Sore throats and antibiotics
- Thread starter smithy
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smithy said:
I think that is case by case. In 2006 I got a God awful sore throat that got progressivley worse for about 7 days. On the ~7th day I went to the hospital and it turned out to be Strep Throat. I was given an antibiotic shot and was better in ~2 days. It did not seem like I was going to get better without it.
Going forward, if I am sick and feeling worse after ~3-4 days, I will go in. If they want to give antibiotics, so be it.
redrumloa said:
I think what you say is reasonable, I'd go under the following conditions:
1. Cold symptoms have receded
2. It's been about 7 days
For over a week now, I've had the worst sore throat I've ever known. On Saturday night I visited our new NHS Walk-in centre and a nurse had a a very quick look at my throat and ears and said it was just viral because it was only inflamed and there were no puss or spots.
Now, I am no medical professional, but after many years of self-diagnosing various things on the internet I'm pretty sure you can only tell viral from bacterial by doing a swab test.
Then she told me it could be 3 weeks before it went away! I've never in my life had a bad throat for 3 weeks.
I am annoyed because I felt I was treated by a haughty-taughty-know-it-all-nurse.
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Very poor advise. If you have any form of heart, heart valve or even kidney problems, you should get every sore throat swabbed right away. I have a heart valve issue that I keep a close eye on, and strep throat can damage the valves. The antibodies your body creates to fight the bacteria damage your kidneys. I had strep about a month ago. I got swabbed right away and began meds the next day. My gf thought it was no big deal and she didn't get tested for another 5 days. She ended up developing scarlet fever with symptoms of meningitis and had three rounds of antibiotics (the third being administered via needle). Her symptoms lasted for weeks and it wasn't pretty.
One key difference between step and a viral infection is that strep does NOT cause stuffiness in your sinuses nor any coughing. So if you have a fever and intensely sore without coughing or runny nose, there's a very good chance you have strep. However, strep infections do often occur along side viral infections so you could be fighting two attacks at once, so you should get tested for strep even if you do have a cough and runny nose.
One key difference between step and a viral infection is that strep does NOT cause stuffiness in your sinuses nor any coughing. So if you have a fever and intensely sore without coughing or runny nose, there's a very good chance you have strep. However, strep infections do often occur along side viral infections so you could be fighting two attacks at once, so you should get tested for strep even if you do have a cough and runny nose.
@Glaucus
Actually she did ask some questions about heart problems, although I wasn't sure why at the time.
You're right on that bacterial infections in the throat can be bad - I once had one migrate into my gum (after I'd stopped taking my antibiotics because I thought I just had a virus). It was the worst pain I've ever known and it took another 2 weeks of antibiotics to clear it up. I think complications are usually rare though. Nevertheless, I think you're right I don't think I got good advice, I've never even had a bad cold where I got a throat that is this constantly severe for this long.
About testing for strep - it's a bit of a red herring. The only swabs they do are for strep, but there are many other bacteria that cause throat infections.
I did have a bit of a mild cold but it's mostly cleared up now. Sore throats tend to be at the beginning of the cold before there is much phlegm too.
Actually she did ask some questions about heart problems, although I wasn't sure why at the time.
You're right on that bacterial infections in the throat can be bad - I once had one migrate into my gum (after I'd stopped taking my antibiotics because I thought I just had a virus). It was the worst pain I've ever known and it took another 2 weeks of antibiotics to clear it up. I think complications are usually rare though. Nevertheless, I think you're right I don't think I got good advice, I've never even had a bad cold where I got a throat that is this constantly severe for this long.
About testing for strep - it's a bit of a red herring. The only swabs they do are for strep, but there are many other bacteria that cause throat infections.
I did have a bit of a mild cold but it's mostly cleared up now. Sore throats tend to be at the beginning of the cold before there is much phlegm too.
redrumloa said:
She told me I wouldn't be getting antibiotics before I could say the first syllable of "pen-i-cill-in". Said it'd only give me a rash and make me sick (complete tosh - unless I swallowed bucketloads of it). It's probably because everyone asks for them nomatter what's wrong.
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smithy said:
Probably should have swabbed for strep - but 90% of soar throats are viral.
