 2 weeks ago but his symptoms are already returning. Apart from a sore bottom, he also has an intermittent low grade fever (this is month 3), and swollen lymph nodes just under his jaw on one side. They are hard, and painful and seem to get much worse before his bottom get worse.

His doctor is monitoring them and thinks it's related to his immune system but it seems so far away from his bottom (sorry, I am new to the whole Crohns thing, so excuse my silly questions).

Is there anyone else who get swollen lymph nodes before or during a flare?

Daisy

 

[kiny]

The intestine has its own lymphoid tissue called GALT. They include Mesenteric lymph nodes and peyer's patches which are a lot like lymph nodes. You can't feel or see these yourself. They will cause wall thickening of the intestine when there's inflammation, you can see this on MRI.

and swollen lymph nodes just under his jaw

His doctor is monitoring them and thinks it's related to his immune system

Well, it's an adaptive immune response, so yes of course. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck is very common in kids and usually the result of an infection, and has likely nothing to do with crohn's disease.

 

[my little penguin]

Typically swollen lymph nodes in healthy children have nothing to do with crohns .
However in younger kids who have crohns , I can say my kiddo had large swollen lymph nodes in his neck which were not from infection.
They removed one , tested it every which way and tried to let if grow “stuff” . Nothing just non caseating granulomas from Crohn’s disease in his. His was over 3 cm.
Once he was put on the right med combo the lymph nodes went down and haven’t become swollen again .

extra intestinal manifestations can show with crohns.
This can be the joints,skin, heart, brain ,lungs,etc….
There are also auto inflammatory disease which mimic crohns and can cause havoc everywhere as well in kids .

 

[DC23]

T

Typically swollen lymph nodes in healthy children have nothing to do with crohns .
However in younger kids who have crohns , I can say my kiddo had large swollen lymph nodes in his neck which were not from infection.
They removed one , tested it every which way and tried to let if grow “stuff” . Nothing just non caseating granulomas from Crohn’s disease in his. His was over 3 cm.
Once he was put on the right med combo the lymph nodes went down and haven’t become swollen again .

extra intestinal manifestations can show with crohns.
This can be the joints,skin, heart, brain ,lungs,etc….
There are also auto inflammatory disease which mimic crohns and can cause havoc everywhere as well in kids .

MLP, thanks so much for always answering May I ask where in the world you are?

 

[my little penguin]

I am in the US .
My adult child was dx at age 7 and now is 20
So while crohns can be hard to hear
With the right meds you can get to a new normal

 

[Maya142]

My daughter frequently has low grade fevers with flares. As well as night sweats. Remember that your immune system is basically everywhere in the body so you can have systemic symptoms - besides low grade fevers, joint pain is common and sometimes arthritis can develop. Some kids develop psoriasis or eye inflammation. It really varies.

My daughter has also had randomly swollen lymph nodes. It could be from a virus or it can be his immune response. If his pediatrician or GI isn't worried, I wouldn't be.

The GOOD news is that once you have a diagnosis, you can start treatment and treatments have really advanced in the last 20 years or so. Typically with a fistula, pediatric GIs tend to go straight to biologics like Remicade, Humira, Stelara etc.

For us, biopsies typically take less than a week to come back, and stool tests are back in a few days typically. Fecal calprotectin might take a week at most for us. We are in the US too.

My daughter was diagnosed at 16 and her Crohn's is well controlled - it took a while to find the right meds, but it is possible!