Throat virus, not strep

Hello, first post here, and I have a concern about my throat.  About three weeks ago I noticed my throat was very inflamed, looked very mangled, with my lymphnodes extremeley swollen.  I went to the doctors immediatley, and he did the throat culture AND blood work, tested negative for mono.  He gives me antibiotics for strep, I take the whole series, and think I am ok, but did not check to see if it was gone until I felt it again 3 days later.  He gave me another antiobiotic, which did not show improvement, so I got more blood work done + another visit.  He determines it is a "throat virus" and I should get lots of rest, with no real treatment.

Ok, so I have been "getting lots of rest" for about two weeks now, and growing quite impatient.  I am very fatigued, even with about 12 hours of sleep a day (was on spring break).  Now I am returning to school/ hectic schedule and will only be getting about 6.  I have made the decision to continue excercising, mainly weight training, and decided to axe the running as a compromise.  I do not seem to be getting any better, as I looked into my throat again, and now there are a cluster of bumps on the back of my throat that were not there a few days ago.  Is it getting worse, or what do I do??  Should I just tough it out and let it run its course?  It has been a week and no signs of improvement at all.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated, and also treatments or remedies for treating this "throat virus".

Thanks!!

[tmv]

hmmm...sounds like rest, lots of fluids and tylenol or motrin until you are feeling better. If you do too much too soon, you can have a relapse of your condition. best of luck to you.

[Faith0710]

I just want to say with a username like crankdog, I hope your not a crack user:) But it sounds like we have had the same problem. Mine lasted for approx. 2 months. I guess I waited too late to go to the ER because by the time I went they said everything was fine. They gave me a z-pack and I felt better for about a week. Then I started to belch acid really bad and my throat felt raw. I assumed it was acid reflux. Well then it became very inflammed, blood vessels showing and I had white spots on a red base that would come off when I ate. I had them everywhere but my tonsils so I went back to the ER, they didn't test for strep but tested for thrush which came back NEG. The P.A said she thinks I have Coxsackie virus which is a childrens disease but adults can get it too. I didn't believe her until I saw photos of it. It is supposed to run its course in a week or so and it has been a little more than a week and it is almost gone. I also noticed I didnt get sick until my friend started to bring her 2 small children over. Look through some photos of it on google, maybe you can pinpoint it.

[crankdog27]

edit:

just got the z pack.  doc thinks is bacterial... we will see how this works.

[crankdog27]

Thankyou I appreciate the feedback.

My throat has been in the same condition for about 3 weeks.  Just in the past 3 or 4 days, bumps appeard on the back and the mess is starting to go DOWN my throat, a huge cause for concern so I am going to the doctors once again tomorrow.  Maybe I should take a pic and post it here??  From what I have googled, this picture has been the closest to what my throat currently looks like.

http://img.search.com/thumb/e/e3/Tonsilitis.jpg/302px-Tonsilitis.jpg

The thing is, i FEEL normal and perfectly fine, with the exception of being generally tired, all day long.  But when I look down my throat, i Freak out because it is the gnarliest looking thing i have ever had.  If it is a virus and runs its course, its course seems to be heading down my throat which i am very concerned about.  Thanks again, any info would be helpful