Hello everyone and I hope you don't mind me asking this non-PMR question. Just wondering if any of my PMR friends looking in has ever suffered from swollen glands and sore throat whilst on Prednisolone which have failed to respond to antibiotics?
After seeing two doctors :doctor: (one of whom amazingly visited me at home!), taking a course of Erithromycin (just finished today) and having a swab taken on Friday (results awaited), the only diagnosis I have so far is tonsillitis (had my tonsils removed when I was 5!! :? ). The Dr mentioned that none of my records show such a severe sore throat in the past. I have never previously suffered from swollen glands - they are hard like a couple of golf balls. I am now two weeks into whatever illness this is which started with an inflamed feeling across the very top of the stomach and nausea and blocked nasal passages making breathing difficult (no diarrhoea or actual sickness) - thankfully these symptoms have now resolved.
Apart from the Erithromycin, I have gargled with Paracetamol and salt water, and inhaled steam. I have had to stop all hot fruit drinks such as lemon, orange and Ribena due to a load of mouth ulcers. I have been taking spoonfuls of Manuka honey but still the sore throat and the 'golf balls' remain.
So sorry if I sound an absolute misery - am trying not to be but having been stuck in the house for almost two weeks and having missed out on a few pre-Christmas festivities already am finding it hard to get myself into the Christmas spirit. :cry:
The Dr referred to the steroids weakening the immune system to the extent of it not being able to fight the infection but the last throat infection 2 years ago responded well to Erithromycin and I have been so lucky since then not to even suffer a sniffle. I was on a higher dose 2 years ago so wonder whether that gave more protection than the 1mg dose I am on at present. So many questions, so few answers.
If anyone has any experience of swollen glands (and how to shrink them
I would be so grateful to hear from them!
MrsO
I am afraid I cant give any advise just to say how sorry I am it sounds horrendous !!
It does sound as if you need stronger antibiotics I know of a few people ( who have asthma to start with ) who when they have chest infections are always given low dose antibiotics to start with( which prolongs the infection) and then given stronger ones !! The only other thing you get really swollen glands with is glandular fever I think
I think we need Eileen on here to give us some ideas !! but at least the Dr has taken a swab which might come up with something I hope you do feel better by Xmas
Best wishes
Mrs G
Hi Mrs O and sorry to hear you are feeling so unwell
.
I did not have swollen glands but at the start of the snow a couple of weeks ago I had a dreadful cold with streaming nose etc. I totally over-dosed myself with vit C..... took about 4 Rubex tablets a day and also about 8 chewable multi-vitamin tablets a day and it definately helped to clear it up as I had an awful cough and thought that I might have to resort to taking an anti--biotic.
It was the first bad cold that I have had in years (would be called flu if I were a MAN :lol: ), so the reduced immunity from the steroids probably contributed to it.
Hope you feel better soon. Love, Pauline.
I'm rather like Mrs. G in that I sympathise ( but not literally as I believe it means to suffer with ) What I have had lately is a series of sore mouths, well, the same mouth sore on several occasions is what I mean,of course. I thought at first it was a bottom denture problem but now I don't think so. They heal completely after a week or so, then blissful, painless eating for a few days, then another sore place. Not severe as yours is, Mrs.O but I wonder if I can blame the Pred. as I'm wont to do for any discomfort.
Do hope this is soted before Christmas for you.
Mrs O, just catching up, how awful for you to feel so bad for such a long time!
Don't really think I can add much, it does seem as if you need a stronger Anti-B and to keep doing all the usual stuff, extra fluids and maybe more Vit C to keep you going.
Do hope you recover enough to enjoy your Christmas dinner, do let us know how you are doing.
Love
Nefret
Poor you Mrs O. Do hope the Doctor get's to the bottom of it soon and you'll get the right medication to make you feel better.
Take care
Lizzie Ellen
Hello MrsO,
I really understand what you are going through, as I have had persisting problems with my throat/chest/respiration for a very long time - however, no swollen glands. The doctor couldn't really tell me what it was, the only thing he \"knew\" it was a viral infection.
He warned me that I must have PATIENCE, because due to the fact that I have been on pred for 2 years, it would take much longer time to get rid of an infection as it would be the case without pred.
And it was true, it took me one and a half month (!!!) to be free from all discomfort.... Now I don't think that you suffer from exactly the same thing as I did, but still, it could be so for you too, that it takes extra looooong time before you feel all right again!
