I've been sick for two weeks-second opinions please?
Of course that was a holiday weekend. Looking into my own throat I can see a nodule of some sort with an area of white above it, looks like a large canker sore. Tuesday I was able to get an appointment with my primary care physician's office. They did a quick test for strep which was negative, but due to a tiny bit of sinus pain, I was prescribed 10 days of Augmentin. Augmentin is the same compound as veterinary Clavamox; it is amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid (which helps to overcome some antibiotic resistance). Anyway. My throat finally stops hurting this Tuesday morning, about 7 days after my appointment and antibiotics. In the meantime, several skin problems I was having cleared up nicely, too! Nice side effect. Wednesday I had a followup with my PCP. I wanted to continue the Augmentin for a while since it took so long to clear up my throat. She refuses, saying my white sore looks viral in nature and it's not likely that the antibiotic is helping. I finished the 10 day course on Thursday. Yesterday (Friday) I started to feel the sore throat returning and then developed that low grade fever again, and both have continued today. Yes, the throat looks the same. Sooooo, how long does some sort of malady like this continue? Is it possible or probable that this WAS bacterial and it is back, or do you think I'm having a relapse of a viral condition? I am missing the NEOESR picnic and my dad's birthday celebration this weekend.  |
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| I am sorry. I really hope you feel better soon. It can be tough to get a sore throat to clear up and tough if the strep test came back negative. At one point in my life I struggled with strep infections and then later, just non-strep nasty sore throats that they wouldn't treat with antibiotics. Ditto a couple of my kids. But not the others. No known reason. Did they follow up with a strep at your 2nd appt? Also, a negative rapid strep is often cultured overnight. Doesn't usually change, but it can. Just to throw that out there. Also; any chance you could have mono? It's not treated with antibiotics but sometimes it makes you feel better to know you have a reason to feel so horrible. But for now, we will assume the Dr. is right: it's not bacterial but viral and in that case, antibiotics will not help. What WILL help is this: Drink a LOT of clear (non alcoholic, preferably non-caffienated) liquids. I mean, drink on a more or less continuous basis until you slosh when you walk, which you will be doing a lot: to the bathroom. It may not be fun, but just think, every time you go, you are eliminating whatever bug is bugging you. Also recommend: of course, plenty of citrus. I find pineapple (fresh or canned in its own juice instead of syrup) is good for respiratory ailments. Eat half a can at a time unless you hate it or are allergic. Sleep. As much and as often as you can. If you find hot liquids soothe your throat, drink plenty of those. If cool feels better, drink those. Or alternate. Also: popscicles, if possible made with real fruit juice. I am a big fan of Hall's throat losenges (sp? not spelling well today) for sore throats and also for sinus stuff. They don't taste good, but they work. Whatever you like for pain/fever: tylenol, aspirin, ibuprophen, etc. Nice long steamy showers, if you can. Will help hydrate and also loosen up any lingering mucous. Or baths are good, too. But mostly: drink and sleep. Avoid stress. If you have underlying allergies, maybe those should be addressed. |
| Thanks for the advice! I'm not sure about the citrus, especially the pineapple. Pineapple almost always gives me mouth cankers, and orange sometimes does. The Liquids is interesting advice. Another part of this is that about 2 weeks before I fell ill, I discontinued all of my meds because I felt I was having a reaction to one/some or all of them. My PCP wants me to restart them all, one at a time. One of the issues along with the sore throat is that my breath is bad -- to me. She thinks it is reflux not related to the throat. I was not in agreement, but the treatment she wants to do is Prilosec for a couple of weeks, which I've used before to protect my tummy from NSAIDs. So, she wanted me to restart Diovan (blood pressure) and the Prilosec right away. So Thursday I took both, and then about 6 hours later I had such frequent and voluminous urination along with incredible insatiable thirst. After a while I decided to start measuring the volume in/out in case I needed to go see a doctor; I peed well over a gallon in a few hours, and drank about 1/2 gallon. Finally the peeing slowed as I continues to drink another 1/2 gallon or so. Diovan really isn't supposed be be a diuretic, I used to be on both Diovan and Hydrochlorothiazide which IS a diuretic and does cause some amount of peeing when I start it but not to that degree. So I recount this because I wonder if getting dehydrated like that may have led to this relapse the next day... Stupid thing is I was feeling so good on Thursday before the Diovan kicked in and was really looking forward to the NEOESR picnic, this was really a disappointment. |
