Strep Throat - Confusing Recovery

Ears, nose and throat
1

Hello, let me me start off by saying that I am a healthly 24 year old female. I usually never have any serious issues with my health (thankfully) other than the occasional cold & strep throat maybe once every 5 years. 

I've been on a long journey of recovery from strep throat I had gotten on June 6th. I have been on four different antibiotics (amoxicillin, amox-clav, z-pack, and keflex) as well as a steroid (methylprednisolone).

Currently, I feel as if the strep throat is gone but I am experience a sensation that something is always stuck in my throat. I can still eat just fine but the sensation bothers me a lot. I feel like it gets in the way when I talk. The sensation is in the center of my throat. My throat is also bone dry no matter how much water I drink. Some days it's really sore but the pain is mild to moderate. 

It's a month long story, so below are the dates and symtoms I experienced that got me to where I am today:

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Tuesday, June 6th

Woke up sick. Instantly knew it was strep throat. Difficulty opening mouth, severe pain especially when swallowing. Took Amoxicillin 500mg.

Wednesday June 7th – Friday, June 9th

Took 8 dosages. Had episode Friday evening.

Saturday, June 10th

Stopped Amoxicillin. Wasn’t feeling right due to whatever happened the previous night, but strep throat symptoms were gone.

Monday, June 12th

Saw doctor for episode. Preformed a normal checkup.

Tuesday, June 13th

Woke up sick again with strep throat symptoms. Made an appointment with the doctor that day. She did not perform stress test, but prescribed me Amox-Clav 500mg.

Friday, June 16th

Not feeling better. Symptoms have gotten worse. Although the pain subsided to moderate, it felt as if there were large pieces of food stuck in the center of my throat. Also, there were red bumps on the very back of my tongue. Called the doctor. Doctor said to stop Amox-Clav and start Azithromycin 250 mg (5-day) same day.

Monday, June 19th

Slight improvement on new antibiotics, but still very uncomfortable. Called the doctor back in the morning but didn’t receive a response so I went to CentraCare. CentraCare performs stress test with results testing positive for Strep Pharyngitis. CentraCare doctor told me to take the rest of z-pack and the new antibiotic he prescribes: Cephalexin 500mg.

My primary doctor calls at 5:30pm. Gives me a prescription for Methylprednisolone 4 mg (6-day).

Wednesday, June 21st

Finished Z-pack, still taking Cephalexin. Started Methylprednisolone.

Thursday, June 22nd

Feeling better. No more pain at all, but still experiencing the sensation something is stuck in my throat causing a very uncomfortable feeling constantly. At times it felt like my throat was closing up even though I knew it wasn’t.

 

Monday, June 26th

Last day of Methylprednisolone. Feeling better still. Sensation of something stuck in my throat has not gone away but the “lumps” are smaller. Sometimes sharp pain in tonsil will happen. Visited the doctor for follow up. Told her I was still feeling something in my throat. She said it was not normal after the treatment I went through. 

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I was able to get an appoinment with the ENT as soon as I could. This was last Thursday. The doctor looked in my mouth and said everything look really good. I asked if this long recovery time was normal. He let out a sort and soft laugh before explaining to me that the keflex seemed to be the antibiotic that helped the most. Since I stopped taking the antibiotic only a week before the ENT appointment, I'm being told I'm still recovering. Other than that information, I didn't get much more. He asked the normal questions and looked at my ears, nose and throat to make sure everything was okay. I wanted him to say more but if he looked at everything and think it's good, what do I do? I trust him considering he's the specialist. Since I'm feeling better than I was a couple weeks ago, he told me to drink lots of water and take a probiotic (which I have been taking since the amox-clav). I am to call in a week if the symtoms get worse again. He will then prescribe me another antibiotic. If that doesn't work, then he will test for silent reflux.

It's been a week since my appointment. Things have stayed about the same. Last Friday was my best day yet. But over the weekend it got worse again. I am very confused on what is going on because I don't feel like I'm getting back to 100% but at the same time the ENT made me feel as if I shouldn't be there because "nothing is wrong." I really do NOT want to take a 5th antibitotic. Especially when I think the strep throat is gone and it could be something else. It's been a rough month, I feel the antibiotics didn't help me much more than they hurt me. I'm blessed that the ENT didnt see anything seriously wrong, but I still feel I didn't get the answer I want due to my symtoms. 

If you survived reading my long post (thank you), I just want to hear what your thoughts are on the sitsuation. Have you been through something like this before? Does this sound normal to you? Is this all really part of the recovery process?

