Really nasty virus/infection with unusual symptoms

[Squiff70]

I advise you not to read this if you're eating or have a weak stomach!

Nearly 48 hours ago I started with a sore throat and my breathing was a bit fast.

Fast forward 12 hours, I'm flat out on the sofa unable to move. My partner had to take charge of our 3 year old and 3 month old as I was totally unless. I couldn't even hold or lift the baby. My temp went up to 40°C. At this point I vomited several times. I'm certain it's not a stomach bug as I always vomit when my temp gets really high.

Today I'm not much better. My partner had to go to work so I've been looking after baby and toddler alone. By the time he got home I was fit for nothing.

But, I have some unusual symptoms. I've just done a Covid lateral flow test and after using the swab on my tonsils, the tip was grey, covered in pus and smelt very fishy. The test is negative.

The most unusual symptom I have is pain. I have round spots of pain in different areas of my body such as the tops my shoulders and hands. Each 'spot' is about the size of a 5p coin. They are extremely painful to touch. I also have pain in my neck, not just where my glands are but the very sides of my neck and round the back too.

Pulse 121, sats 94, temp ranging from 37.8 to 40. I can only take paracetamol and ibuprofen as I'm breastfeeding my baby. My tonsils are extremely swollen and have a few greyish white spots. It hurts to swallow and I've developed a cough. I have a permanent headache despite drinking lots of cold water. I'm also producing huge amounts of mucus in my throat and when I spit it into a tissue, it is grey with brown, old blood.

I have no idea what this is but it is GRIM. Anyone else have/had similar symptoms?

Sounds like bacterial tonsillitis, you should probably phone your GP and try and get some antibiotics

You need to seek medical advice, phone 111 so you can be assessed for possibly needing antibiotics.

I think you need to call 111.
Strep A is rife at the moment and tonsillitis is one of the ways it presents.
High fever and localised muscle pain can be symptoms of invasive strep A.
Our local school has just issued guidance that if someone presents with high fever, severe muscle aches and localised muscle pain they should go to A&E as Strep cases are so high here (south west).

I'd be wanting the GP to advise on some antibiotics for what sounds like tonsillitis or similar.

You have my full sympathy OP, and I hope you get better soon. Send your DP to the pharmacy for some electrolyte sachets to keep you hydrated and some ice lollies for the throat, they are a bit grim (electrolyte sachets not lollies) but do work wonders.

A cold gel pack or frozen peas in a teatowel if you've got none on the forehead or back of the neck will help with the headache and perhaps bring the temp down a little.

Sounds bacterial, I'd want antibiotics and be wary of sepsis. Lots of strep around at present, as per PPs. I actually took DS to urgent care Friday night as I though he might have it, but his is viral (runny nose, no pus on tonsils).

Thank you for your replies. I'm absolutely NOT going to call 111 due to two previous dreadful experiences in the last few months regarding my children. When my son (the 3 month old baby) was a few days old, he wouldn't stop crying and screaming. Ot was clear he was in pain and nothing was comforting him. It was a Sunday night/early Monday morning, around 00.30. The call handler at 111 told me the out of hours GP service would call me within an hour. We waited and waited and even rang 111 back to see if our baby had slipped through the net somehow. A GP rang from the out of hours service at 10.45am, over 10 hours since I was told one hour. The GP was only ringing to ask if we still needed the service. The answer was no as I'd contacted our regular GP at 8am and we were already on our way to the surgery with him. The situation with my 3 year old daughter was almost identical a couple of months before, but nobody rang 10 hours later, or a day later, or ever. I vowed never again would I waste hours waiting for something which probably won't happen. If I'm worried enough about either of my children to need medical help out of hours I'll take them to children's A&E.

At 8am tomorrow, my GP's surgery will release the day's appointments online as well as by phone. If I go online at exactly 8am I can book a slot for a telephone consultation and I hope to be able to do that tomorrow.

With a pulse of 121 and sats of 94.. I’d say you need seeing tonight, regardless of your previous bad experience.

That's just the point I was making though. Even if I ring 111 now, or several hours ago, I won't be seen tonight anyway.

Pulse and sats are now both 99.

