Does this look like a bad case of strep throat?!
Question: I'd had a mild sore throat for a few days, but Wednesday night is when I really got sick. The sore throat became severe, aches and pains all over, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, etc. I'm spitting blood and my throat is extremely sore, it hurts to even open my mouth and talk. Swallowing is torture. I went to the doctors on Friday and they did a rapid strep antigen test which came out negative, but did a throat culture and I will get the results of that on Monday. By Saturday night it had gotten so bad and extremely painful, so I called the doctor and she phoned in a prescription for Amoxicillin. I started that this morning. How long does it take before I start to feel some relief? Am I still going to be ill come Christmas?
Here's a picture of my throat, it's pretty disgusting:
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/9469/...
Answers: I'd had a mild sore throat for a few days, but Wednesday night is when I really got sick. The sore throat became severe, aches and pains all over, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, etc. I'm spitting blood and my throat is extremely sore, it hurts to even open my mouth and talk. Swallowing is torture. I went to the doctors on Friday and they did a rapid strep antigen test which came out negative, but did a throat culture and I will get the results of that on Monday. By Saturday night it had gotten so bad and extremely painful, so I called the doctor and she phoned in a prescription for Amoxicillin. I started that this morning. How long does it take before I start to feel some relief? Am I still going to be ill come Christmas?
Here's a picture of my throat, it's pretty disgusting:
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/9469/...
Hi,
It sounds very well like it could be strep throat (didn't look at the pics, and pics do not make it strep....I am guessing it is pus covered tonsils).
You can take tylenol for the PAIN (works faster than alleve or ibuprophen) but, you can take alleve or ibuprophen WITH it. Just watch your doses and make sure to not exceed the maximum amount of either drug.
The tylenol works BETTER on the basic pain, and FASTER, the other is an ANTI-INFLAMMATORY med which will help with the swollen throat/glands, helping the pain even more.
CAUTION though....they both drop fevers, so, they may make you feel COLD since it is winter time (they do this to me, that is why I am forwarning you).
For some of the throat pain----usually one of the concoctions they do, is a 3 step thing---anti-histamine (benedryl liquid) with anti-acid (mallox or mylanta) and something to numb the throat (lidocaine of similair). you can do SOMETHING like this on your own.....get some LIQUID anti-acid, and take a SMALL amount---less than your normal dose. put in your mouth, and swallow it SLOWLY---this will neutralize the ph in the back of the throat, helping heal the tissues. (frequently had strep myself and tonsillitis like evey 6 weeks for 15 years....this is how I got through it). GET SOME cepacol spray or cloraseptic spray. The cepacol is supposed to be a better one now---one spray does it. Haven't tried the new one....but, may be worth the try. Again, keep track of what you are taking, how much, and don't take more than you should of any of them.....any questions on the compatability, ask the pharmacist.
You can also do salt in WARM water---8 ounces, do 1/2 once or so (what you can comfortably put in your mouth) at a time...swish, get it to the BACK of your throat....hold a moment, and spit.
LASTLY----buy 2 toothbrushes. CHANGE one TOMORROW (day 3).....change one when you are off the antibiotics. This will help keep this from coming back.
Good luck, feel better.
ps, you may be able to feel better by christmas, but, take it easy, dont over do it, and watch the COLD AIR!! Should feel better in a day or so, and WARM chicken broth (salty naturally) may help make the throat feel better too....avoid HOT and THICK MUCUS causing food---this may make it worse feeling....but, chicken soup, is good.
Ok, I didn't get the message until after that you were taking both advil and tylenol. Myself, I have better luck with alleve than advil---because it lasts longer, but, I have to take 2 of them when it is bad, and a gram (two 500 mg extra strength tylenol together for it when it is bad). BUT, again, the alleve lasts 12 hours, the tylenol is 6---so, keep track of the dosages.
good luck, feel better.
Sounds like strep. You can double the next couple of doses of antibiotics to get you up and operating sooner. The docs often start you on lower doses and it takes 36 hours to start to work. The strep antigen test was negative, so that's good. It's the antigens that nuke your heart or your kidney. Try taking 3 to 4 tablets of Advil (600 to 800 mg) every 6 to 8 hours to help with the pain until the antibiotics kick in.
strep is an infection diagnosed in a doctor's office w/a swab from the infected site. it requires antibiotics. see your doctor.