I've been a little depressed with all of this going on. I'm afriad I won't ever feel normal again. All I want is to continue with my life but this is dragging me down. It's hard for me to concentrate on life, especially work. I am getting married in three months, I would really not like to feel this way on my wedding day. 

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Update on my condition:

I was prescribed the 5th antibiotic when my symtoms started getting worse a week after seeing the specialist. I also took a barium swallowing test. Came back normal. Still experiencing the same symtoms, although I want to believe it gets a little better day by day. I am at a loss at this point what to do. I'm thinking about trying natural remedies and prehaps an antiacid in case I do have silent refulx. 

Any advice is truly appreciative. 

3

Update: Turns out I've had Mono for the past two months. Last week I woke up with horrible pain in my throat. Went to the ER because I couldn't see my ENT (on vacation hahahaha) and I was having trouble swallowing. I thought it was strep throat again but they performed a test which came back negative. The doctor at the hospital asked me if anyone thought to test me for mono. Nope. So I was sent away with nothing but to see my primary care doctor or ENT so I can get tests done. I had to wait another day to see my doctor. Boy, was it a lot worse the next day. I was in tears before I was even awake. My doctor looked and said I had a very nasty bacterial infection in my throat which caused abscess all over. I've been prescribed penecillin for two weeks (my 6th antibiotic ) My test came back positive for high mono antibiodies. Confirming my suffering for two months had something to do with mono. I am being told the bacteria infection is different from the mono but I really believe it played a part in it. After a week of antibiotics, I am feeling a bit better but I still feel it in my throat as well as the feeling there's something stuck in it. Hopefully I will be better soon.. until then it's all a waiting game. I hope my experience will help someone on this fourm. The posts you all create has helped me so much, all I can do is return the favor!

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Hi Jess. I really appreciate you documenting your difficult time like this. Was it over a month or all in the month of June?  How are u feeling now? 100% or less?

I was lucky to be well for my son's wedding last March. But have been sick since early June. 

Again.  

I hope you are healthy for your wedding day. 

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Hi Rhonda, thank you for your comment and concern. I'm so sorry to hear you have been sick. I hope you can find some relief or answers if you haven't already. I am not sure what symptoms you are experiencing, but the ENT says bacterial infections such as mine are a common complication of mono. 

This has been going on for two and a half months so far. It was only about a week ago I started feeling better again. As of today, I am feeling the best I have been since June. I saw my ENT today as well. I have been concerned because I can still see white on my tonsils even though I am not experiencing any pain and the feeling something is stuck in my throat only comes and goes now. The ENT says it looks like it is healing and I shouldn't be too concerned with the white spots. I have another prescription for Penicillin VK 500mg in case it acts up again and I need antibiotics. Unfortunately, if this problem persists then I may have to get my tonsils taken out. Praying I won't have to go through that. I have been taking a very good multi-vitamin as well as probiotics. I'd like to believe my body can fight this without having a surgery. Time will only tell. 

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I found your post after searching for answers about why I’ve had such a hard time clearing up my step throat. I am currently finishing my 3rd antibiotic in a month for strep (confirmed by rapid test). And I too have the feeling that something has been stuck in my right tonsil the entire time I’ve been treating the strep infection. I had a ct scan yesterday to rule out any underlying cause and it was normal.

I’m worried I’ll end up on more antibiotics since I still don’t feel 100% and the right tonsil pain has not completely gone away. Did your throat infection eventually resolve with antibiotics or did you have to have a tonsillectomy?

It was a relief to read your post and know I’m not the only person who has dealt with confusing strep throat. 

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Hey Kathryn, I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this hard time. I completely understand how you feel right now.  Going through the ongoing case was literally the worst time of my life. My body was SO exhausted from all the antibiotics and from trying to fight the infection. It didn't help the doctors weren't taken me seriously until I was on my 9th round of antibiotics in 4 months.

Unfortunately, the bad news.. I did have to get my tonsils taken out. I got them removed late September. It was less than one month until my wedding so I was stressed, scared, and kept wondering how this happened to me. The good news, I feel like a brand new person!! It was a painful recovery but honestly I was expecting worse. Pain meds helped greatly. The most annoying part was around day 9 or 10 when I still couldn't even eat something as easy as mashed potatoes. I got hangry lol But it was worth the pain and getting them taken out. I was perfect for my wedding which was amazing! I was so happy to be better for my special day. Today my throat is just about healed from surgery. I only occasionally get a dry throat but not as much anymore. 

