RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

I think I have tonsillitis started the week off with a sniffle and started to get a sore throat. Continued to work go out and even yesterday run 7miles while it absolutely hammered it down.
Went out lastnight and came home at midnight as my throat was killing.
I've literally been up all night forcing swallows down.
Ive had tonsillitis as a child but can't remember much about it.

Looking online 2 different sites say 2 different things so I want a real persons views on it please.

1: how long will this crap last
2: should I bombard it with throat sweets, pain killers and corresden mouthwash
3: should I smoke
4: is it worth me going to the docs on Monday and getting a sick note? (btw I never go sick)

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I've had it twice, and each time I had it was when I was going out with a new girlfriend (otherwise known as kissing diease)....

The first time it was terrible... Lasted a month, made me feel really tired and struggled to eat and drink, my tonsils were swollen like golf ***** with white bacteria marks all over them. The second time lasted 2-3 weeks but I caught the early signs of it so I was quicker to react sooner.

Use TCP antiseptic mouthwash (think I did 4 table spoons TCP and 4 table spoons water. Mix into glass and gargle it every couple hours. Also keep drinking water, and I mean A LOT of water. Stack up on antiseptic lozenges/throat sweets as well, plus you should probably stop smoking.

I went to the Docs the first, and they literally did **** all.

mart360

It couls also be a quinsey, which has the potential to become very serious.

If it hasnt cleared up in 24hrs, you need to see a quack.

Its a course of intibiotics


I had a bout 2 years ago, it resulted in a 2am visit to A&E (christmas lol) after spending 24hrs in bed in agony. one 5 minute assesment from the doc, and i was on painkillers and antibiotics.



Mart

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

I've just had this. Horrible disease completely debilitating.
To confirm its tonsillitis look in the mirror and see if your throat has white spots or blisters.
I went to the docs and was prescribed some anti biotics and symptoms had eased in 24 hours. Make sure you finish the course though because I didn't and I'm still fooked six weeks later. Went to docs again and she put me I some different tablets this time and I'm finally starting to perk up a bit.

scud8

iTrader: (1)

I had two bouts in November, after catching 'flu. The first time my epiglottis was so swollen every time I fell asleep it blocked my airway and woke me up, so I had about three days with no sleep. I went back to work too soon after the first bout and went back down with it a week later.

My doctor prescribed antibiotics both times, but said they might not work as it could be viral rather than bacterial. I think he was right as it was really only rest that got rid of it.

My daughter was getting regular infections a few years ago, and ended up having them removed.

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

As Daz said, the obvious giveaway is the white spots.

I seem quite good at picking it up for some reason. Last time I just rang my doc & told him I had it. He sorted the antibiotics without seeing me.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

Trying to see in my own mouth is proving difficult. I can see its very red and swollen, the punch bag thing in the middle has dropped down and touching my tonge.

During the night I absolutely struggeled. Feeling a little better now but that could be the pills / mouthwash.
I'll see how I get on tonight and then aim for the docs tomorrow.

How do you find out what type is is, viral - self clearing or the other one where you need meds?

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Well, it's good to know you've been keeping active, but is this the kind of thing you should be sharing?

Matteeboy

Had it twice last year when I broke my immune system. Horrible. Chlorasceptic throat spray numbs it quite well but there's not much else you can do.

john banks

White patches or pus on the tonsils, or one tonsil bigger than the other - go to doctor. If just red and you don't have any medical history/regular meds then antibiotics tend to do more harm than good.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

My tonsils were like golf ***** with white bacteria all over them. How come you lot all got antibiotics? My doctor told me just to rest and keep taking pain killers.....

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

This is why I can't be bothered to go. I know they will just say take pain killers

Littleted

Firsthand stop trying to lick ya own *****, but seriously now

Merocaine from chemist and oraldene gargle, but if you have white spots which I think you do, go to doctors. Also advice. Normal practice is to give penicillin first, but it never works for me total ****e, I always stress I want proper antibiotics, I took a full course of penicillin 16 tablets did nothing, I went back took 2 of the new ones and it was gone.

Ted

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

Lol at *****. Comment. Your telling me if you could you wouldn't

Turbohot

1. It could last no more than a week's agony if you get right treatment. Once you take right treatment, you start to feel better after a week or so.
2. No. They won't work if it is Tonsillitis. As others have suggested, check for the white, puss-filled spots on your tonsils/throat to make sure it is Tonsillitis.
3. No. If you keep smoking with infected tonsils, your agony will be doubled or even trippled. Don't aggreave the infection whether it is Tonsillitis or else.
4. Yes. Go and get checked by the doc. He/she may give you some Amoxicillin or so to kill the infection.