| I don't have much advice, but I do know that too much acid in your system can cause canker sores in the mouth. You say you feel like you have bad breath, that comes from strep or even over production of yeast in the body. Hope your feeling better soon. Lisa Frankie and Mattie |
| Yes: becoming dehydrated, over tired, stressed can all cause us to be susceptible to all kinds of bugs: bacterial and viral. And just make us tired and lethargic. I don't know very much pharamacology, and am obviously not a doctor, so I can't comment on your medications at all. But becoming dehydrated just doesnt' allow our bodies to work well at all. If citrus is a problem (I'm sorry: I love citrus and find it very helpful if I have a respiratory bug), then just clear liquids (again, try to avoid caffiene and if you can, try to avoid too much sugar, too). I would suggest chicken soup, but it's warm out and maybe that doesnt' sound appealing. I almost always find it appealing if I am under the weather. If you can get home made, garlic is a good--unless you don't like it. For my 21st birthday, I got mono (lucky me) and the only things I could stand to swallow were plain yogurt and hot chocolate (it was winter and very cold out)--fake kind. I didn't have enough money for milk AND for cocoa. I tried orange juice and I might as well have swallowed battery acid for how it made me feel. |
| Oh that is so sad you are missing the picnic and your dad's birthday Gee I have not advice. But hope you get better soon! |
| Poor Ron! Sorry don't have any medical advice as 'nursing' is not my strength. Just wanted to wish you well and send good thoughts for a quick recovery. |
Oh Ron I'm so sorry you are missing the picnic and your dad's birthday. On top of it feeling ill is no picnic either.  There was a horrible flu going around my work early May and it hit me and the staff really hard. It took about 3 wks to feel better...nasty bug! I am just going to comment on what others suggested - If you can't tolerate fruit juices for the vit C content - you may try some beta carotene veggies that are natural immune boosters - any orange veggies..sweet potatoes are awesome and Kale is very high in vit C. You may also want to munch on craisins if you can't handle cranberry juice. You may want to eat cantelope if you can handle it perhaps? I'm wondering if the doctor (almost wrote vet  ) has ruled out sinus infection as bad breath and ill health go hand in hand. I hope you get better soon as if we could all send our well wishes your way and send positive thoughts - you know you are so loved on this board!  |
| A bit of non traditional herbal relief - I have good luck with Golden Seal. It's an herbal that has antibiotic properties (in fact was commonly used in the "old day" before ABX.) I had the sore throat with white/yellow patches last week, and mostly on the right side...in another day it was working into my right ear.. I started up on the Golden Seal and added echinacea (immune booster) and it has basically gone away. In fact one morning I forgot to take the Golden Seal, and by afternoon it was starting to throb...so I took it and by evening it was settled down again.  I would not take it along w/ the prescription stuff though! And sorry you are sick, especially to ruin the dad birthday and the picnic  |
Ron, so sorry you are not eeling well  When youmsay your breath smells bad...could it be your teeth or gum infection???? I don't know the correct wording of what its called now, but "trench mouth" can cause canker sores and smelly breth...Its viral but can be treated with antibiotics...and it can be very painful and uncomfortable...Hope you will be feeling better soon...and, oh, a temp will be present when there is an infection...Feel better soon... |
| Things that come to mind immediately: Did they do a monospot test? Mono can mimic strep throat symptoms and it is possible to have them at the same time. There are a lot of cases of strep that are resistant to augmentin. In our area, most of the strep requires two courses of augmentin or is treated with a different antibiotic. Bad breath is rarely caused by strep now. In the dark Ages (when I was a child), you could identify strep by the breath, but that is no longer true. Bad breath is usually caused by dental or sinus infections. Stand up straight, bend over at the waist so your face is looking straight down at the floor - any forehead or cheek bone pain? If so, that sinus is blocked (you have 6) and usually considered a sign of a sinus infection. It is possible to have a bacterial and viral infection at the same time, but a blood test can tell that. Lots of liquids, hot or cold, which ever feels better. Rest, a mulivitamin and good food. Good luck. |
