i have strep throat developed it this morning. i am not banded and this has nothing to do with the band. i have strep in the throat and a totally seperate infection that is in my right ear. i went to the er today. had a fever of 100 but felt way hotter and was in a lot of pain in my upper and lower back. they gave me a motrin, the prescribed a pain/antiinflamatory/fever reducer along with a fast acting antibiotic. broad spectrum.

i came home, got in a hot tub, and fell asleep. then came back to bed cause my fever was high again. I mean I am freezing!! and now i am experience intense pain from my neck to my ankles. honestly, the throat and ear are nothing compared to this. the pain comes in waves. i def have another fever, but then i will feel like my whole body is being twisted and stretched.

i don't want to go back in if it is just symptoms of a nasty fever. i can't get in touch with my doctor. opinions? ideas? i really need your help here.

Thanks Cashley. This is definitely not running the normal course. I have had strep a lot when I was younger. Haven't had it for some years. It would usually be calmed down and easy to deal with the right antibiotics and a few days rest. definitely most of the pain would be gone after about 36 hours. but this is crazy!! It has never gone on this long, or been this painful.

I am VERY surprised they did not admit you. When your throat is that swollen and the tonsils are badly infected, you really need IV antibiotics and to be observed for airway obstruction. I would suggest you NOT be alone until the swelling subsides. Please see an ENT ASAP. Let us know how your recovery progresses.

I was surprised too, but they sent me home. honestly i am more comfortable at home. and DH never leaves my side. he has even taken to standing by the door while i am going to the bathroom in case i need help. LOL how romantic!

At first the doctor said that I can't leave unless I can eat or drink. Yet at 3am they sent me packin...and I still couldn't get any Water down. But they put in two bags through IV. Got me rehydrated and said that would keep me until my appt to determine what they are going to do with me.

OH! And they gave me prednisone (sp?) and percoset. I choked trying to get the prednisone down, but I did manage to get the percoset down. It was a struggle, with much crying. But i figure once it kicks in and maybe takes an edge off I'll be able to get the prednisone down.

Thank God they gave you prednisone. THAT is what will aid in keeping your airway open until the antibiotics kick in. Try crushing them but definitely get them down. I'm very glad your hubby is there with you. Moist heat (shower, bath) and warm liquids will work better than dry air and cold beverages. Try sipping liquids continuously. When you have a fever, the body dehydrates more quickly. See if you can get an emergency appt to see the EMT today. Also, DON'T lie flat... keep your head elevated to keep the airway open.

oh yeah, i def can't lay flat. i have cried so much over the past few days from the pain my sinuses are all clogged up. i have been spending all day in this really comfy chaise lounge we have. i have been drinking water, and even got some chicken broth down which was nice. i am soooooo hungry. i tried pudding, but it was too thick. i couldn't even drink an isopure! can you believe that!! so i am sticking to water and broth. i am alternating hot and cold compresses on my throat for the pain and the swelling.

Funny, This isn't funny!! This sounds so serious... Please insist that they admit you for IV, antibiotics!!! How can you get those things down your swollen throat! I think that strep is one of those bugs that can eventually hurt other organs. How can they not admit you??? Ill keep you in my prayers. God bless you and your family~!

i can get them past my throat while it is numb. but that is the only way. i just took my last antibiotic pill, so they said they wanted to see how that went and see if there was any improvement. we will see. if it does nothing, i am not going to just sit around. i agree that these infections can spread if not caught and corrected quickly. I am not going to just sit around and let my throat rot out.

Any better tonight Funnyduddies? I've been thinking about how lousy you must feel. My kids are home with headache/fever and are miserable. I never thought of strep. I'm going to get the flashlight right now! Hope you're doing better now......lucky your DH is with you to help. Get better!

the pain pills really make things easy. i have been able to drink chicken broth today, just forcing it past my throat. with the edge taken off of the pain i can really force myself to drink some. i have been getting a little bit of water, and a little bit of broth. about a cup and a half of each. tomorrow i am going to try some pudding. I can't get that down now.