The ENT who performed the surgery said while taking them out they were still infected. I took the 9th antibiotics course right before the surgery. Just goes to show nothing was touching it. He said I also had tonsil stones from debris getting stuck in my tonsils since they were swollen and infected for so long. 

I hope this information helps. If you are really struggling to kick the infection, the best option may be to go through the surgery. I promise it will be worth it. I am so happy it's over and I'm not in pain anymore. This infection was causing my spleen to swell which was very painful. I also believe I got an infection in my stomach because there was a week when I couldn't eat anything or go pee without my stomach causing me extreme pain. Whatever stomach thing I had went away when I was on my 8th course of antibiotics, causing me to believe the penicillin treated it. 

Please keep us updated! 

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Hi Jess! I’m so relieved to read this. My daughter was recently diagnosed with strep throat. She was prescribed amox and within two days felt better. Finished her antibiotics and a day and a half after her last dose, her sore throat and low grade fever came back. She was prescribed a new antibiotic, and four days after finished that one her sore throat and low grade fever again returned. Both times she tested positive for strep again. Tho they said it was “faintly positive”  I think I’m going to take her in Monday and have her tested for mono. Honestly I kind of hope that’s what it is, because that will provide a reasonable explanation and I can stop

Worrying myself to death! Thank you for sharing your experience. 

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Hey Jess,

I know this was awhile back for you, but I googled my symptoms to find this exact same issue to see if someone else had it and sure enough you did! I'm so glad you got to get married without that horrid lump in the throat feeling. I had very VERY bad strep 10 days ago had to go to urgent care at 10 pm and he looked at my throat didn't even test me and said "oh yeah you got it I don't even need to run the test I can see white pockets on your throat."

I took my 2 a day 500mg amoxicillin I have 3 left because I wanted to preserve some by taking 1 a day the last few days as a taper so my body can start on it's own without such a hard impact of getting off immediately. I still have THAT lump in my throat when I swallow and slight soreness when I swallow and I'm so worried I'm going to die. I'm 30, and I have no insurance so of course it costs a arm and a leg but my personal doc I've known since I was 5 months old so if I see him he may let me slide on the bill and just charge me later.. I don't have any friends and I don't have a gf even though I'm not horrible to look at imo lol so I don't know how I would have mono since I thought that was a kissing related illness. Can you tell me what you or anyone here thinks I should do next? I really don't want to have a foot or something amputated and or die from this it can be so dangerous. Thanks ahead of time if you find the time to reply and once again congratulations on getting married!!! I wish you the best, and a nice week/weekend!!

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Thank you for the update, Jess. I have continued to have a very similar experience as you.

After 3 different antibiotics in December, I had about a 7 week period without strep. I still had a sore throat occasionally and felt like something was stuck in my right tonsil. But the rapid strep tests were negative at this time. Then in February I got sick with strep and flu. A week after finishing my 4th antibiotic, the sore throat and headache and nausea returned. The  rapid strep was positive again. So I am on a fifth antibiotic.

I’m seeing my ENT this week and he has recommended tonsillectomy. I’m definitely nervous to have the surgery but I prefer it to any more antibiotics. I think my right tonsil is harboring the bacteria at this point and that is why I keep getting sick. I’m so glad your tonsillectomy went well. It was so reassuring to read your post. Thank you!

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Hi Jess,

Looks like I am in the same boat as yours. I had a mild cough at beginning. After a month, i developed a fever. Well fever got out with amoxyclav, but it had no impact on sore throat. Now after 2 different antibiotics, sore throat, excessive cough and fever came back. My bad luck with doctors. After that I took 4 different antibiotic courses, one including typhoid. But my fever was increasing rapidly.

Thank God, finally I got a doctor who was good who not thought my infection as typhoid or malaria.

He said something about tonsils sharing wall with epithelium, and removed a part of tonsils. It immediately bring down my fever. And I was told betadine gargles, as many times possible ( 5 times for a week).

I also had that "something stuck" feeling which was removed by gargles.

Everything is okay until i consume room temperature fruits or some salty. It is irritating.

Please tell me you are okay now. I want to live normal again. This is really irritating and mentally exhausting. Please tell me suggestions on how to improve.

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Hi Jess

This is a really helpful thread.

I’m also experiencing the same issue and trying to manage work and life at the same time but this is taking over, seems to improve slightly on antibiotics but then the minute they stop comes back.

