I think I have strep throat :(

[mamadelbosque]

So, we woke up on thursday morning to a sick ds1 (fever and just cranky, mostly - said his stomach & throat hurt too though). Around noonish I started feeling lousy and felt really horrible till late on friday (fever, sore throat, headahce). That night I felt way better and was up till like 12... aside from my throat. Yesterday (friday) I felt better overall and my throat was only slightly sore... DH had a graduation thing (finally done w/ paramidic - yay!!) so we were gone for most of the day, and by the time we got home my throat was back to beign pretty darn sore... I tried to gargle with salt water last night before bed and was in tears it hurt so bad This morning its still sore... and I finally had dh look and he's pretty sure its strep. So... wwyd?

I don't have a fever and aside from my throat/lymph nodes/back of my mouth being sore/hurting and it hurting to swall (the worst part, IMO), I'm OK. But... should i call the doc tommorrow if tis still sore, even if I don't otherwise have a fever, etc? Or just wait it out? For reference I've been taking echinacia/goldenseal, lots of vitamin c & d & garlic tabs...

[Llyra]

It does sound a lot like strep throat. Although a lot of viral infections can seem like strep.

The standard recommendation is that strep be treated with antibiotics, because of the risk of the infection reemerging in other parts of your body, and because of the risk of rheumatic fever. These kinds of infections, though, are rare, especially in adults. Most usually strep throat is self-limiting. I myself have let strep throat go untreated and nothing terrible has ever happened. But the medical community will strongly recommend that you treat.

http://knol.google.com/k/sore-throat...roat#Treatment


http://www.annals.org/content/134/6/506.full.pdf

[cjarvis]

Try gargling Grapefruit Seed extract. I get the drops by nutribiotic. Directions are on the bottle. Love this stuff whenever I have sore throat. I am pretty sure I stopped strep throat coming back again with this stuff. I also used goldenseal and echinechea throat spray too.
Hope you feel better soon!

[KMK_Mama]

I'd go to the doc and get abx. I don't mess around with strep.

[mamadelbosque]

Update: its monday morning and my throat still hurts. So I call my doctor, and what do they say? (keep in mind its 8:15, so they *JUST* opened): Sorry, we're full. If we have a cancelation we'll call you. Otherwise, goto stat care (ie: our crappy countys vs of an emergency room!). WTF.

[mamadelbosque]

Ugh. So, I did get in on monday and saw the doc (and yup it strep), and am on amoxicillin. Only its now been almost a full week (will be tommorrow afternoon), and my throat still freaking hurts!! WTF!! Is this 'normal'?? Or, do I have something else wierd going on?!? I can't take this much longer It hurst to drink, to swallow, to talk, to do anything at all!!

[Llyra]

You should see some significant improvement within 48 hours of starting treatment. If you don't, I would return to the health care provider. An infection that hasn't responded in that period of time may be resistant to that antibiotic. Did they do a culture, or just that quick-swab? Because the quick swabs are not all that accurate, and it's possible you have a viral infection. I would ask if you do go back for the culture. It takes more time, but it's more reliable.

A strep throat untreated usually resolves within seven days.

One thing you'll want to do is to replace your toothbrush, and anything else you put into the back of your mouth regularly. Or at least disinfect them somehow. Strep is known to live on toothbrushes for up to 16 days, and you can reinfect yourself.

[mamadelbosque]

He didn't even do a swab... Just looked at my throat and ears and wrote a script...

[Arianwen1174]

There's no way he could say you have strep without a test. Sorry you're going through this! Hope he didn't give you ABX for nothing.

[Red Pajama]

I had strep twice this spring, and the first time was very painful, took days to clear up to the point of "comfort", and I had a fever. Second time, it was only uncomfortable and annoying, without the fever. In my experience, the longer you wait for treatment the longer it takes to feel better.

Second time doc gave the "big guns" in terms of antibiotics, wondering if the Z pack the first time didn't really get it. Perhaps you need a different anitbiotic to see improvement.



My mother has a heart murmur that she was told was caused by untreated strep as a child. Because of that (and now also because she has artificial hips) any time she gets dental work done she has to take large quantities of antibiotic to prevent a potential infection.

[Ornery]

I'm still on antibiotics, more than a month out from my first go around with strep. After trying two different types of abx (Avolux and Cipro), we finally figured out that my strep was antibiotic resistant. Now I'm on Clindamycin with the hope that it will kick it.

I hope you feel better soon. I have had an absolute miserable month.