Sorry to hear OP, could you just turn up at the GP surgery tomorrow morning and refuse to leave? Drink lots of fluids, warm tea and water and take vitamin C in the meantime.

What is Strep A exactly? I read that a 6 year old child died from this in the South East a few days ago. This is not to unduly alarm the op but why is it so prevalent and is it different to an ordinary cold type of sore throat?

Our house is down with the worst cold any of us have had for years. Ongoing sore throat and fever are the main symptoms. Runny nose and cough as well. Yuck.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-63756070

There’s another thread on this. Lots of people very unwell . I got the sore throat last weekend . Awful cold symptoms for one day then just feeling like shit ever since. I also have the sore points all over my body. Temp shooting uo suddenly. Feeling sick and have no energy. Headache, earache, just not feeling right at all. Some sort of virus is doing the rounds.

@RosettaStormer would you be able to link to the thread or point in the direction of?
I don't think my eldest dc has been this sick with a cold (or even Covid) ever.

OP, definitely get to the GP first thing. Sounds like you needs antibiotics for your throat.
on a side note, I agree with the above. I’ve never known so many people ill at the same time. My DD has been unwell for a week now, as has my husband (who is never ill). Very generic symptoms of temperature on and off, muscle aches, earache and sore throat at the start with a lingering cough.

My dh and Ds have just had a whole week of exactly this. Utterly miserable and every covid test was negative. Both ended up on antibiotics for tonsillitis and are only just now starting to feel better, both been off school and work all week.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4684054-anyone-else-ill-with-a-nasty-coldvirus?page=3&reply=121832950

Turned up at the doctor's surgery at 8am and asked to see a doctor. Receptionist told me they don't offer that service any more. All she could do was book a telephone consultation for "some time today". I told her it was urgent and she asked why, but I didn't want to shout out my symptoms with a queue of people behind me. She couldn't hear what I was saying so handed me a notepad and pen. I'd written down two symptoms and she said "That'll do. So I'll put that you're feeling generally unwell". She then said she'd managed to book a telephone consultation for 9am and added it could be any time between 9am and 12pm.

They are shockingly fucking useless.

Sadly, I was thinking that you’re lucky to have got a telephone appointment on the same day. That’s what things have come to. GPS ought to be back at work seeing patients face to face. It seems that is just never going to happen now unless you are dying, and probably not even then.
A young couple I know with a three month old baby had to go to A and E recently to be seen. They waited three hours there before they saw a doctor. Their GP is useless and never has appointments.

Hi Op, I hope you are feeling better! I'm not a medic bit with your throat symptoms, could it be diphtheria? Not wanting to alarm just make aware that there are localised outbreaks.

I was going to say diptheria too, it was the grey mucus that I remember reading about somewhere else this morning. Hope you're feeling a bit better op.

How did you get on speaking to the doctor @Squiff70

Sadly I'm no better. I'm one and a half days into the antibiotics and still having rigors, high fevers etc. I coughed up a lump of something grim last night which looked like raw chicken flesh.

I still have very swollen tonsils which are covered in the greyish white spots. I've also developed a very nasty and painful cough. The slightest exersion exhausts me to the point of needing to lie down for half an hour.

One of the worst symptoms though is severe tongue pain. I have several large, hard lumps on my tongue - mostly on the sides - and it has caused my tongue to swell slightly. I can't speak, eat or swallow properly and earlier today I had the rigors (severe, uncontrollable shaking due to fever) and during the most violent part of the shaking I bit one of these lumps on my tongue which caused such agony I was sobbing.

I really am a mess.

I think I forgot to mention that the GP who did the phone consultation yesterday said I probably just had tonsillitis. I asked if it could be strep A and she didn't give a straight answer but said the treatment would be the same regardless. She prescribed phenoxymethylpenicillin.

Also a new symptom today. It feels like I have pressure in my skull. It is horrendous!

That sounds dreadful…have you improved since starting antibiotics? Is there a walk in centre you can go to tomorrow so you actually get seen in person? I don’t like the sound of your swollen tongue

I’m wondering if you have Scarlet Fever?

Not really. The only walk-in centre left round here in nurse-led, meaning there are no doctors. I've been before when my son was a newborn and they said because a doctor had already prescribed antibiotics, they wouldn't override that and do something different. It'd be the same situation.