Amy--

Just found your post. I am a Physician Asst.....so this is what I know. Cool fluids actually feel better on a sore throat than hot. But you go w/ whatever works. We give tonsillectomy patients popsicles and ice cream for a reason!! Also you can easily handle 1000mg Tylenol.....That's 2 extra strength. You can take Ibuprofen 400-600mg every 8 hours (be careful too soon as this can cause your kidneys to fail)....in between take the tylenol. Personally, I am thinking maybe you had a virus AND strept.... sounds like the flu elevated your temp quickly....and the strept.....I just had strept recently. Don't forget to boil or throw away your toothbrush!!! I did and it re-ocurred!!! People don't get admitted now a days as quickly as it is more comfortable at home as you said. Never did see the name of your antibiotic....but prednisone is wonderful to take down the swelling but since it's a steroid can actually impede your healing....and really should be careful mixing prednisone and ibuprofen very rough on the stomach!! I think followup w/ the ENT is a great idea and important!!! Close follow up as needed!! Even if you only drink a tsp every 5 min that is like an IV.....picking things like gatorade are a great idea as it has some electrolytes and may help!?!

I hope you are feeling better and this helps!!!!

GOd BLess,

Melody

Banded 3/20/06 -48lbs

thanks for the advice on the toothbrush. i never thought about that.

I didn't either and that's why I got sick again!!! I now tell everyone....just in case they didn't know either!!

God Bless,

Melody

Banded 3/20/06 -48lbs

Hi Funny, Hope you are feeling much better. I am not a nurse, or PA...I am the Mom of a child with multiple cases of Strep Throat. From the time my DD was 3 until she was 13, we had no less than 3-4 positive cultured strep cases a year. FINALLY at 13 they removed her tonsils. She has had it 2 times since and is now 25! When she had to take her medical records in for the Army, they were shocked by her file, and tested her, and found her to be a carrier of the strep virus. None of the rest of the family or anything ever caught it from her, but she would get the slightest bit run down, and boom she had it again. She would be so miserable, so I feel bad for you! One thing that a pediatrician had her gargle with that really helped her through the years, was a really nasty looking combination...but it did work!!! It also works for cankor sores in the mouth (she also ended up allergic to the metal in her braces!!) He had us take equal amounts of liquid kaopectate (upset stomach/diahrea medicine), and liquid benadryl, mix them, and either gargle and spit, or even gargle and swallow, will not hurt. When she was very young we just gave it to her as medicine, as she got older she spit! It separates worse than vinegar and oil...and it looks atrocious! BUT it helped. The kaopectate makes it stick to the tonsils, and the benadryl reduces the swelling, same with mouth sores. Shake like crazy and pour, it will separate almost instantly!! Also, you might try the Extra Strength Liquid Tylenol, either regular, or the PM (it will have the benadryl it it too), possibly the liquid would ease the tonsils as it passed over them? Many of us bandsters were given the liquid Tylenol by our surgeons, and it works! Hope you feel much better very soon!

Kat

i think this is the solution they used on me in the hospital last night to see if I could get a pill down. They had me gargle with this funky milky light pink solution. they wanted me to swallow it, but i just couldn't. it did help if only for a moment. maybe 15 to 20 minutes. but that might have been cause my pain level was so high.

at one point they asked me, on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the worse, how would you rate your pain level? I sat there, crying, back muscles siezing. I said "7". The woman says, "its ok. you don't have to be strong. this seems like it might be a ten" my husband pipes up and says "you weren't there for the birth of our daughter. There were 5 medical people in the room and they all started laughing, a lot.

Wow, I hope you are getting to feel a little better. I had an abcess on or near one of my tonsils, and they put me under anesthesia to drain it. They wouldn't take my poor swollen tonsils at the same time though. I haven't really had much of a problem with them since then, so I still have them.

*hugs*