Poked lump in throat. Tonsilitis? Yukky TMI

[pooka]

Hi there
Have generally been feeling a bit rough for about 5 weeks. Headachey, neck aching and so on.
Had tonsilitis at Christmas, and saw GP about 2 months ago and said that could still feel lump in my throat. He said that it looked more juicy than the other and that there might be scar tissue.
Anyway, today my throat has been pretty sore, and I looked at my tonsils and one is really large comparative with the other. Embarrassingly, I gave it a bit of a poke ( [blsuh]) and when I poked it, it bled and weeped rank stuff.
My query is, I have no white lumps on it, and feel not as ill as I did at christmas. When I had tonsilitis at Xmas I was told that was viral unless white lumpy bits, in which case would it be pointless for me to go to the doctor tomorrow?
Bearing in mind, was there this morning explaining that have had headaches and felt knackered for about 5 weeks, and have been told to go and have bloods taken.
Bloody hell! Am fed up with being unwell and one thing after another. Plus tomorrow was going to be my only childfree morning this week (and for the last 10 weeks) and had planned all sorts of things to do, none of which involved seeing doctor and then going and waiting for 2 hours to have blood taken. GGGRrrrrrr.

bump. Soorry.

Hi pooka - try gargling with dispersable aspirin or soluble codis - both are anit-inflammatory so will help to reduce swelling and ease pain/ache. I used to get tonsillitis all the time and it does make you very run down/aching all over/ smelly breath/bad taste in mouth etc. Gargle every few hours (spit residue out)for a few days until you feel better. At first sign of symptoms in future do this and you should be okay. I found homeopathic remedies useful in warding it off too - if it is a recurrent thing for you. From a non-Western viewpoint (if you are interested) throat problems are to do with being unable to 'voice' your opinion/express yourself and can be a sign of frustration/grief being held in and unexpressed. Hope you feel better soon.

Ooh, that's interesting Rumpel. Will try the soluble stuff. But particularly nterested in the stress/tension relationshp. Have been feely really rather overwhelmed lately.
Not sure whether I should go to the doctor though - don'[t want it to get worse and descend into the tonisilitis I had at christmas which was completely awful. Have literally never felt so ill.
Thanks for your help/

I used to regularly get tonsilitis and, if it's any consolation (without being alarming), my tonsils are now permanently massive. People can't believe the size of them when I show them! I've never had it as bad as when I first used to get it, but it definitely comes on for a day or so when I'm run down or about to get ill.

Oh, and again TMI, I did have one incident of a bit of flesh coming away once. Really gross, sorry. But only happened once, and all was fine.

Agree with rumpel re: gargling. Haven't any experience of any homeopathic cures, but perhaps I should consider these next time.

Hope you feel better soon

Try massaging the 'neck' of your big toes and thumbs - these are reflex points for the throat. You might want to think about some kind of herbal remedy for stress/tension etc too - if you are feeling everything is gettin on top of you.

Hi pooka, really sorry you've got this again, it's simply horrid. You may remember I had exactly this in June which came back three times. I was told by the 3rd doctor to gargle as Rumpel says, so I used soluble paracetomol every 4 hours and swallowed this to help with other symptoms. I was on antibiotics but continued for at least a week after the course had finished to make sure the bloody thing didn't get me again.

Like you I work from home and the tendency is to do too much. Are you overdong things at the moment? That was definitely it for me - I just learnt that we all have a limit as to how much we can take on re work, children, life in general and sometimes, although it's really hard, you just have to stop and give yourself a break. Really not easy though.

I was told that Bee Propolis taken with Echinacea are good for this and strep throat in particular. BP is a natural antibiotic and you can get it from Holland & Barrett etc. I took this for 2 months after the last attack and am really hoping it doesn't reoccurr. Might start again actually with the winter months approaching. Good luck and I really hope you feel better soon. xx

Thanks LV. (makes me think of Little Voice when I type that).
TBH I thnk I have been overdoing it - have been squeezing too much work into evenings and not getting enough done durng the day, which sucks really.

Think it's been brewing on and off for a couple of months at least - every now and then, get lumpy throat and feel drained. PLus headaches. Was told by one GP might have scar tissue, then by another that that was unlikely. Grim.

Have been gargling like crazy today and feel marginally better. Nothing like just having to get on with things to aid a speedy recovery

Have been given a prescription in case doesn't improve, but hate taking anti-b's and so would rather be absolutely sure not viral before taking them.

Off to swimming lesson for L in a mo. Oh the joys.
Hopefully should settle down stress-wise once back in normal routine next week.

How's L getting on at school? Hope you're well-settled by now and that dh enjoying his new job. xxS

It sounds to me like you might have popped a tonsillar abscess, or quinsy. I had several of these as a teenager, and had them lanced by the GP. Eventually I had my tonsils out.

If you have popped it and swallowed the pus, there is a chance you might feel a bit crap from what you swallowed.

Abscesses are an indication fot tonsillectomy (just grabbing this form memory - dh is a GP) so you might want to talk to your doc if you have a lot of sore throats and you feel they are dragging you down.

it sounds grim, you have my sympathy, but if there is pus there is infection and you probably need some antibiotics.

I used to get lots of tonsilitis when i was younger, and as well as gargling with aspirin, i was told to gargle with diluted tcp. tastes horrible but is antiseptic so helps kill bugs and appeared to work.....

Hi pooka, just remembered that red wine is meant to be good for a number of throat infections. What a burden! Just to prove I'm not making it up as an excuse, read this....www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/07/02/sciwine102.xml

Really settling well now and L, although tired, is loving school. Missing my Brom network, but it's lovely here and I can imagine it won't be long before it feels like home.

Do hope you shake off this awful thing - it's miserable, I know. Thinking of you. xx

It's really hard when you work from home like us, I mean not to end up working all hours, particularly in the hols. That was my downfall, that and moving house - just too much happening at once takes it's toll on some of us. Saying that, sometimes you don't realise you're overdoing it until it's too late.

I've decided to treat myself to a Neal's Yard facial next week, just for a pamper and some time ON MY OWN! It's important to take care of no1, but so easy to forget to do so. I guess because we're not no1 anymore...!

Thanks for the tips, especially the red wine one. Any excuse
Feel a bit better atm, perhaps because have felt pretty low and rotten for a while and it just makes me feel better having a possible cause rather than just feeling crappy.

Think will get the prescription made up and see whether that helps. The quinsy sounds, and looks (thank god for google images) like a possibility. Will monitor and see how it goes.

Loveverona - can you believe that I actually enjoyed going for a blood test in the end. Now THAT'S time for myself indeed. Read a magazine while waiting and basically had time out. Well, you have to grab your pleasure where you can.