I suffered from Tonsillitis since early years till my late teens. Sometimes 3-5 times a year, and virtually lived on antbiotics. I thank Sir Alexander Fleming who discovered antibiotics- top man. Bleddy painful infection, I tell you. I get it very occasionally now. Only once in 5 years or so.

john banks

Your doctor is very unlikely to give you amoxicillin.

Turbohot

Why?

Mine did, many times. Well, until 4 years ago when I had it. I didn't ask for it, he just gave them to me for my Tonsillitis and got shut of me. I can't deny that I did get better. My daughter had Tonisillitis as well when she was little. Our GP gave her that as well. She had her tonsils removed at 7. Now she is 20 and trouble free from the wretched infection. My recent antibiotics in mid October was Amoxicillin again, but that was for the throat infection, not Tonsillitis. It didn't work, then straight after in early November, an out-of-hours doctor gave me Augmentine, which worked miraculously on my deadly and acute Sinusitis- not Tonsillitis, of course.

However, I'd like to know why Amoxicillin is not likely to be prescribed by doctors. If my GP is still prescribing it for Tonisillitis, then why is he doing it? I need to know.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

I'm interested to know, too.

I was always given amoxicillin as a child and into adulthood when docs thought I needed antibiotics (although, I am apparently allergic to septrin and related antibiotics so I don't know how much that influenced their choice). It's only been in recent years that any others have been prescribed.

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

It's a horrible and nasty infection. I suffered terribly from it as a child. Now I get it once every few years, the last time being about three years ago. I had visited my GP, who was useless - telling me to gargle with soluble Aspirin. Two days later I was taken to A&E, by my wife, where the doctor told me that it was Tonsillitis - my throat was VERY sore, but my middle ear was swollen on left hand side, so much that I couldn't hear. Antibiotics were prescribed and over a couple of days it started to ease off. Unfortunately, about three days later it seemed like someone flicked a switch in my head and a noise appeared and I now have tinnitus which drives me mad. I'm not sure if there's a connection but I wish I pushed my GP for some antibiotics.

Matteeboy

Turbo; don't think sinusitis is deadly; I often get it from surfing! A hayfever nasal spray with steroids works a treat.

john banks

Glandular fever can be mistaken for other causes of sore throat. When you give amoxicillin (but not penicillin v) to a patient with glandular fever they will rightly ask you why later when they get an awful rash. Many doctors realising this avoid amoxicillin for sore throats.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

Good news... Went to the docs and it's not tonsillitis...tbh I've felt alot better today as aposed the last few days.

Really nice doctor who said its just flu and I need to give up the evil weed... I guess he ment cigarets as I don't do cannabis.

RB5 Boyo

I had Tonsillitis every few months at a stage, got to the point where penicillin wouldnt do anything for me....then developed into Quinsy as well....NOT GOOD!!!! Ended up hospitalized twice with quinsy , for a week each time, unreal pain and got to the point my throat was so closed over i could barely breathe or even swallow, fluid used to just go up my nose instead of down my throat, very very dangerous as well, the docs in A+E had to lance open my tonsils to release the pressure

Got my tonsils out not long after and never looked back, yes i get the odd sore throat but it rarely lasts more than a few days!!

Just be careful if you keep getting re-occurring tonsillitis....get it looked at

Leslie

I was just about to advise going to the doctor. They can sometimes sort out a problem surprisingly quickly.

Now that you have met him I bet you won't mind going again if you have a problem!

Les

Turbohot

Matt, I didn't mean it literally is a killer in these post-modern days, what I meant was that it knocked me so badly that I wished for it to be deadly enough to take the bleddy discomfort away. I'm aware of some very effective hayfever remedies etc. but mine needed something stronger than that. Thanks to the doc who gave me right medication. I was back to work after 2 weeks' sick, dragged it there for another week and then fit as a fiddle again by the fourth week.

Thanks, John. NHS website also says that. But if my doctor still keeps giving me Amoxicillin for Tonsillitis, I'm presuming that he makes sure with the duration and local checkup that it's not glandular fever but indeed Tonsillitis, and therefore he prescribes it to me? I don't know.

RobsyUK, pleased to know you don't have Tonsillitis. Hope you get better soon.

john banks

If you have recurrent tonsillitis the risk is considerably lower. However, if I carefully selected pictures of throats of streptococcal infection and infectious mononucleosis confirmed afterwards by laboratory results I suspect I could make most doctors choose incorrectly from the appearance. Given that, why not just avoid the whole issue of an iatrogenic rash and use penicillin V instead? It doesn't taste quite as nice as amoxicillin (either are an improvement on the taste of the infection) and is typically four times a day rather than three.

