Re-occuring Mild Sore Throat leads to Sever Sore Throat

[drdivo]

On July 28 I had unprotected oral sex with a man.  We did not ejaculate in each other's throats.  A week later I began experiencing a mild sore throat, no fever.  I wrote it off to allergies or reflux both of which I suffer from.  The sore throat would appear for a week, be a mild nuisance then go away leaving a tender lymph node in the right side of my mouth just under the jaw.  Out of concern that this process had been repeating itself for most of August I made an appointment with my GP on Tuesday of this week (9/15).  He examined my throat and proclaimed it a mild tonsillitis and prescribed me 500mg of Amoxicycilin  to take twice daily.  Before I even started taking the antibiotic on Tuesday I began to get chills.  By the time I got home from work I was running a mild fever of 99.5.  I began taking the antibiotic.  My fever remained the same, mostly, sometimes going up as high as 102.  My throat continued to worsen and by Friday was so swollen I could hardly speak.  I returned to the doctor and was given a steroid and an antibiotic shot.  I experienced little, if no reduction in swelling.  My fever remains consistent at 99.5 - 100.5.  I'm taking hydracordone to deal with the pain.  I keep reading about infections of herpes in the throat, HIV sore throats and mono.  I'm concerned that since Tuesday rather than improve I seem to get steadily worse.  I plan to go back to the doctor Monday.  I suppose right now I'm just really worried.

[Brisco221]

well for one thing..  take a deep breath and relax.  I am a gay man, and have had lots of experience with sore throats and that stuff.   yes, it is posssible to get some STDs from oral sex... however most all of it is treatable. And remember..a certain anti-biotic is not a silver bullet"  As in .. it works the same for each person. Sometimes it takes taking an additional different medicine to really kill the bacterial infection.

  Main thing.. (and this is coming from a person who is a hypochodriac) DONT google your symptoms and read and read on diseases. It'll make you seriously crazy and your mind is a POWERFUL organ that can make you believe that you ARE experiencing certain symptoms.  So do yourself that favor.. and dont look up symptoms because its counter-productive to your well being. Remember, our minds can help OR hinder us from feeling and gettin better.
  Most importantly.. i know this is tuff. Its frightening and painful.. but try try try to keep your head up. Think positively and remember.. you arent the first with these symptoms and you Definately wont be the last  ; )     all the best..

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the STD forum.

This doesn't sound like any of the usual STDs.  Oral/throat herpes causes very severe throat pain that clears up within a couple of weeks; herpes would not cause the sort of prolonged symptoms you describe.  The lack of response to antibiotics further supports the idea that this is a viral infection, allergic problem -- almost certainly not a bacterial infection.  Your thought about mononucleosis is reasonable; I would have suggested it as a possibility before I saw your own comment tabout it.  This is something to discuss with your doctor.  And I also agree that HIV is a possibility; it would be reasonable for you to be tested for it, if not yet done.  (Do you know your partner's HIV status?  Of course common sense says that you should have asked before becoming involved.)

Sorry I can't be more helpful.  I'll be interested to learn what the eventual diagnosis is.  Good luck--

HHH, MD

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

There is no inconsistency.  You have misterpreted my comments elsewhere.  I never said HIV cannot be transmitted orally, only that the risk is exceedingly low.  And most of the questions on this forum concern the risk for the penile partner, if the oral partner has HIV.  This exposure included oral/throat exposure.  Further, drdivo described symptoms that are potentially consistent with HIV (unlike the majority of symptom questions on this forum).  Putting together all the information provided by drdivo, there was a realistic (but very small) chance of HIV -- until he informed us that his partner is HIV negative, which of course takes us back to a virtually zero risk scenario.

Users need to interpret each reply, whether by me or Dr. Hook, strictly in the context of the exact questions asked.  A certain amount of generalization is OK, but whenever there seems to be a potential discrepancy in our opinions or advice, it is important to look very carefully at both discussions and be alert to differences in context.

This reply is not intended to imply an ongoing discussion.  I won't have any other comments about this.

[Mistakeandscared]

Dr. Handfield....you have stated time and time again that you cannot get HIV from unprotected oral sex....why are you now saying that this is a possibility?  I've re-read his original post 10x and it's all about sore throat related to oral sex.  Please advise as this is different than every other posting that you've given related to oral sex.

[drdivo]

I agree.  I was at the doctor yesterday and had the test ordered.  I'll have the results tomorrow.  He agrees with you that it is most likely not HIV related but always better to test and know then guess and go.  On another note with 36 hours of me putting up the initial post my symptoms were gone and temp had returned to normal.  All good news to me!

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Even though your partner believes he doesn't have HIV -- and presumably was tested recentl to confirm it -- given the nature of your illness, both of you should be restested for HIV at this time.  Probably that's not the epxlanation for your symptoms, but better safe than sorry (and to know if HIV is present than to not know).

[drdivo]

Thanks for your help.  My partner is HIV -.  He contracted mono in 2005 and recovered.  At that time I got tested for mono and was told I did not have it and had not had it.  I am not certain of carriers can become contagious again or not.