Quickly recurring sore throat (please bare with me, complicated story)

[MrX]

Early in Oct. I began to feel a soreness in my throat. Thinking it was only a cold I rested for three days; on the third morning my throat was so sore that I could not swallow liquids, the glands in the front and back of my neck were also quite swollen, and I had a slight fever. I decided to go see the doctor; he diagnosed me with strep (without doing a test) and gave me 150mg pills of penicillin to be taken 3 times a day for 7 days. I took them religiously and finished the whole bottle.

After 2 days of taking the penicillin I felt great, back to normal, but I finished the pills as I said. Then two days after my last pill I started to feel a pain beginning in my throat again. The next day the pain was quite severe so I went to the doctor again (this time a different doctor was in). I did not have a fever at the doctors but he did a swab for strep and prescribed 150mg pills of penicillin, 4 times a day, for 10 days. Again, I took them religiously and after two days I felt great. But the swab came back negative.

I finished the bottle and, 2 days afterwards, my throat started getting sore again. I went to the doctor this time before it could progress to a very painful point and he did another swab but did not prescribe me antibiotics. That swab also came back negative. But on the third morning I could no longer swallow again and my neck glands were painfully swollen so I went to emergency.

I am out of room so the rest of the story will follow.

[MrX]

When I went to emergency the doctor did a blood test for mono, he said my white-blood cell count was normal so it ruled out mono or viral infection. He then prescribed me 150mg pills of clindamycin with the following instructions: "Take 2 capsules 4 times daily for 3 days. Then take 1 capsule 4 times daily for 7 days." Again, I followed the instructions to the letter, the pain went away in 2 days, and I am now finished the clindamycin.

It has been 4 days since I finished the clindamycin and I still feel good so I assume that my sore throat will stay away. So here is my question:

What caused my infection if the strep tests came back negative both times? Why did the pain clear up so quickly after beginning the penicillin but then returned just as quickly after finishing it both times?

Most importantly: I have been, possibly irrationally, been worried about the possible contraction of HIV. At a loss for what was causing my throat problems; my searches lead me to speculate that I may have been experiencing seroconversion. Is that possible? I may have been exposed to HIV before my throat symptoms through unprotected oral sex but I do not know how likely it is. If it were the case would the antibiotics have worked as they did? Would my limited symptoms have been the only ones I experienced? Am I being foolish?

Thank you so much for reading this and thank you even more for any replies.

[alchris]

Hi

If you were on anticbiotics the time the strep test was taken you could have gotten a false negative as a possibility.  In some cases as I have seen with my nephews the test might not be accurate becasue the antibiotic is keeping it at bay. Also with mono can have sever throat pain, swollen glands (I had mono) and your are so fatigued with mono.  As for your other worry, a great one becasue including myself and so many people I know we have all worried about that at one time.  So do like i did years ago, get a test.  the worry finally stopped.  wish you well

[glad2bamom]

Exactly right about the antibiotics...if you were on them during the test, they can alter the result.
Mono is always a possilbility.  
As far as the HIV thing...go on over to the HIV forum.  There are about a million questions along the same lines as yours.  What I would say is that there are a multitude of garden variety virus/illnesses/bacterial/ infections that can cause sore throat.  Symptoms like "sore throat" are never a good indication of HIV.  If you're worried about that, get a test.  However, I would recommend just paying attention to the sore throat issue...

You can have chronic tonsillitis, you can be a carrier of strep, you can have Allergies...all of these things can cause severe sore throat.  Stay in touch with your doc, and try not to worry.

Does your throat hurt worse in the mornings?

[Gordon45]

My wife has had a sore throat for 5 months and has been through a battery of tests including swabs that reveal negative results.  Her condition is not viral nor bacterial.  She has had the usual round of anti-biotics although alergic (allergic) to penicillin with no improvement.  Her glands are not swollen and she experiences pain on only the right side of her neck which is tender to the touch.  She is experiencing difficulty in swallowing and she has had an upper G.I., ultrasound, X-rays, nasal examination with fibre optic camera and the doctors can find no cause or explain her condition.  

We have exhausted all the avenues recommended by her family physician.  Her throat is worse at the end of the day but she wakes up with a sore throat.  The condition is getting worse and she feels the pain into her jaw and scull now.  There is no possiblilty of exposure to H.I.V. and needless to say we are perplexed.  She went to her dentist who suggested a blocked salivatory gland but the E.N.T. specialist shot that theory down as rediculous; he told her she would just have to live with it, it might go away by itself!  Some diagnosis!

[elizajane405]

Have the docs considered GERD (severe, chronic form of heartburn)?  For some, it causes sore throat and other upper respiratory symptoms from stomach acids coming up into the throat.  GERD meds and sleeping propped up could help.