Sore throat for over a month now

[BigA28]

I have had a sore throat now for over a month. It started around june 17th.. i went to the dr on june 25 and she treated me for strep throat and a sinus infection. she put me on augmentin.. i took the whole ten days and a couple days after i finished my meds my throat started to hurt again so a week later i went back in and still tested positive for strep throat. she gave me zpack to take. a couple days after i finished the zpack, my sore throat came back.. it feels itchy once in awhile and it also feels wierd when i swallow.the back of my tongue seems like it hurts too.. i still have white things on my tonsils and noticed that by my tonsil towards my throat i have a darker spot. i don't know if i have always had it but... i try to google this type of stuff and it comes up with cancer so i thought i would try med help instead! do i go to the dr again so they can culture my throat and send it out or just assume it might be allergies? any suggestions?

[mkh9]

Hi BigA28,
Just saw your email, I am so happy that you cleared the strep and are getting back to normal.
take care,
mkh9

[BigA28]

Just wanted to update you... On monday night, I started to take 2 benadryl each night and i do not have a sore throat or swollen tongue anymore!!!!! I guess allergies was the issue! I will continue taking them until this coming monday and hopefully the soreness stays away! Thank you for all your advice!

[dominosarah]

I have heard a bit about the different Groups they have for this.  I should really read up on it more.  She had a pretty good day.  She came over for a bit this afternoon and sounded better.  She has the next 3 days off so hopefully she will be able to rest a bit too.  She is on the phone alot at her job and i am sure that doesnt help either.  Again, thank you for taking the time   Again, thank you for taking the time to help out, we both appreciate it very much.

[mkh9]

You are quite welcome! Very glad to be helpful. Another thought is to see an infectious disease specialist. But an ENT should do the job since she had a sinus problem too! Just be careful of her fevers returning or any more pus in the throat and if it gets worse of course go to the doc.  On a personal note I had a non Group A streptoccous infection that was usually a type that causes sore throat that would be negative on a strep test because the strep test only checks for group A strep (Streptoccous pyogenes) it was a group C and I woke with it and within hours I had a very high fever, extremely exhausted, and both of my tonsils were solidly covered with pus. I could barely drive a few blocks to get to the doctor. He had to give me two shots of Azithromax and a Zpack. I felt better in a couple of days but he said it was a very virulent type of group C strep. It depends on if the bacteria carries toxins or has resistance mechanisms.
Anyway,
get better,
mkh9

[dominosarah]

Thanks mkh9~~I am her mom and this has been very frustrating for her and me for that matter.  She has had sore throats in the past and she always responded to the antibiotics.  Right now she is going to try the Benedryl for a week.  If no change then i will have her get ahold of the doctor and have them make the appointment for the ENT as she will get in quicker.  This cant continue to go on.  I wish i could make it all better but this time i cant.  The days of kissing their "booboo's" is gone!!  lol.  Thank you for helping her.  Your advice is very helpful~~sara

[mkh9]

Hi BigA28,
No you definitely are not annoying me for sure. A sore throat sometimes is nothing but it can also be serious. It is good to ask questions and make sure things are ok. If you still have the problem an ENT is a great doctor for these types of issues especially recurrant problems. Usually, a sore throat caused by a run of the mill virus like a cold wouldn't cause the swollen tongue, swollen lymph nodes but could cause the slight ear and throat problems. But Strep throat can cause serious problems so since you had it a couple of times in addition to the swollen lymph nodes I would see the ENT. Usually, a swollen tougue is associated with allergy but your strep throat is persistant. It may have been due to so many antibiotics or a reaction to one of them. I'm glad you didn't have thrush, I figured since you had strep throat, a classic sign is pus on the tonsils or on the sides of the throat. Usually, thrush is on the tongue. Anyway, I hope you get this resolved verys soon. Since it usually takes some time to get an appointment with the ENT's maybe make the appointment and if the throat clears up you can always cancel. I wouldn't wait though if possible. If your sore thoat resolves, it takes a while for lymph nodes to go down. But the fact that you had swollen lymph nodes and that it was resistant to several antibiotics indicates to me it was a fairly virulent strain and you have to be careful with this.

take care,
mkh9

[BigA28]

I ended up going back to the dr today to have them check for thrush and i did not have it.. it was so hard to swallow today.. the dr said i should see an e.n.t... im going to try benadryl for a week and see if anything changes. Can common allergies really cause a swollen tongue, swollen lymph nodes, slight ear discomfort, and sore throat? ive never had problems with allergies before... i feel like im annoying everyone around me since this has been going on for this long... just frustrated i guess...  

[mkh9]

Hi BigA28,
Well, perhaps your throat is still inflammed and it takes a while for the Azithromycin to work. If they actually did a culture it would have showed up yeast as well as other bacteria that could be causing the problem. i would take the antihistimine and gargle with salt water as  your doctor says as it should resolve hopefully. The only thing left would be a virus but it probably is inflammation so the Ibupropin would help with that.
Good luck and let me know how it goes.
mkh9

[BigA28]

Thank you! I went back to the dr and the strep test was negative and they cultured it and that also came back negative. My throat still hurts bad though! tonight it hurts terrible! the dr said to try an allergy pill and keep taking ibuprofen or tylenol. She said the darker spot in my throat is probably an ulcer of some sort and not to worry about it. She said to try to gargle with salt water also. My glands are swollen in my neck too! I am so frustrated.. I have never had a sore throat for this long! I just want to feel normal again... i work in customer service and by the end of my work shifts, my tongue feels so swollen that it hurts to swallow.. if it was thrush, wouldn't it go away on its own? I do not have a fever anymore either.. Any more suggestions??

[mkh9]

Hi again,
I have to say they don't usually do antibiotic sensitivity tests on Streptococcus Pyogenes (which causes a positive strep test). But, I was thinking if they do a throat culture and check to see if other bacteria are taking over that are resistant to the drug then they might do sensitivity test if warrented. And, again you could still have yeast. Most of the time the doctors will treat based on symptoms or what your throat looks like and if the strep test is positive they have a standard set of antibiotics they give.
Just wanted to clarify.
mkh9

[mkh9]

Hi BigA28,
In addition to the last post the white spots or patches may also be pus which is usually seen with strep throat and other infections, and it could be another bacteria that took over or a  yeast. Sometimes they do a rapid strep test and don't do antibiotic sensitivity tests and so you end up getting treated but not with the right antibiotic because it is probably resistant to those antibiotics. You need to go back to the doctor and I hope they test your throat culture this time for resistance to antibiotics. Do you still have a fever? I would point out the black thing you talking about to make sure since you need to go in anyway, but I wouldn't worry about that at this point.
feel better,
mkh9

[mklarson]

Two thoughts come to mind. First you might have a resistant strain of strep that requires a 10 day course of a quinolone medication (it is stronger than the ones you have taken so far). Also, you might want to have the doctor check for Thrush (also know as a Candida infection).
Thrush can be caused by taking an antibiotic like augmentin or the zpack because they kill the good bacteria as well as the bad. This allows the fungus to grow unchecked and can cause a sore throat and white patches. I would not worry about the dark area unless it persisted and grew, especially if you have taken any upset stomach medications that contain bismuth like Pepto Bismo. They will cause some people to have black stools, black tongues, or throats.  If that is the case, the dark color will dissipate over a week or two.  
Best of luck!