Antibiotics can make you lethally sick - it has been doing so lately. It upsets the balance of the bacteria in your gut and there has been a rise in certain anti-biotic resistant bugs that don't play nice when they are left all alone in your guts after all the other bugs get wiped out.
Most soar throats resolve fairly quickly, 3 or 4 days should do it usually - so any soar throat that is already 7 days and painful should require more investigation - it can be an indication of things neither viral nor bacterial.
Hopefully most health care providers are not prescribing antibiotics right of the bat these days as there are precious few that still work for the hard cases and overuse is the principle driver behind the evolution of multiple resistance. Also, triage is partly psychological. If you will accept the suggestion that there is nothing particularly wrong than perhaps it is so since, the theory goes, those with serious complaints will complain again.
If it's still bugging you, go for another visit.
Another thing is that walk-in staff generally have no history of working with you. It's always good to have a GP that you see on a semi-regular basis.
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smithy said:
antibiotics don't work on viruses.
I use a spray bottle and spray a Hydrogen Peroxide mist onto the irritated throat area, also spray your sinus with a saline solution, then gargle with a mouthwash. Repeat every couple hours when the throat becomes itchy again. Your throat will clear up quickly. Haven't had anything develop past that stage in years now.
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This appears to be a confirmation bias.metalman said:
I tried this solution a few times. The Drs say soar throats clear up in 2-3 days on their own. Doing this clears them up in 2-3 days.
IMO -- no change of outcome.
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Ya, you're just fighting the symptoms, the cause is the virus and the only thing that can kill that is your immune system. Of course, there's a chance that it's a strep bacteria which we talked about above, but it can also be viruses other then the flu. Mono is one example that can have similar symptoms at first. Unfortunately, regardless of what virus you have you can't do much about it, but you may control who you spread it to. If diagnosed with mono you may want to isolate yourself.
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Glaucus said:
I had a bad case of Mono at 17, I had flu-like symptoms but no sore throat. By the time I started slowly improving weeks later, I was 145 pounds (at 6' - 4"). Mono is nasty, I think you'd know it if you have it. I had 0 (ZERO) energy for weeks.
11 days now :shocked: and I am feeling powerless and beyond miserable. In all my medical life, I've never had a sore throat for this long, nor this severe.
I visited the doctor yesterday who also said it was viral. She did take a throat swab for strep, just in case.
I've tried the salt-gargling, mouthwash-gargling, vitamin C tablets, all of which has had no effect at all. But faethor is right in my experience, 2-3 days and they typically clear up on their own nomatter what you do.
I visited the doctor yesterday who also said it was viral. She did take a throat swab for strep, just in case.
I've tried the salt-gargling, mouthwash-gargling, vitamin C tablets, all of which has had no effect at all. But faethor is right in my experience, 2-3 days and they typically clear up on their own nomatter what you do.
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It may also be allergies. I have a sore throat with a runny nose right now too, but I don't suspect it's strep again. It feels more like allergies to me, but it's hard to say. Anyway, I started taking Claritin and hope to feel better soon.
Every year I have to deal with allergies. Summer time is brutal. Not sure what exactly it is that I'm allergic to, but it's something local to my area. I know that every time I go to Vancouver my allergies clear up instantly. I remember driving to Vancouver one summer and as soon as I got out of the prairies and into the Rockies, my allergies cleared up like magic. I so live in the wrong part of the world.
Every year I have to deal with allergies. Summer time is brutal. Not sure what exactly it is that I'm allergic to, but it's something local to my area. I know that every time I go to Vancouver my allergies clear up instantly. I remember driving to Vancouver one summer and as soon as I got out of the prairies and into the Rockies, my allergies cleared up like magic. I so live in the wrong part of the world.
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Btw, I'm really hoping my sore throat is just allergies, because if it isn't and is followed up by a deep cough, I'm in deep doodoo. I have bruised ribs from a hockey incident and simply clearing my throat is an ordeal. Sneezing feels like I've been stabbed in the chest. If I have to constantly cough I'm gonna need some serious pain killers. Always me. :-(
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smithy said:
also spray your sinus with a saline rinse
Viruses infections start in your sinuses and then the mucus drains to your throat.
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