To think phoning 111 for this is ridiculous?

[vcfhmj]

I had a sore throat that began yesterday morning and has gotten progressively worse. I am grimacing when I swallow, it's absolute agony, have a temperature and a headache and have been up able to get up and on with it. It feels like tonsillitis to me but I haven't even looked at my tonsils as that would involve sitting/getting up.

My mum thinks I should call 111 and get an out of hours GP appointment. I said no, I'll just wait and phone GPS tomorrow.

However, she is saying the quicker you start antibiotics the better. I haven't been Ill in a long time and I actually started to call 111 then decided it was ridiculous and embarrassing to call about a sore throat so I hung up (before being answered obviously).

So I am asking the good people of Mumsnet. It's clearly not life threatening, I will survive, is it best to wait till tomorrow so as not to waste anyone's time?

Tonsillitis is actually a couple of different illnesses, and can be either viral or bacterial. Bacterial can be an absolute fucker to get rid of, and can progress to worse things if.not taken care of quickly.

I have lifelong respiratory problems due to repeated bacterial tonsillitis as a kid.

The problem used to be that doctors used to chuck antibiotics at it, regardless of whether it was viral or bacterial, these days they're generally a lot more discerning as they should be. If OP has been given antibiotics, it's likely to be the doctor has checked which type it is.

I always started to improve within 24 hours of starting the antibiotics.

@DinnaeFashYersel I hope so 🙏🏻

Isn’t hydrogen peroxide bleach? I don’t think it’s a good thing to put in your mouth.

Pharmacies sell a dilute version, I think it's either 3% or 6%, and you dilute that with warm water - I think the instructions are on the bottle, Google "hydrogen peroxide gargle"

Antibiotics usually help quickly
I've never had viral tonsillitis, it's been bacterial every time. Try to only take antibiotics obviously when I need them but I've had maybe 75 courses in my life so I wouldn't worry about one course!

If you are a 'nurse' you should definitely know better. Your 'opinion' didn't even answer the OPs question about 111 and was advise suggesting that she shouldn't be seeking treatment as long as her airway was clear.

Just took my 9 yo to a walk in centre for what I thought was tonsillitis its possible strep A and I think almost everyone in here is here with the same thing from over hearing some and others with kids chatting to us. It's horrendous ask the nurse to send some antibiotics to a pharmacy and ask your mum to get them for you is they can get well soon