Chronic Sore Throat - 3 months

[vintage14]

In the beginning of September, shortly after moving into a new apartment, I was very sick with what appeared to be strep, although a culture came back negative.  I had fever, sore throat, white coating in my throat, and headache.  My doctor put me on amoxicillin which slowly helped.  A few days after I finished the ten day treatment, my post-nasal drip and sore throat came back.  It lasted 2-3 days, then went away.  A few days late, it was back, and worse.  I went to the doctor again, who said it looked like I had a throat abcess.  He gave me omnicef and medrol pack.  The sore throat and post-nasal drip got better after those meds, and again, a few days after I finished them, it was back.  It progressively got worse, and my ears began to ache as well.  I went to a new doctor, who told me that this was likely allergies (related to the new neighborhood or new apartment) and prescribed me flonase.  I've been on flonase for about a week with no change.  The sore throat and post-nasal drip are persistent and very painful.  This has been going on for almost 3 months now, and I'm a grad student that really can't afford to be sick.  If anyone could shed some light on what this might be, I'd really appreciate it!

[MsNomadRunner]

Holy crap. I'm having the same problem. The second day I moved into my new place I had a sore throat. Within 72 hours I was in the ER with a temp over 103 and my muscles ached, ears, and I lost my appetite. I had white spots too. The strep and mono tests came back negative. They hooked me to an iv and gave me miracle drugs intravenously. Then prescribed antibiotics. I've finished them and my sore throat is back. I know I have allergies, but they told me this was brand new carpet! Of course the window unit looks like it was cleaned in years and the closet smells like smoke and old ppl. In fact the whole apt smells stuffy to me every time I come home. The paint is new too. My step dad said he saw a thing on tv about how formaldehyde in new carpets put in homes for Katrina victims caused them all to get **** similar to this. I know I'm very sensitive to everything, bit it was near impossible to find a non carpet studio in my budget. I'm a full time volunteer at a non profit... I can't afford to be sick either!

[Mumma_Bear]

Hi

Not sure about your  problem, but I have been searching the net for reasons why I suffer from sore throat. I have for about 18 months been avoiding sugar and find when I have even the smallest amount it will flare up a sore throat which feels like it is bruised and feels raspy and very sensitive also gets very phlemy. Have just proved once again to myself this week that what I am thinking is correct, by having had one teaspoon of maple syrup on Tuesday and today (Friday) it has started to settle. Just imagine if I had kept on using sugar how bad it would have been.

I have been for years trying to figure why I have had persistent sore throats, I'm starting to believe it is related to mould/fungal problems. I avoid medications and live as naturally as I can in this day and age and use such things as salt in water to gargle to keep germs at bay with an additive free diet. My family has a lot of problems with allergies and sensitivities, this includes brothers and sister and my children and I believe my mother had a huge problem but lived on medications. It constantly amazes me that there are so many amazing natural things that can help us health wise and am constantly searching the net for them.

Am currently looking at Hydrogen Peroxide (inexpensive) and Oil of Cloves (Expensive) for killing mould and I think there seems to be no reason why one couldn't use these in some way to inhale fine mist and see if it would work by killing the mould if it was growing inside the lungs or throat. Haven't tried it yet but will update if I find it successful.

[Jamie332]

I am going through the same exact thing and ive been this way since september.  The Doctor put me on cephalexan which helped but the day i ran out of pills it came back and it was worse and then i went back to the doctor and he gave me a stronger antibiotic and it did slowly help me.  A couple weeks later i started feeling sick again.  I stay congested all the time i would love to be able to breath freely like i used too.  I snort sea salt and bottled water twice a day to clear out my sinuses and on days that i feel the worst i take clartin D.  The drainage that i have causes my throat to be very sore so i drink lots of orange juice and take vitamin C pills and acidophilus every day.  i also take respiration it is made by SolarRay it is like an antibiotic but it is not harmful like an antibiotic.  This is making life a little better i still have my bad days but it helps alot.  I am also a poor college student so i cant afford to go to the doctor anymore so i guess this is going to have to work for the time being.  I dont know what else to do but all i know is i have never been this sick in my whole life.

[clicking swallow]

try a nasal CT ordered by an ent

[ryn21]

Have you thoroughly cleaned the apartment/carpets?  Sometimes their is dust or dander in the carpet that may be causing these symptoms.  Even more so, it could be related to mold spores.  I would try cleaning your apartment from head to toe with some serious cleansers and see if that helps.  

About 4 years ago, I got new carpets and from being in storage or I guess from production, the carpet had dried up mold spores (naked to the eye) that were making me sick with similar symptoms as yours.  I had the carpet pulled up and replaced after 2 months of problems.  It was discovered that the carpet was damaged and water damage caused mold to develop, causing severe allergies.  Such possibilities are there in your situation too.

[PlateletGal]

You may want to try some over the counter decongestants, along with the flonase. I know the ones that helped me were Sudafed D and Mucinex D. I would also gargle your throat with salt water on the daily basis, several times a day.