How do I know if I need antibiotics?

[BertramKibbler]

I’ve had a horrible sore throat since Friday with a fever that’s controlled with paracetamol. Very swollen gland and a rather large tonsil covered in white spots on one side only. I’ve been gargling with salt water but not a lot is helping.

At what point do I visit the GP? Most of these things are viral and I hate wasting their time and the whole procedure of trying to get an appointment

The NHS website says:

See a GP if:

your sore throat doesn't improve after a week

you often get sore throats

you're worried about your sore throat

you have a sore throat and a very high temperature, or you feel hot and shivery

you have a weakened immune system – for example, because of diabetes or chemotherapy

A severe or long-lasting sore throat could be something like strep throat (a bacterial throat infection

HTH

My GP tends to say a a couple of weeks (i.e. how long it would take to get better if it's viral) for most things, or add a few weeks to that for a cough as they always linger. I'm not a doctor though and haven't had any throat things for ages. I think the only way to know is for them to send off a sample and that obviously costs and takes time so they usually do it by judging if you're not improving when you should do.

Yeah, I think I’ll leave it for a bit longer.

If it was the children I’d have had them there on Friday!

Last time I took DD to GP with a sore throat he said it was viral as there was no pus. Not sure how easy it is to see if there's any pus though!

I went to the dr last year with the worst sore throat i ever had. He prescribed strong pain relief but not anti-biotics. I had actually slid down the wall and needed hrlp to stand i was so ill. I did survive though just

One side very swollen can lead to quinsy, definitely go to Gp if you start finding it hard to swallow and voice sounds funny as you need abs or even a and e.

Try one of those throat sprays for pain relief.

I feel your pain though. Struggled for 3 weeks once. Hadn't joined dots that ds had had scarlet fever.

Quinsy came on quite quickly for me on another occasion.