Tonsilitis/Step Throat

LondonBridge

I was diagnosed with tonsilitis this Monday, prescribed antibiotics but it seems likes it progressed into strep throat. Anybody have any experience with this? How long did it take for the symptoms to go away? Any home remedies I can try to make it go away faster?

I'm taking Ibuprofen and gargling salty water for relief but it barely helps.

Fantasma

You have a serious infection, you are going to need at least 3 months antibiotics treatment, it is advisable that you buy a bottle of Listerine to at least once a day do gargling.

Nima

I'm a firm believer in the healing powers of lucozade and ice lollies for respiratory tract infections.

DiscGrace

The last time I had strep, my senior year of college, it lasted about four days. There's nothing you can do to make strep go away faster, but you can do stuff to help feel better in the mean time. Salty broth soups (just plain chicken broth was my favorite) helped a lot; you can also try buying some Chloraseptic and using that (IN MODERATION; it is, after all, cherry-flavored phenol so be careful how much you put in your body).

Also, did you tell your doctor your strep infection had spread? If not, he or she might want to put you on more aggressive antibiotics or something. Strep is pretty yucky so your doctor should definitely be involved, either way.

Creepy

I had strep back when I was living check to check. It took about 3 months to go away. That said, get your ass to the doctor ASAP. It's my understanding that left untreated, strep can really do some horrible things to your kidneys.

Thanatos

Your doctor should hook you up with something prescription-ish to help with the pain.

Keep in mind you can gargle saltwater as often as you want, and it should be 1 tsp. of salt dissolved in 8 oz. of warm water.

Ain't No Sunshine

This is not medical advice.

Yes, give your PCP a call. They may want you to come in again to see what specifically is going on. Any chronic lymphatic infection (tonsillitis) is bound to be a big pain in the neck, and there's not much to be done - a surgical removal really isn't practical until the infection has already died down.

If they don't already, your doctor needs to know specifically what organisms are having growth success in your throat in order to adjust the antibiotic that you're taking. Some infections are annoying, but self-limiting; some infections can produce systemic problems (streptococcus pyogenes and rheumatic fever come to mind). That means that not only should you call right away, you should call every time that it gets worse. While the doc is making the adjustment, ask for some stronger relief for any pain or inflammation there may be.

LondonBridge

If my condition doesn't improve by tomorrow then I will call my doctor.

MuddBudd

Ugh, I just got over strep.

Stuff sucks. Likes to hide and come back later too.

polarblue

gargling often with a mixture of salt water + white vinegar will help clean your tonsils and keep the swelling down.

it tastes like nasty though.

zhen_rogue

polarblue wrote: »

gargling often with a mixture of salt water + white vinegar will help clean your tonsils and keep the swelling down.

it tastes like nasty though.

That, or you could try gargling with a 50% water, 50% hydrogen peroxide solution over the tonsils - the H2O2 is a debriding agent that will more effectively clean out the crypts of the tonsils.

Check with the doc first, and don't swallow the solution.