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Sore throat despite antibiotics. Worry now?
desperaterobots
perth, ausRegistered User regular
perth, ausRegistered User regular
Hello my name is GAH MY THRoAT!
I went to the doctor with a very sore throat about a week ago. I have been on antibiotics and pain killers since. What started as an all-round inflammation and soreness has developed into a sharp pain on the right side of my throat. My right ear has also started to feel odd, a sort of dull, creeping pain.
I'm 2/3rds of the way through a course of antibiotics, and I have a repeat prescription. Should I be worried? I would have expected some improvement by now.
I went to the doctor with a very sore throat about a week ago. I have been on antibiotics and pain killers since. What started as an all-round inflammation and soreness has developed into a sharp pain on the right side of my throat. My right ear has also started to feel odd, a sort of dull, creeping pain.
I'm 2/3rds of the way through a course of antibiotics, and I have a repeat prescription. Should I be worried? I would have expected some improvement by now.
desperaterobots on
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I had this happen to me a few years ago. Ended up being a really bad strain of strep that not only took more and more powerful antibiotics to get rid of, but kept coming back every few months. Ended up having to have my tonsils out because of it.
But the first step was going back to the doctor and telling them the antibiotics weren't helping.
Make sure you tell them in detail all your symptoms.
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Same fucking thing. I had Strep, the pain was JUST like you described, it felt like it was creeping up my jaw and into my ear. I would get a steroid and antibiotics, but once the steroid wore off, it hurt again, without fail...
And now I'm tonsil-less.
It is good idea to stop by the doctors office, but you must continue your treatment.
P.S.
Infections such as this have the potention of harming heart valves
At about a week, unless you are feeling rigors (eg, fevers and chills beyond a reaction to your room's thermostat), I would not say that you have to rush back to the doctor. My two cents:
Every single person who gets a sore throat should be taking 1) an anti-inflammatory (motrin/ibuprofen for most people, naproxen for people with reflux/other stomache issues, and tylenol for anyone with bleeding issues) and 2) a decongestant. The reason people get a sore throat is (90%+) a bacterial superinfection of torn pharyngeal mucosa when a viral upper respiratory infection (read: runny nose) is allowed to drip down the back of that person's throat for a night or two. I recommend Chlorpheniramine because its the cheapest, shortest lasting, and least dangerous in pregnancy (the only class B decongestant in Britain, still class C here). If you want something to help you sleep, benadryl cannot be beaten for as a runny nose/sleep aid.
Okay, so you drip and you get a sore throat, what next? You still need 1 and 2 to treat the inlammatory process that has made you vulnerable to bugs. Then come antibiotics, of which amoxicillin and azythromycin (z-packs, very popular because it is a strong anti-inflammatory and makes even people with viral URIs feel better) are the most common. Both will reliably kill or at least hinder the group A strep that causes rheumatic fever. Resistance to early generation 'cillins is now at about 25%, higher on college campuses.
Your ear hurts because the eustachian tube (what equalizes pressure when you yawn on an airplane) is no longer open due to inflammation. Very very common, not something you need different abx for.
Reasons to go to the doc/urgent care/ER: :!:
A) Rigors after 24h on abx - rigors always mean bacteremia, an infection that is out of control enough to get into your bloodstream
C) You weren't initially put on antibiotics (negative rapid strep) but are now experiencing worsening symptoms or you were put on "older" abx (pen, even now amoxicillin) and you feel worse not better.
A week of discomfort is normal. Two weeks is not, worth at least a phone call. Make sure to finish your meds. Make sure to add 1 and 2 from above. If you or someone can look into your throat and see that the painful side seems to be bulging, a visit to the ER is appropriate.
((Fantasma - 3 months of antibiotics is not a usual course))
I have had sore throat at least twice, and I was put on a 3 month antibiotics treatment (directly injected in my buttocks), I did ask the doctors and they tell me it was normal.
That is not normal. Not for strep or other bacterial sore throat that responds to oral antibiotics.
This. That had to have been some crazy, bizarre throat infection. I have never heard of a treatment like that.
friend had this done for a really bad mono infection
The basic rule should always be- if your body is telling you something is seriously wrong (pain unlike your previous experiences) then its not a bad idea to head in. On the other hand, worrying about all the possible things that could be going wrong - especially when you don't have specific symptoms - leads only to unnecessary tests (and tests themselves carry dangers, not the least of which is a false positive result.) Most people need reassurance. The people who are convinced that something's wrong, I never try to dissuade them unless I can see them in person.
It could also be a fungus. Is the tongue isn't covered in a black fuzz or anything like that?
One would think he'd take note of it if his tongue was covered in black fuzz - one wonders what sport could give you 'athlete's throat'!
You might try speaking to an advice nurse or your doctor over the phone before coming in. It's possible they'll tell you, the first time you're worried about this, that you should give your meds more time to work or that it's a virus. If they're going to do that, you might as well get that initial contact out of the way so when you speak to them again they might do something.
That sort of thing depends on the doctor, but it's a best practice for me in a world where I don't have my own personal doctor and I want to establish that i've been sick/in pain for a while.
So I made an appointment because the ear thing was concerning me, but I cancelled it the following morning because the pain had subsided a good deal. I've been on ibuprofen & codeine (neurofen plus) the whole time, and gargling every morning and night. I think I'll just take the repeat course of antibiotics to make sure it's good and dead because this first course is almost through and there's still some redness back there.
Also, what the hell is with my tonsils? My left one is huge, the right one is no where to be seen.
The ear thing might be because your tonsil is swollen and it's pushing your ear canal, or whatever part it's called. Are there any small sores you can see? Like, little white circles or anything?