Tonsillitis that isn't strep

September 8, 2010 11:32 PM

Two days ago I was diagnosed with Tonsillitis that isn't strep, but caused by another bug. My doctor prescribed 3 doses of azithromycin. I've taken 2, but am not feeling better. Now my girlfriend get feeling off too. Have you ever had an tonsil infection that wasn't caused by strep? What was it? Thanks!
posted by mrunderhill to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)

There are viral tonsil infections.
posted by Ahab at 1:05 AM on September 9, 2010

Recurrent sufferer here. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. The last time I had isn't, it was viral, although I've also had it bought on by dry cold air at altitude. Last time I went to the doctor about it, he told me that UK docs prefer not to prescribe antibiotics because when it's non-strep, they're useless. Anyway, whatever the cause, it usually starts to go after 3 or 4 days.
posted by rhymer at 1:05 AM on September 9, 2010

This one is good too.
posted by Ahab at 1:08 AM on September 9, 2010

Yes. They gave me augmentin and a penicillin shot, which seemed to start doing something, but 24 hours later my fever was higher and still climbing. We never figured out what it was; both my tonsils went black and grey (necrotic) as well as the whole back of my throat. I went to Urgent Care, got a shot of rocephin, and six hours later the fever broke (and 12 hours later all the necrotic tissue sloughed off, which was exactly as awesome as it sounds.) Strep tests, both rapid-read and detailed, were negative.

It doesn't have to be strep to be bacterial. It's possible mine was viral, but the coincidental timing between the Rocephin shot and the abrupt break in fever leads me to believe it wasn't.
posted by KathrynT at 1:16 AM on September 9, 2010

Azithromycin works a little bit differently than other antibiotics, it builds up for a few days and then continues to work for a few days after you stop taking it. You'll probably feel fine in a day or two.
posted by TungstenChef at 2:13 AM on September 9, 2010

Finish your antibiotic. If you still feel sick, then call your doctor.
posted by Carol Anne at 5:23 AM on September 9, 2010

Have you gotten the results of the slower-but-more-accurate strep test back yet? Don't rely on the rapid test alone, since false negatives are not uncommon. I had a horrible throat infection that was negative on the rapid strep test. The antibiotics the doctor put me on didn't work and I continued to get worse. Things were getting scary. Then the results of the slow test finally came back, positive. A change in antibiotics, to an older one that works better on strep, did the trick.

Call your doctor, tell them how you are feeling, see what they say. Maybe the azithromycin will start working soon.
posted by Ery at 6:04 AM on September 9, 2010

I'm just finally recovering from the joys of Mono, and though it took them two weeks of my suffering with weird symptoms to diagnose it, when I finally developed symptoms of not-quite-Strep that helped them finally pin down what I had. This was hands down worse than any time I've ever had Strep, and in my case the doctors very quickly figured out from a glance down my throat that it was Mono.

I sincerely hope it's not Mono, in your case.
posted by Rallon at 6:38 AM on September 9, 2010

seconding TungstenChef, you can finish your whole course of azithromycin and not be well for a few more days, per the notes on the package.
posted by toodleydoodley at 8:09 AM on September 9, 2010

I had a very mild case of mono, and my tonsils swelled a bit and started oozing big tonsil stones. Yum.
posted by zeek321 at 8:21 AM on September 9, 2010

I had an experience similar to Rallon's last December -- a horrific bout of Mono accompanied by two weeks of truly awful tonsilitis. At times it was so bad I would burst into tears from pure frustration and exhaustion. If it is Mono, it would likely be courted by a cocktail of other symptoms... fever, fatigue, muscle aches, coughing, etc. For me, though, the tonsilitis was far and away the worst of the bunch. If you've still got it after 4-5 days, and especially if you notice other symptoms developing, it would be worth going in and getting a Mono test. Any earlier than a week from contracting it and it won't show up.

While Mono impacts different people in different ways, for me it was a special kind of hell. I literally could not do any work for three weeks, so it helps to have the test results to prove to whoever you're responsible to that you're really incapacitated.
posted by aintthattheway at 8:23 AM on September 9, 2010

Mono here too. Sorry to say. It sucks and makes you feel like crap for weeks.
posted by toastedbeagle at 10:21 AM on September 9, 2010

Yup. Tonisliths. Foul, so very foul.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:46 PM on September 9, 2010