Any GP's, could do with some advice

[jafas123]

Hi there,
I wondered if anyone could give me any advice since it's a bank holiday and I can't talk to a GP until tomorrow. Last week I had tonsilitis and horrendous pain with it. After a couple of days of alternating paracetamol and ibruprofen it wasn't improving and I was feeling shivery, hot sweats, achey etc so I spoke to my GP, sent her a photo and she said I had a bad chase and prescribed penicillin antibiotics for 10 days. I have been taking these and it has improved, but been overtaken by awful ear ache which I've had for about 3 days now and isn't improving. I read the attached online and wondered if it could be that. Do I need different antibiotics? It's making me so fed up feeling in pain all the time and out of sorts. If so I can't get these until tomorrow I guess but is there anything else I can do to improve it in the meantime? Thanks

Phone 111 - they can get you in to an OOH GP.

Thank you

How long have you been taking the antibiotics? My Dd is just coming out of the end of a horrific bout of tonsillitis which has needed 3 different antibiotics over the course of 4-5 weeks so far. Penicillin seemed pretty ineffective against it.
we ended up at our local urgent care unit because she was worsening despite being on penicillin. If you feel your throat is getting worse, closing up, voice changing etc, don't wait to get help because you can develop quinsy which needs immediate attention.

You can always access a GP out of hours if you need it via 111. Yes you have to be triaged and yes there might be a wait for a call back but they now do video calls as well as booking you in to a GP at an urgent care if needed. The offer does vary from one region to another but I would encourage you to call ASAP and get in the (virtual) queue.

having said that my ds ended in being referred to a&e with bad tonsillitis as it was borderline whether he needed iv antibiotics.

If you have ear pain, put a wet flannel in a mug, microwave for 30 seconds , place mug to your ear (be carefully as can be very hot) . This should give you some relief.

Sounds like you may be getting an ear infection which will require different medication depending on the type of infection.

Penicillin is the strongest antibiotic: if it didn't work, a real doctor would wonder: 1. antibiotic resistance- something very serious! 2. Not a bacteria at all, but a virus. 3. How exactly did they know it's bacterial, because if it was, they have to test for Strep A, which is a notifiable disease. Wondering how many mistakes can a 'doctor' make before starting asking questions, the correct ones...The last thing a real doctor would do is to ignore all this and continue to try antibiotics, risking antibiotic resistance, wrong diagnosis and wrong treatment. Remember when this country was obsessed with trying not to give antibiotics? How did they manage to now do the exact opposite? Since covid showed up...strange coincidence. Especially considering how covid can trigger other infections like tonsillitis,when damaging immunity...I don't suppose they worry about this either... https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tonsillitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378479

but when uk has no antivirals (antivirals are a standard form of treatment in America), then the only 'solution' is to simply pretend everything is bacterial and try antibiotics, even when they don't work....It looks here like they have them but prefer to throw them instead of using them, plus it also looks like there is another institution (not doctors) in charge of deciding who is ENTITIELD to them....https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/at-least-550-million-of-covid-drugs-wasted-in-the-uk/ meanwhile antibiotics is the 'solution'.....

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/111.nhs.uk a one star service- why would you recommend them (it's only 2 stars because somehow some people for some reasons gave 5 stars to balance it out). Your son was referred to A&E for tonsillitis: doesn't this show how broken the system is when an emergency is waiting for triage, video calls etc, delaying real medical care? A good system would have known straight away a child needs urgent medical care...Did they test for Strep A (notifiable disease) to find out what caused it?

Hi OP how did you get on? I'm currently going through the same and I'm miserable. I'm in so much pain and can barely move my neck. My ears are ringing too.

@ForRoseExpert it doesn't matter which is the strongest, it's which works against the specific bacteria
I had it last week, it wasn't strep as I didn't have a red throat, and it was bacterial as I've never had viral tonsillitis and my throat was full of pus
Penicillin didn't work, as it hasn't previously so they changed my antibiotic. It's not unusual

As @buffyslayer said, that's not how antibiotics work. Penicillin is a narrow-spectrum antibiotic so if (when) it doesn't work, it doesn't mean much other than it doesn't work against the specific bacteria present.

It is a valid point that not all infections are bacterial of course though.