It will be interesting to see what the result of the swab will be, maybe your doctor can give you the adequate medication.
I wish you all the best and, hopefully, a very nice Christmas! :holly:
/ Judit
Dear Mrs O, So much to contend with for you - feeling rotten, awful weather and Christmas, whatever your plans are! :cry:
It sounds more like a virus, which won't respond to anti-biotics. And don't we have glands in the stomach area too? My physiology is a bit rusty I'm afraid.
Glandular fever used to be called the \"kissing disease\", I guess because it seemed to attack teenagers so much! I'm sure there is a more medical name for glandular fever - I tried looking it up in the Merck Manual but couldn't find it. Where are you Eileen?
Sorry, not to have anything more to suggest except the usual things, taking it easy, keeping warm, and I know you really work at the healthy diet.
I do so hope you are feeling better soon - take care, Green Granny
Hello all you wonderful people - thank you so much for all your kind replies to my post....I have just read all the lovely messages and they really made me feel quite emotional!
I have today seen yet another Dr in the Practice (was told last week that my Dr would be back from holiday this week and to see him if things hadn't improved - however, it turns out he has a day off today!!!).
However, the Dr I saw turns out to be new (and very young but perhaps I'm just getting old :lol: ). I said that I was now finding it hard to cope with the golf balls hanging under my neck and the worsening permanent dry mouth due to lack of saliva that no amount of liquid will quench. I asked him if he thought I could have glandular fever, mumps or something wrong with my salivary glands. He took one look at the glands and said \"wow, there are swollen glands and then there are SWOLLEN glands\"! He sent me for various blood tests but said it may be a bit early in the illness if it was glandular fever for the result to come back positive and told me to return in a week's time - at least someone has finally taken some positive action action.
Meanwhile, I have arranged a private appointment with an ENT consultant for Thursday if things are still the same.
Would you believe that to add to my woes, a back tooth lost its temporary covering and further fractured this morning - there's no way I'm going near a dentist at the moment so will just have to put up with the hot and cold discomfort 'til everything else resolves.
On a happier note, I am blessed with a wonderful hubbie who has driven me to the Dr and hospital today, has trudged through the snow delivering the local cards and is now cooking our dinner - as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and I'm very very lucky.
I hope you are all keeping well and that the snow will clear so that those of you travelling can get safely to your destinations for Christmas.
I send you all my love and best wishes for a very happy Christmas and may your PMR and/or GCA take a hike in 2011.
:bubbly: :holly: :xmaspud: :xmastree:
MrsO
Hi Mrs O
I am sorry nothing has improved but glad you are having someone taking a different look at it and i would be like you seeing someone privately to speed things up as sometimes you can take no more and my favourite mantra this year has been \" Health is Wealth \" !!
Hope your tooth wont give you too much trouble over Xmas and fingers crossed for a quick recovery I like you have a great husband whose glass is always half full so I can never get down for too long
best wishes Mrs G
Mrs. O I do hope you young doctor gets this sorted for you. A friend whose brother was a doctor told her, when coming to live in this country \"Get yourself a good YOUNG doctor\" An open mind is probably as important as experience but, of course, it's all a matter of individuals and their attitudes. Yours certainly seems to have been impressed with your swollen glands.
I love the idea of your husband being a silver lining. I see him toiling away with a sort of halo all round him.
Hi Mrs O,
There is a product available in chemists here, so I'm sure you can probably get in the Uk also....it is a temporary filling that comes in a little tube and it works very well. I always have some in my suitcase on holidays in case of broken fillings...you just press it into the affected tooth and it hardens very quickly. The dentist can just file it off when you get the opportunity to have a more permanent treatment.
Hope this helps as a sensitive tooth is the last thing you need right now
Best wishes, Pauline.