| The last time I had strep I ended up in the hospital, and I was told that since we had been passing strep around in our house it wouldn't necessarily turn up positive in a strep culture. I ended up having to put everyone in the house on the zpac just to get rid of it. It took a while, and we ended up doing a couple doses each. At that time only my youngest tested positive. I'd ask some more questions of the Dr. But the best is - guess what we all (all 5) have right now?!! You got it - runny noses and bad sore throats. Seems to be going around again, lots of the kids we had at the graduation party had it today too. Beg for the antibiotic if you must. The white thing in your throat doesn't sound viral to me. Shellie |
| Are you feeling any better today Ron? Merlin, Panda, Snoop and Gilligan are sending sloppy kisses your way. I won't be sending my usual belly rubs however, as I normally do on my post.  Gasp! My sense of humor is turning out to be like yours....nooooooo! Marianne |
| Ron, I've been thinking of you too...feeling any better???? |
| sorry you are not feeling well. Oddly enough, I came down with a similar sore throat with a white cankersore type thing in my throat on Memorial Day. By the next day, I had developed a cough and by Thursday, my sinuses were terrible. I went to my allergy, asthma and sinus doctor who scoped my nose and indeed, I had a sinus infection. He put me on Augmenten 2 x a day for 14 days. They never do 10 days since they told me that infections will come back and you need to be on a treatment of Augmenten for at least 14 days to clear it up. Something to consider..... |
| Thanks everyone. I seem to have beat it as of today, at least the fever seems to be gone for about 24 hours now and the sore throat is not hurting so much. You know, it was just enough to screw up my important weekend. The 14 day thing is interesting.... probably would/might have prevented the relapse. Who knows. One interesting thing; whatever chemistry changes happened in my mouth caused my teeth to be badly stained brown repeatedly, which had to be aggressively brushed to remove it. Very odd. |
| The thing in your throat sounds like it might be a tonsolith. (tonsil stone) |
| Well, I don't own any tonsils, and it kinda looks like a canker sore a slight depression or a hole more than an object. I googled up and looked at some pictures of tonsoliths and it doesn't quite look like that. Similar though! I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks! |
| I am glad to hear you're on the mend! If the teeth issue comes up again, you might brush with peroxide and baking soda only. |
| Ron, if that spot doesn't clear up completely, very soon, or if it looks at all worse, or if there are new ones, please go to the doctor and insist on more in depth examination. It probably is nothing to worry about but anything that persists needs a very thorough investigation. |
| Ron, If it makes you feel any better, I get bronchitis several times a year. It's so bad that I've grown to recognize the symptoms straight away, so it's just easier for me to go to our local Urgent Care, get the antibiotics from them and avoid the family doctor's office altogether. This time around, I went on Wednesday night after feeling it come on Sunday. This was typically two days longer than I normally wait and I was about to pay for it. The doc gave me my Z-pack and codeine cough meds and I was on my way to recovery... or so I thought. I went to work Thursday, after having the day and the following Friday scheduled off. My boss thought I should be there for an important all-day meeting with a new vendor. It was total Hell. I came home that night, ate some soup and went to bed just that fast. I woke up Friday morning and went BACK to Urgent Care. This time, the doc seemed curious in the fact that I was back, (I'm sure my complaining about having to come back helped) so he ordered up a chest x-ray. He saw that what I was convinced was bronchitis had turned to bronchial-pneumonia... Lucky me. So now I'm on Levaquin too. Hopefully, this all goes away before I die. Either way, I hate sounding like I'm a wheezing freight train slowing to pick up passengers. Hope you're over yours for good. Vance |
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