Has anyone had white spots on throat and not had antibiotics?

[Cloud44]

Struggling with tonsilitis again this year. It’s starting to get me down. I’ve noticed again there are white spots. I’m feeling pretty rubbish. Has anyone managed to get rid of it without antibiotics? Any advice welcome, I’m loosing patience with it!

It was 6 weeks of agony without antibiotics. Get the antibiotics.

I’m just concerned because I’ve already had them a couple of times this year and it seems to keep coming back.

My son used to have tonsillitis a lot and I could tell whether it was viral or bacterial from the size of the pustules, viral were always much bigger, but I'm not sure if it would be the same for other people. When it was viral it always passed without antibiotics as they wouldn't have made a difference.

If you're getting them a lot you need to discuss your options with your GP, antibiotics won't stop it recurring.

I did once. I was on holiday and felt a bit ropey for 48 hours and had white spots but they cleared. I didn't have a temperature and glands weren't really swollen so didn't feel justified in the antibiotics.

@BarHumbugs the doctors don’t seem to be giving me any suggestions as to what to do going forward or why they keep coming back. I’ve had bloods done which were fine and they have said it’s just bad luck and there is a lot around this year which isn’t overly helpful.

Once you've had it 3 times or more in a year you become a candidate for a tonsillectomy, at least you used to. It's worth getting it logged with the GP so this becomes an option, although with my son we did not go ahead with it and it stopped happening. Which was lucky as I was picking it up from him most times! Then one day at the age of 30 my tonsils disappeared.

Then one day at the age of 30 my tonsils disappeared.

!?

Yes. White spots does not mean you have to have antibiotics - it can be a viral infection and still have the spots.

The only way for me to cope/recover was to get antibiotics as fast as possible.

Finally got them taken out.

My GP refuses antibiotics for Tonsillitis every time.

His advice is soft food, water and paracetamol. No changing his mind even when I burst into tears as I felt so unwell.

Rest as much as possible, I try and eat pineapple as it feels like it’s cleaning my mouth, medicated mouthwash gargled often, ice cream/ice/lollipops and honey also help.

Any painkillers you can manage.
I really hope you feel better soon.

@Witchbitch20 does he not give them even if there are white spots? How long does it tend to take for it to clear by itself?

@Cloud44 nope, not under any circumstance. 7-10 days for me usually.

How unwell are you in yourself with it?

I am currently taking antibiotics for tonsilitis, I was in a lot of pain for 4 days and then called the doctor. Tonsils were very swollen, pain was spreading to my ears too. I couldn't get an appointment but they referred me to the pharmacist who had a look and prescribed the antibiotics. They've worked amazingly, been taking them since Tuesday. Seems bizarre a doc wouldn't prescribe if needed?

@GoldenRetrieverBert not feeling great - headache, tired and throat feeling very sore.

I’m in antibiotics for it too at the moment, it’s really going round!
I waited 6 days and it wasn’t getting better and I hadn’t eaten in days, so I won’t be doing that again!
Also, I found out by lack of paracetamol that migraine tablets (supermarkets own brand) are the best thing for the pain, ibruprofen lysine, I could talk and eat within about 20 mins!

If I take antibiotics this time though it will be the 3rd dose this year .

Normally if it's bacterial you are quite sick - high fever, chills etc. It does sound viral...I had it recently and it was viral and I had white spots (though ultimately it got worse, I got an abscess and needed meds). Hope you get well soon

I don’t know what your financial situation is but if you can afford it, I would go private or somewhere like Gogodoc rather than struggling through bad tonsillitis without antibiotics. It can clear on its own, it can also lead to quinsy. Even if it doesn’t lead to quinsy, what sort of life do these GPs think people lead that mean you can afford to be off work/not doing childcare while you spend 10 days recovering from tonsillitis.

long term if it keeps coming back you need to do whatever you can to boost your immunity and eventually consider tonsillectomy - though I believe the threshold is now 6 cases a year, not 3, for the NHS.

but if you need antibiotics you need them. You could also now try Boots as this is one of the things they can prescribe for at the pharmacy

I should say, previous posters may be right that it’s viral. Usually the way to tell is how bad you feel. If you have temperature, swollen glands and are too ill to struggle through with painkillers, it isn’t viral. And also if it’s getting rapidly worse rather than better.

Thank you everyone. Feeling pretty sorry for myself 🙁

My formula is

Fever = bacterial = antibiotics

No fever = viral = no AB

@SoftPillowAllNight i haven’t had a fever yet but I’ve got white spots, gargling snd taking paracetamol but not feeling any better, this is day 2.

Sorry to say but I had a very sore throat 2 months ago and it lasted 3 weeks before the pain went away. I refused antibiotics as I'd already had 2 courses for cough and didn't want one for this as well when there was no fever. I was quite shocked by the duration but stayed strong and it passed. Hope you feel better soon - lots of hot drinks, gargling, strepsils will help.

I have had strep throat I went to my pharmacist, antibiotics but also corsodal mouth wash its for oral thrush and bacteria, it really helped me , and if I get a cold with sore throat I gargle each morning and before I go to bed after I brush my teeth as he suggested , it is worth a try .