You ladies are wonderful! This is all reassuring, so thank you. My anxiety levels have been terrible this week. I know I'm suffering from underlying stress, as my mother-in-law has been ill for about 3 months (in hospital for 10 weeks following a fall). She came home last week, has carers in four times a day, but still phones here at least four times a day. She's no longer able to walk or stand up and has dementia. My husband has visited her every single day since her fall and I've done my bit, too. He has taken the week off work to deal with all the official stuff involved in getting her into a care home. I wonder whether the swollen lymph node is a sign of stress? I also have bad eczema in the area just behind the swollen gland (have had for years). I've tried various creams etc, but it always flares up again. Today when I woke, the lymph node was quite badly swollen, but went down within half an hour and hasn't swollen up all day, not even when I ate. I think I will make an appointment with the doctor tomorrow, as I would like some blood tests to rule one or two things out. I can't believe that lack of oestrogen etc can have such far-reaching effects!