Sore throat and recurrent respiratory infections

[Marcolino88]

Hello everyone.
I am 31 years old, I am a smoker (10-15 cigarettes a day) I am allergic with asthma (I use Aliflus Diskus twice a day and Ventolin as needed) and suffer from anxiety and hypochondria (I take Xanax as needed and Zoloft 50mg).
I also have bruxism and gastro-oesophageal reflux.


-In June 2022 I had a high fever 38-39.5 with plaques in my throat and swollen neck lymph nodes that struggled to pass with antibiotics and lasted a week.

The blood count (taken on day 5 of the antibiotic) said this:
White blood cells: 9960 (normal values 4,000-8.
000)
Neutrophils: 71% (55, 0-70, 0)
Lymphocytes: 14, 5% (25, 0-35, 0)
Monocytes: 11, 8% (3, 0-8, 0)
Eosinophils: 2, 1% (1, 0-4, 0%)
Basophils: 0.5%

Contextually I did covid swab (negative) hiv test (negative) Mononucleosis (negative) cytomegalovirus (negative) pharyngeal swab (negative) but I was on day 5 of antibiotics and the symptoms resolved on day 7.


-January 2023: I had swollen neck lymph nodes, and a sore throat without fever or plaque for about a week
-February 2023: again swollen neck lymph nodes, plaques and a fever of no more than 38.5 passed in 3 days without antibiotics
-March 2023: swollen neck lymph nodes, runny nose and an oily cough (which still hasn't gone away) without fever.


I repeated the blood tests:
White blood cells: 8,300 (normal values 4,000-8.
000)
Neutrophils: 48, 7% (55, 0-70, 0)
Lymphocytes: 37, 0% (25, 0-35, 0)
Monocytes: 7, 6% (3, 0-8, 0)
Eosinophils: 5, 0% (1, 0-4, 0%)
Basophils: 0, 8%

I also had an ultrasound scan of my neck because I was concerned about these lymph nodes that actually appeared enlarged on the left side of my neck but not pathological because they were less than 1cm

-April 2023: Last night I wake up with a sore throat and again swollen lymph nodes in my neck, plaques and a fever that has not exceeded 37 so far.


I am very worried because I don't understand the cause of these recurring infections.
I'm afraid I have something serious because I've never fallen ill with this frequency before.
What do you advise me to do?

[Marcolino88]

Unfortunately, I am not very careful about my health. I would like to reduce smoking to a maximum of 5 cigarettes but I can't. I don't eat fruits and vegetables at all however I take multivitamin o and multimineral often. Dental health ok, mouthwash every other day and teeth brushed twice a day. In any case, there have been no recent changes in my lifestyle that warrant these infections. White blood cells should be ok so I don't understand such recurrent infections.
PS. Are you a medical doctor?

[Marcolino88]

In this period I'm leaving big stress. I'm not eating and sleeping good.

[GuitarRox]

So what do you do for overall health? There are over 200 plus cold viruses out there. How is your vitamin intake and diet? Are you eating for health? Do you get proper rest? How's your oral health? (had a lymph node in my neck because I had a dental issue I needed to address for quite some time. Addressed it, it went away). Being dehydrated can lead to frequent cold infections. You are a smoker. That puts you in a situation of some things coming about just from that and you have asthma and allergies on top of it. All of this contributes. Could you discontinue or cut back on smoking? You've been to the doctor and nothing major is panning out otherwise, right?

[Marcolino88]

Unfortunately, in last period I'm not eating and sleep good because of stress. In general I am not very careful about my health. I would like to reduce smoking to a maximum of 5 cigarettes but I can't. I don't eat fruits and vegetables at all however I take multivitamin o and multimineral often. Dental health ok, mouthwash every other day and teeth brushed twice a day. In any case, there have been no recent changes in my lifestyle that warrant these infections. White blood cells should be ok so I don't understand such recurrent infections.
PS. Are you a medical doctor?

[GuitarRox]

That's going to impact things and where you probably could most benefit to start improving things. Get a dental exam to be sure about teeth if you haven't been in the past six months to a year. I think you are over worrying. Again, there are 200 different cold viruses. You've been checked out. Just monitor and continue to work on stress reduction and life style improvements.

[Marcolino88]

I wanted to go for a pharyngeal swab tomorrow to understand the nature of this infection, and I would also like to understand the causes of such frequent infections. I can't be absent from work all the time. Right now I have a fever of 37 but I can't even get out of bed.