Discussions including similar examples to some of those cited in this thread occur frequently in consultations. Many of them are spurious reasons which are not supported by the evidence which shows that antibiotics are being ridiculously overused in sore throats. Much of this is due to patient pressure, doctors avoiding conflict, fear of litigation. Consultation rates for minor illness have dramatically increased in the last 15 years (with no increase in rates of minor illness, just consultations for them) with patient expectation high. In the same consultation some patients complain about poor appointment access (they got this appointment typically 30-60 mins ago when they telephoned in our practice), then present a self limiting respiratory infection they've had for less than 48 hours, nod sagely when I tell them the evidence for not prescribing an antibiotic and the harms of superbugs/resistance/adverse drug reactions and then they ask for their antibiotic. Thankfully the majority appreciate an honest reason for not prescribing when it is not appropriate to do so.

Not only minor infections, it could be argued that we are over-medicalising normal childbirth, bereavement, work related stress, socioeconomic problems, marital disharmony, gender disorders, mild depression/anxiety, naughty children/parenting issues, loneliness, personality disorders, lifestyle choices/substance abuse, ageing, death and odd people. IMHO, good medicine, especially that funded by the state, would be well advised to curtail its own invasion into these areas driven by a collapse of family units and mainstream religion and very few coping strategies developed through previous hardship or indeed just plain hard work.

When antibiotics first arrived, used appropriately they saved lives when people had some serious worry about death from infectious diseases. We're coming full circle with the latest multi-resistant organisms. Some antibiotics being thrown around can cause death in an otherwise healthy person from a serious bowel infection for example. Sometimes little warning, rectal bleeding, colon goes toxic and inflamed and gives you a 40-80% chance of death. BTW, augmentin (co-amoxiclav) you mentioned, is one of them responsible.

Ellie*

^^ exactly that. That made good reading!

The last pharmacy I worked in was attached to a large medical centre with a lot of the uni student population registered.
The amount of pen V + difflam we went through was ridiculous.
One of the very many over-prescribed drugs.


I used to suggested the following;
300mg dispersible aspirin, gargle and swallow (if you can take aspirin). It something like 300-900mg three or four times a day but check packet.
Paracetamol four times a day for pain relief.
Throat spray/lozenges as you need.

Hysteria1983

Having had my tonsils removed you have my sympathies! I would just see how you get on as it's good for your body to fight it off, however, this was the advice I used on my son and he then got worse and ended up with step throat!! Not good.

Keep up on fluids and make sure your temp isn't too high, if you can eat, drink and be reasonably active then all is well.

Turbohot

You make some good points in your posts, John.

I agree that if streptococcal infections can be incorrectly diagnosed by some physicians from the appearance, then, as a precaution, why not give Penicillin V. It is not unknown that antibiotics and many other medications don't come without negative side effects. On the other hand, doctor's priority is to save discomfort and the spread of the infection, if the infection is on the level of acute/severe? I put up with the sinus infection for long enough before that out-of-hours doctor gave me Augmentin upon the onset, duration and development of the disease, appearance and symptoms. I took 250 mg X3 times a day for 7 days for the first time on my life, so the risk of having severe effects on my colon and intestinal constitution may be very low.

I'm not at all an advocate of a quick-fix pill culture but sometimes that has to be the last option. Most common bodily infections (viral and bacterial) are better fought and won by the natural immune system, but sometimes, there's no choice but to prescribe the patient with antibiotics as a last resort, and they have proven to be effective.

I appreciate your view of not over-medicalising and not prescribing antibiotics as sweets to the patients for sore throats. You say that much of this is due to patient pressure, doctors avoiding conflict, fear of litigation. I don't think it is fair to put much of this blame on the patients. Patient is at doctor's disposal. Doctor should be able to explain to patient why what is being prescribed or why not. One GP in this neck of the woods gave double dose of HRT therapy to ex's aunt. It was the pharmacist who told her NOT to take that much of it or she would have grown beard and moustache FFS! Another one kept giving analgesics to a teen with swollen glands for over a year until one day, another doctor on duty sent him for further checks. The lad had lymphatic cancer. My diabetic mother in law was switched on to injectable insulin by the nurse when the GP banged his head against the wall, saying, that she didn't need it, and she now has to be on them for life. She was also prescribed some medication for her blood disorder that caused her loss of control on her bowels. It took her doctor three years before he looked up at her face and said- “It is actually a side effect of what you have been taking” and changed her medication. There are a lot of ***** made by the doctors that they need to take responsibility for. They can't put most of the pressure on the patient for their lack of attention to detail and quick-fix treatments. There are some good General Practitioners, and there are some not so good ones.

Ellie*

Thats what pharmacists and technicians are for.
You think we stick labels on boxes, we do. But while we're doing it we are checking thats it's an appropriate drug at a safe dose that won't interact with other medications and help you get the maximum benefit from it.
And every now and again we save you from a potentially life threatening overdose or drug interaction.
Most people won't even know we've done it, they just moan when they have to wait a bit longer.