Extremely sore throat

[tallulahturtle]

Started tuesday with a tickle at back of throat. Wednesday, bit of a sore throat. Thursday, sore throat bit snotty. Friday, sore throat, snotty, no energy. Friday night, two hours broken sleep as everytime i swallow i get searing pain, can feel sensation in my ears too. Trying to rest up today as got something on tomorrow that I really really want to do, but i am struggling.
Just managed to eat something but every swallow is very painful :( any tips? Strepsils arent touching it.

I have tonsillitis at the moment so know what you are going through. Paracetamol and ibuprofen together and i have a numbing throat spray from the chemist, but i am on penicillin so really its just a matter of waiting for those to kick in.
Sympathy though, it is vile and makes you feel so poorly.
If you get worse you may need the docs

I have this too. Painkillers, ice lollies and yogurt are (sort of) helping.

Forgot to mention also got a "chronic low grade infection" of my gum which apparently wont clear up until i have a root canal. (On waiting list as my case is quite complex) .Wondering if its linked or if im just run down so everything is hitting me harder than usual.

Have you got a temperature. op? May be worth phoning out of hours doc if you have a high fever. Can you swallow your drinks? Have you phoned 111?

If you get a high temperature I think you might need to seek medical help, because it could indicate that your gum infection has deteriorated.

Hot water with honey (especially manuka honey) will be soothing, plus painkillers.

I had this with my gum after a root canal. It needed an endodontist to fix. The dentist said it would be taxing on the immune system.

You could have tonsillitis and may need antibiotics. It can spread to your ears.

I'm finally through tonsillitis. It's hell isnt it?

I found ice cream very helpful, for both mental and throat soothing reasons. Given that I couldn't swallow anything else, I could get away with all the extra calories!

GWS

When I was young I regularly had tonsillitis. The only thing that would take away the pain was to suck an aspirin. It worked but I am not sure it would be medical advice anymore, what about drinking a disprin?

Bugger no asprin in the house, have got ibuprofen, paracetomol and also solphadeine (tempted but only usually take it when i have a tooth abscess) really need to sleep tonight so may have to give it a go. Also got Strepsils and a throat spray which tastes funny but doesnt appear to do anything :/. Very faint too despite just having dinner which took a painfully long time to eat :(

Call 111. I'm not medical but dh had similar sudden very sore throat and ended up in intensive care. Can be very serious eg group a strep, which can go septic. Hope you're OK!

Usually gargling with salt water gives temporary relief

Definitely take the Solpadeine. And intersperse it every two hours with the ibuprofen.

I had this recently and it was horrible. I just didn't know what to do with myself, so you have all my sympathy

I bought three different kinds of throat lozenges (check with the pharmacist that you can take them in combination); the 'serious' ones all say not to take more than one every 3 hours, which is ludicrous! So I had three different ones that I was taking once an hour.

Plenty of fluids (even if it hurts to drink). Ice-cream should also help.

And if you can get some soluble aspirin, you can gargle with that too.

Anything more than 3 doses of ibuprofen in a 24 hour period is an overdose, so please don't take them every two hours.

Ibuprofen will do you more good that paracetamol, but take both if needed. Gargling (and swallowing!) soluble aspirin is definitely good, but you can't take ibuprofen as well as doing this. Tyrozets have always been my lozenge of choice, although there are a lot of others available and the pharmacy can advise you. I do find hot water and honey very soothing if you can tolerate swallowing it.

Why can't you take aspirin and ibuprofen as well? I know they're both NSAID, but they're different drugs, aren't they? (Genuine question)

Managed to get a bit more sleep last night. Took two solphadeine this morning and they made me a lot more comfortable, knew about it when they wore off!!!
Going to keep on the solphadeine and get onto the doctors for an urgent appointment tomorrow morning, as based on the pain, I think this is more than a cold.

It took me ages to get rid of this (I also, just to make life even more fun, had a chest infection at the same time - coughing with the throat from hell was hideous). The pain was spreading up and into my ears.

Definitely keep on with the Solapdeine, and intersperse with ibuprofen as well, so you're keeping on top of the pain.

BIWI, because they're both NSAIDs they have similar side effects, so taking them together would make those side effects worse (they're similar enough that taking both would be like taking too many of one). The same would go for taking either of those with diclofenac or any other NSAIDs. I should clarify here I'm not a pharmacist or anything, I just worked in a pharmacy many years ago, but that's my understanding.

I hope you're feeling better soon tallulahturtle :( Sore throats are the worst.

I feel your pain. So does my dh who was where you are now a week ago. Exactly the same time frame as you, I'm on day 5 and everything HURTS. To make it even more fun I'm not allowed to take NSAIDS so paracetamol is just not touching it! There's loads of it around here (W.Mids), and it's definitely a stayer, two weeks to clear for dd.

:( awe man. So have people been to doctors about it m? I was tempted in case its related to my weird gum thinh and the fact that i can only take solphadeine for two more days.

I must admit, I didn't bother going to the doctor. But I've had tonsillitis often enough to recognise it and the doctors strike was on so I didn't want to add to the scrum at the GP.

It cleared up on its own after about a week. I was properly miserable for only about four days. Paracetamol, fluids, rest and ibuprofen did all the work.

How were you overnight? If there is no improvement at all I'd still go.

Got a bit more sleep overnight, so its hopefully improving on the soreness front but my exhaustion levels havent improved, I am just feeling faint constantly. Worried about work tomorrow, "luckily" had a long weekend as was using holiday although had a thoroughly shit time as even though the weather was glorious i was sat inside curled up in a ball of pain :/

Go to the doctor! It could go into sepsis. You should have appropriate treatment. It'll hurt way less, too.

Mine started Saturday.Convinced it was viral. Monday went on a school trip and struggled. I had the shakes so much colleagues said it was as though I had Parkinsons. Went to the GPs today. Strep throat. Nasty case. GP concerned. 2 week supply of antibiotics (erythromycin as allergic to penicillin) told to go to A&E as could develop into Quinsy. Hope not. NHS choices described it in detail. Vile and extremely painful, especially the treatment. I am bricking it.