Bacterial tonsillitis - how long to improve?

[RahRahRasputin]

Hi,

I have bacterial tonsillitis and was prescribed penicillin on Tuesday, 500mg four times a day. I took my first dose at 5pm that day, so I've just taken my tenth dose. My throat pain continues to get worse and I get a very sharp pain in my left tonsil when I swallow, and the white patches are still spreading/increasing in size, especially on my left tonsil.

The full course is ten days but I don't suppose it will magically get better on day 10 if it hasn't improved before then, so how long should I wait before assuming the antibiotics aren't working?

Thank you

[MrsMinton]

I used to feel better by about day 6-7. Are you gargling to ease the pain?

[PourquoiPas]

You should be starting to feel better after two days, not still getting worse. You probably need a bigger dose of penicillin, go back to GP tomorrow.

[RahRahRasputin]

At the moment my tonsils are too swollen to gargle, so I've been sort of swishing saltwater to the back of my mouth as best I can. I tried Difflam too but the pain is too far inside for it to make any difference.

Thank you both, I will phone the GP tomorrow if it hasn't shown signs of improvement overnight - they will probably be able to increase my dose over the phone even if they don't have any appointments left.

[MrsMinton]

You can gargle soluble paracetamol or just swallow it instead of taking tablet version. You have my sympathy, I finally had mine removed last year.

[RahRahRasputin]

Ooh I didn't know that was a thing! I'd been considering about getting some Calpol and wondering why they didn't make it for adults. The soluble stuff probably doesn't taste half as good, but I probably wouldn't need to down half a bottle to get an adult's dose!

I have to take various other medications so the paracetamol isn't as troublesome as those, but when I regain my gargling ability I might try the soluble stuff anyway, as at the moment nothing is helping with the pain, and it might make taking the other tablets easier.

Thank you all :) I'm going to go to bed now and then if I haven't noticed any improvement by morning I will try and get an appointment for tomorrow. I think some of my other symptoms may have improved but it's hard to tell as they've all been fluctuating really, and I can't be absolutely sure what is the tonsillitis and what is just my rather run-down body!