Dear Mrs O, so much trouble you have at this moment. I do not know if this will be of any help. I have discovered that I have Tonsil's stones....I hit at Google, and then : Tonsil Stones. And up came pages and pages on the subject. They are a collection of fatty whitish lumps, and I am lucky that they have found a way out in my throat, and go down to my stomach ( disgusting....) without too much of a problem. But in some cases, they can accumulate in the tonsils, and then they have to be removed. Hope you will find the site, and that you may find some useful information there. All best wishes for Christmas. Granny Moss
Hi Dublin
Wow - I have never heard of a do-it-yourself kit in the form of a temporary filling. Don't know what my dental skills will be like but if there are people around who actually pull out their own teeth (ouch!), I'm sure I can manage to do the filling! I will make some enquiries today and if available will have it by me in case of worsening problems over the Christmas period. Thank you for amazing advice. :wow:
MrsO
Hello Granny Moss and thank you for that interesting information re tonsil's stones - yet something else I haven't heard of. However, as I've had my tonsils removed, tonsil's stones are probably unlikely.
As many of you will already know I am always recommending the highly anti-inflammatory Turmeric as an additive to food to help reduce our PMR inflammation. Interestingly, I have just read an article recommending treating sore throats by adding a touch of turmeric to the salt water for gargling so am now giving this a try and will probably have an orange throat to show the ENT consultant tomorrow rather than a red one! :lol:
MrsO
Hi Mrs O, sorry to hear you are suffering, as if PMR wasn't enough to be dealing with !
I also suffered the same type of thing a while ago, after being in brief contact with my granddaughter who had an ear infection, my GP said 'that'll
be it then !'. After the right sort of antibiotic it was soon sorted, I hope you have the same outcome.
You can still get 'tonsillitis' without your tonsils, it's the area of infection.
I had mine removed at the age of 18, but blame my many bouts after that on the fact that I was a dental nurse for many years. I also blame it for the glandular fever, people spitting over me most of the day - lovely ! :yawn:
On top of the glandular fever, I got tonsillitis, and was told not to look at my throat, well of course I did, it looked like a fried egg with ketchup thrown over it ! :P
BTW, you need to ask the chemist for gutta percha for a do-it-yourself filling.
Hope that helps xx
Happy Christmas to everyone, keep warm. This won't allow me to do anymore emoticons, I think they've frozen along with everything else !!
I've already lost what I typed once.
Best wishes,
DD
Hello DD
Thank you for the description of the temporary filling - I was unable to get hold of Gutta Percha but have found an alternative which, hopefully, will do the trick if the tooth gets too uncomfortable over the Christmas period....at the moment it only reacts to cold water. I hope that my neck swellings go down soon so that I can get to the dentist.
My glandular fever and mumps blood tests have come back normal. However, saw an ENT consultant yesterday who says it is the submandibular glands that are affected - why do I always seem to suffer from things with long names that I've never heard of before: Polymyalgia Rheumatica, Giant Cell Arteritis now submandibular swelling :roll: He pressed really hard around the inside of my lower gum following which he advised me to drink plenty of citrus drinks (a recipe for mouth ulcers in my case :cry
saying that citrus can help with unblocking the salivary glands thus helping the continuous dryness in my mouth. I'm hoping for a miracle otherwise I have to go back in a week or so for more tests and I find that a bit daunting.
Interestingly, I have had endless problems with my teeth and crowns over the last couple of years and whilst doing some research into problems with the salivary glands found that problems with dental enamel can trigger symptoms in the salivary glands - perhaps total extraction is the answer :lol:
I seem to remember that you are coping with PMR without steroids and I do hope that things are going smoothly for you.
Happy Christmas Eve to everyone and hope you've all got your stockings hanging up! :star:
MrsO[/b]
Hello Mrs O
Sorry your problem hasnt dissappeard of its own accord but glad you have seen someone who knows what the problem is Now he just has to cure it !!
You will have to put extra lemon in your ginntonic !! Hope you hjave a good xmas and your tooth stays peaceful !!
best wishes
Mrs G
Hi again, glad you found someone that sounds as though they will sort you out Mrs O !! But a warning, my first tests for glandular fever came back as negative, apparently that is often the case.
I am currently on 2.5 mg of steroids for the PMR, don't think I would have coped without.
Gradually tapering off and so far, all going well. Not going to try dropping again until the weather improves and I am feeling up to it.
Happy Boxing Day to everyone
DD xx
Devonshire Dumpling
Just thought I would tell you that my Rheumy gave me a pattern drop at the very beginning. Once down to 5mg, then drop 1 mg every three months. 5mg is counted as a low dose. This slow dosage is to help the adrenal glands to kick back in.
Take a look at \"Steroids and What They Do. (written by a patient for patients).\" located under Useful Medical Information on www.pmr-gca-northeast.org.uk.
Knowledge is Power.