I'm not an alarmist-type person but am just wondering about a swollen neck node that I've had for 6 months.

As a lupus patient, I often have nodes that come and go. My Dr. was concerned with 1 larger one (approx. 1 1/2 cm.) and has recommended a CT scan after 2 courses of antibiotics didn't resolve the issue, though I don't recall any infection.
I'm on low dose prednisone and the node appeared to be rubbery and moveable so I'm not worried.
However, I've read that non-cancerous nodes tend to hurt but if there's a problem, they are usually painless. In the first 5 months, mine was painless except for a few times, late at night. Now, it often hurts. I know everyone is different, and again, you won't panic me; just wondering...
In your experiences: Are cancerous nodes typically painful or not?
CT scan is this week but looking to decide if it's even worth getting the test.
My blood work looked great and my symptoms (weight loss, fatigue and night sweats) are all attributable to lupus.
Thanks for sharing your experience and advice.
Best of healing to you all!
Kiley

I hope your symptoms have cleared up by now, but if they haven't discuss the possibility of having the node biopsied. I had a malignant NH node on the right side of my neck. It swelled and went down several times in the two months before it was removed. It also hurt constantly. After I was diagnosed my doctor said that all the guidelines for telling malignant nodes apart from non-malignant are just generalizations, each individual cancer is different. The safest course is to have any swelling biopsied after a month, unless your doctor can clearly identify it as being non-malignant.