Tonsillitis with no fever?

[dottypees]

Anyone know if it's possible to get tonsillitis with no sign of illness?

DS (22) has what look like ulcers in his throat, one large on one side and three on the other. White and surrounded by redness. He's in a lot of pain and has had them for a week.

He's been gargling soluble aspirin, taking paracetamol, using difflam mouthwash etc and feels like it's getting worse pain wise, but is not at all unwell in himself (he did speak to the doctor a few days ago but doctor just said phone back if you develop a fever)

Bump

Yes. I had tonsillitis in the first lockdown. Had a very sore throat and felt crap but no fever. Phone them back.

He doesn't feel crap apart from being in a lot of pain, but I'll suggest he gets back in touch with the doctor. He said last night it felt like the pain was spreading down his throat which worried me.

Yrs, I get it often. Sometimes I have a bit of a fever, sometimes not. Sometimes my throat is really sore, other times just a little, but always the white spots. As he's had it so long he should get it checked as it could be quinsy which is more serious.

He's just waiting for a call back from out of hours GP. He says it's the worst pain he's ever felt and it's like someone's stabbing him in the throat with needles, painkillers aren't touching it anymore.

Your poor DS. I used to get it a lot and rarely had a fever, just a really sore throat.

I had quinsy once and never really had a temperature, the doctors said that it was probably because I was taking so much paracetamol and ibuprofen to deal with the pain that it was suppressing the fever.

Yes once you've had it a few times then it's quite common to sometimes just get the throat (ime). There are also 2 types of tonsillitis (bacterial and viral) which can affect you differently. I never have a fever on paper though. If I feel hot to touch, flushed and unwell it generally shows as around 36.9 but if I were to take my temp just now I'd be surprised if it were above 35 so that is perhaps a raging fever for me.

And yes as above the painkillers could well be keeping a fever at bay

Same as your DS, I had it a lot in my childhood and teens and now at 35 I have it occasionally. When I get it I feel sick and vaguely unwell, sore throat, and I get the white blisters - I always call the GP to ask for advice as I’ve had it so many times, and am generally given penicillin (I know this isn’t ideal but it gets rid of it quickly every time).

Phone the doctor back. Whiteness could indicate pus from a bacterial infection. My DD (19) ended up in hospital for three days after the local gp didn’t want to see her and kept saying it was viral infection.

He's never had it before. The doctor prescribed antibiotics so he's been on those since yesterday pm, hopefully by tomorrow he will be in less pain!

Aw your poor DS. I used to get really bad tonsillitis and never had high temperature. Antibiotics used to kick in on day 3 for me. I ended up having my tonsils taken out and it’s been such a relief since then.
Hope he feels better soon