Continual sore throat for 2 weeks

[Kris45678]

Last week I became very ill with an unknown illness. I had a fever of around 103*F with nasal congestion, a sore throat, and swollen tonsils. Over the past few days, I started to have a pain in my left ear and I noticed that the left side of my neck is swollen and tender. Through all this, I have had a severe sore throat that makes it difficult to swallow. The pain changes daily, and is worst when I wake up in the morning. When I first became sick, I had trouble sleeping through the night because of the intense pain. I would wake up every three or four hours and would take some ibuprofen to help with the pain. Now, my ear hurts, I still have trouble swallowing, and I have a hard time sleeping on my left side. I am concerned that by not going to a doctor, my symptoms might get worse and many other problems could arise, but I don't have the money to go. Any advice for what I should do? Should I go to the doctor and pay the money somehow and find that the doctor has no answer, or should I just do like other websites say-drink warm liquids and take pain meds? Help please. I am very concerned. I am an 18 year old female who rarely ever gets sick. This is the first time i have been severely sick in 10 years. Thanks in advance.

[AmNotTheDoctor]

Sounds exactly like Strep throat, I have had similar symptoms as well when I swallowed hot food and burned my throat and got an infection.

[AmNotTheDoctor]

Wish i could edit my post but check this, I know it's wikipedia and not entirely 100% trustworthy but take it for what it's worth:)

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptococcal]Strep[/url] or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptococcal