worse sore throat for 9 days now

ok it all started with a really bad sore throat last thursday and a very bad body pain that lasted a day. the body pain started to disppear and went away in 2 days but i started having stuffy nose on Monday and since developed something that seems like a cold. But the sore throat hasn't been better yet. It got better for a day or so but its back again. Its one of the most painful sore throats i have ever had. I went to a doctor last friday and he put me on antibiotics, and it turns out that my strep throat test was negative but i had to take the antibiotics anyways because when i got the results i was already on the second day of the treatment. My antibitoics are done and not suprisngly my sore throat is not gone yet.

I dont have a fever, and i only had the body pain for a day (last friday)

all i have right now is a stuffy nose which started on monday and a sore throat (almost 9 days) thats killing me. Its hard to swallow and talk. I have been having this for 9 days now. What could this be? Could a cold or viral infection take this long to go away? i barely cough like maybe once every 30 min and its a dry cough. Its not a harsh, loud cough. Like the chest sounds clear and everything.

strep throat was negative, mono was negative

any ideas?