I’ve had it two months now, initially I gargled for a week to see if it would go, but didn’t so got antibiotics.  After first course antibiotics I went back to the GP as still didn’t feel well he said it was a virus and to keep gargling, after 10 days it was back with a vengeance, had a 7 day course of clarithromycin and by day 3 I felt ok but it came back two days after. I went to urgent care after 6 days they took a throat swab and sent me for tests - negative for glandular fever/mono and negative for strep - I wanted to cry!

However I spoke to the gp and explained symptoms and asked whether it could be a virus or whether scraping and gargling could have affected the results.  He said not a virus and has put me on a 10 day course clarithromycin this time, I’m three days in and am scraping off the pus morning and  night with a cotton bud and gargling loads but still new spots appearing although i do feel a tinsy bit better in myself but I’m so exhausted and dreading it not clearing up. I’m due to start a new job soon and absolutely do not want to be ill when I start!

Any suggestions gratefully received as feeling so low with this 

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Rhonda, get those tonsils out! I was 34 when i got mine out. Haven't had strep in 24 years. My Dad was a Doc. Told me to mot get them out. I needed them. Well hexwas wrong. I got 2 2nd opinions. Both said i should have had them out 5 years earlier. They were holding onto the bacteria, causing recurrent infection, and for me, that same stuck in the throat feeling!!! Surgery sucks but it cured my lifelong battle with strep and tonsilitis! I had pits in my tosnsils the size of my baby fingernail. The white was calcified puss, holding infection. Get a different ENT! Good luck hobey. I feel for you. I'm 54 now and so glad i haven't had strep since I was 34.❤

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HI Jess, 

Glad to hear your on the med. I have had similar problems. Tonsilits that after 5 types of antibiotics hasn't worked. now I have had it confirmed I have strep throat. Anyway I'll save you from the long story. im a similar age to you, and I heard getting your tonsils out can cause a lot of bleeding. I don't want to have surgery that might be a high risk blood loss wise. 

did you have problems with this? 

many thanks 

bea

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I am feeling the same way and going threw the same things i been praying  an i been crying idk wen imma get better.  I been taking two  cefprozil 250 mg tablet a day and it helping a lil but still feel like something is stuck in my throat  i been feeling like dis for a while now an my ears stop up and my nose keep running  i been gargling salt water and all and still feeling like something in my throat idk what to do and im only 15

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Hey Ian,

I am so sorry to hear you're going through the same hardships I had to face. It really SUCKS.

Are you having any other side effects such as heart palpitations or fever? I will try to give you my best advice but I'm not a doctor so I can't be 100% sure.

When I first got the strep I took antibiotics my husband had left (amox) from his wisdom tooth surgery a month back. I've had strep plenty of times in my life to know whenever I had it so I didn't question it and started taking the antibiotics. A few days into my strep I had this weird "episode" that I didn't go into explanation on my first post. I felt very dizzy and cold. I was having bad heart palpitations too. It felt almost as if I was having a bad anxiety attack. So about 5 days into my antibiotic course I stopped because I was so freaked out on what happened (I know more about antibiotics now that the medicine wasn't the source). I went to the doctor for that reason but she didn't know what it could be. I did take a EKG later on which had signs I was having heart palpitations but the doctor said something was weird in the test and she wanted me to take ANOTHER one. I hated this doctor. I'm sorry but even though she "kinda" helped me, she was just plain awful. My husband described her perfectly: "It's like she went in her office and WebMD'ed your symptoms." lol... After this whole bad experience I never went back to her. Anyways, I don't experience the palpitations anymore and have also never had a bad episode like that again. I really believe that was the mono showing its face. So if you don't have any other symptoms it may not be mono. Also, keep an eye out on your spleen. My spleen was swollen for months. It was so uncomfortable. One morning I woke up crying my eyes out because the pain was so bad. I took an ultrasound to see if my spleen was the cause of the pain, and it was. It is a common side effect of mono. 

On another note, I stopped my antibiotic course early. It could be a major factor of my infection getting worse although I have read lately that not finishing an antibiotic course doesn't necessarily heighten the risk of bacterial resistance. But finish everything you have now. Stay on top of your vitamins and remember to take probiotics. If it comes back you will have no choice to see the doctor again unfortunately. I hope it will go away on its own. Please keep us posted..

Thank you for the congrats!

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Hey Bee~

Blood loss was not a problem for me whatsoever. In fact, once I was home there was no bleeding. You just need to be careful on what you're eating and drinking. I was worried about bleeding a lot as well but it wasn't bad at all. The worst part of the surgery was the pain on the third or fourth day. I was so ready to take the pain pills they gave me but I couldn't swallow them yet. I was on a liquid acetaminophen with codeine for the first few days. Which worked but not as well. It also was a pain to wake up at 3am to take it because if I didn't I was going to wake up in pain.

