Pharyngitis

[Guest]

For the past 6 months, I've been getting a monthly sore throat, really bad cough, yellow/green nasal discharge, runny nose, and congestion. This hit me again today, and I finally am getting tired of it because it keeps coming back. So tonight I went to the urgent care clinic since that's the only option that I know of for the weekends. The doctor didn't test me for strep which kind of surprised me, but said I had pharyngitis. He wrote me a script for 10 days of Amoxicillin.

 

Since the doctor gave me an antibiotic does that likely mean that I'm contagious and could give this to kids? He didn't say whether it was or not. I have chosen to take the antibiotic with the hopes that this will stop the recurring illness.

 

Carolyn

[faith]

Hi Carolyn,

Pharyngitis is another word for strep? I think? Maybe he could tell just by looking at it, if it was red and ugly. My son was prescribed amoxy last year the same way, not test, he could just tell because he saw red and red spots (along with my son saying throat hurt), and he said it looked like strep. They will prescribe antibiotic for bacterial pharyngitis, but maybe not viral? Although not sure how they know the difference.

 

Are you against taking antibiotics? I'd be curious to know if (even tho you have had pandas testing and was negative?) if your usual tics subside to any degree if you do get on the amoxy? Please let us know.

 

Faith

[Chemar]

pharyngitis could be strep but isnt necessarily so

 

it is defined as

inflammation of the pharynx, the portion of the throat that lies just beyond the back of the roof of the mouth and stretches to the Adam's apple (pharynx). It usually occurs when viruses (or sometimes bacteria) from a cold, flu, or sinus infection involve the throat.

 

 

 

http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/414/main.html

 

 

Hope you feel better (((Carolyn)))

[Guest]

Thanks for the info Faith & Chemar. Yes, they are supposed to prescribe antibiotics for bacterial, but not for viral because they don't help viral infections. So I'm not for sure how the doctor could have known whether it was bacterial or viral without a strep test. I am starting to feel better though.

 

Yes, I'm against taking antibiotics because they destroy your good gut flora. I try to stay away from them as much as possible. I'll let you know if my tics subside to any degree after the amoxy. I'm a little concerned about possible pink eye now because yesterday morning I woke up with eye matter and red lines all through the white part on my left eye. I thought that maybe it was irritation from my contacts, but I've had them out all day yesterday and it's still just as bad. It's not really itchy, so I'm not for sure.

 

Carolyn