Overall the surgery was 100% worth it. If it's really bad for you I'd say go for it

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UPDATE 6/14/18

Hey everyone. As you all know I have been documenting my experience as much as I can to better help those struggling with the same huge issue I've gone through. It is with deep deep sadness I am writing to report today that my infection is back.

Back in April I caught a viral infection (cold) which lasted about a week. I had sore throat, exhaustion, stuffy nose, etc. The cold went away but guess what didn't? The feeling something was stuck in my throat. It never has reached the point it got to last year when it was horrible. But for the past two months I've been dealing with it on and off. I saw my primary care doctor before my vacation to Las Vegas in mid May. I told him I feel like something is in my throat yadda yadda. He looked and said everything looks good to him but put me on 875mg Amoxicillin just in case it was there. I am so scared to take antibiotics anymore so I gave it a couple days before I cracked and took the Amoxicillin. He put me on a 10 day course but I hate antibiotics now and this dose was huge so I took it for 7 days. 

My trip went okay, it didn't bother me enough to make me worry. Flash forward to last week. It is starting to annoy me again. My husband now has strep throat which he never got even when it was really bad for me. I had a weird symptom of a UTI (just burning sensation when I pee) so I bought a home test for UTI. The two part test came out positive for the leukocytes, which is a white blood cell count. Which means I have an infection somewhere. I took a week's worth of Keflex I had left over from an acne treatment in March. Took the UTI test again this morning after my last antibiotic..... still coming out positive even though I have no UTI symptoms. Confirming my body is still trying to fight off an infection which can only be my throat.

I made an appointment with the ENT. I am going to call my primary to see if I can get more antibiotics until my appointment because it's going to be 5 days until I can see the specialist. This all seems like a reoccuring nightmare. I am so disappointed because I wanted to be a ray of hope for you all who are reading this. I'm not going to give up. I broke down this morning crying after the UTI test because I don't want to go through with this again. But I also just want answers on why this keeps happening to me. I've gotten through it before, I can do it again. So can you all. Don't give up. Be patient. Focus on taking care of yourself. I promise I will keep updating this forum until this crap goes away again. 

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Hi Jess, some tough love coming your way. You CANNOT stop taking Antibiotics mid course. The Strep becomes immune to the antibiotic and then you need a stronger one. This is what causes superbugs. I think it's a great idea you're going to a specialist stop taking all the drugs you have in the house LOL it's just not helping and it could make you worse. I agree you should call your regular doctor but tell him what you've been doing so he understands what's going on. I hadn't had strep in 20 years because I had my tonsils out and recently got it case of strep that took three antibiotics to cure. The only reason it was cured was my best friend's sister's and ENT and she told me it was not being given the proper antibiotics. I had to take clindamycin to get rid of it. My son also got it and I called his pediatrician and told him to give him clindamycin cuz that's what I was on and it worked and cured both of us. Antibiotics are nothing to mess with and unless your doctor don't switch them up and don't stop taking them before they're all gone out of the bottle. I really hope you take my advice follow your doctor's orders exactly and I hope you get better real soon.~ Carole

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I'm so glad I found this post– thank you for sharing! I'm going on five weeks of battling a mystery sore throat/cough that I really think is tonsillitis, and reading this makes me feel less hopeless and frustrated. I'm just so sick of my throat hurting to some degree and feeling drained all the time.

When I first got sick I was on amoxicillin and it seemed to knock out whatever I had initially (I tested negative for both the flu and strep), but after a few days of feeling like I was almost all the way recovered, I was hit with a different kind of sore throat, and that's the one I've been battling for weeks now. It will seem like it's almost better and then *bam,* the next day I'm in pain again. So far I keep testing negative for step, but I have white spots on my tonsils now, so I don't know what's going on– I guess I have to head back to the ENT to get checked out yet again (this will be my fourth doctor visit in the past few weeks). It's been reassuring to see your updates and hear that at one point you worried if you would ever feel better– that's definitely how I've been feeling lately. On top of the throat stuff, my ear has felt stuffed up for the past five weeks as well and hasn't responded to the prednisone the dr gave me, so I have to go on a higher dose, which I'm not too thrilled about. Ugh. I really just want to figure out what the heck is going on and get it solved– I just don't feel like myself right now at all.