Recommend prescription meds for sore / swollen throat?

January 12, 2020 9:41 AM

I'm in Vanuatu, a country that will sell you prescription medicine without a doctor's prescription, but you have to know what to ask for. I feel like a golf ball is growing in my throat and swallowing is difficult. I'm dog sitting on a resort and may have already gotten one guest sick (or he me). Would like to nip this in the bud. Suggestions? And yes, I realize this is unorthodox and YANMD.
posted by dobbs to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

This isn’t what you asked for, but you’re in Vanuatu — you should be able to get powdered kava root in the nearest market. If you mix it with water and gargle it, it’s a pretty good topical anaesthetic. I used to use it for sore throats when I was in Peace Corps Samoa, and I still would if it was conveniently available here.

Hopefully someone else will have prescription drug advice, but kava might be a useful accompaniment even if you do get western meds. (It tastes weird — sort of like dirt — but not strong and not really unpleasant.)
posted by LizardBreath at 10:09 AM on January 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

Your swelled throat sounds like I felt when I had mono. The solution was a shot of cortisone into my left butt-cheek -- went from the sickest I've ever been to almost 100% in less than 24 hours.
posted by Rash at 10:19 AM on January 12, 2020

A lot of sore throats are viral, unfortunately. In addition to the kava root advice, you might try following some of the advice here. I usually gargle with warm salt water, including for bad sore throats (link has info. on that and other things to try.) If all that does not work, then and only then consider if it might be strep (treatable by antibiotics which this link talks about) or mono.

When I had mono, my symptoms were serious exhaustion and a sore throat that felt like it was being cut by knives (YMMV.)

(Also, I'm assuming you have had the Mumps vaccine).
posted by gudrun at 10:29 AM on January 12, 2020

Penicillin, 10 day course. 250 to 500 mg every 8 hours. Dont take them for less than 10 days, even if you start to feel better. If you're allergic to penicillin, take zithromax (a Z pack) instead. The package will have dosage instructions.

Keep in mind it may be viral, in which case the antibiotics will not speed up your healing process. Ask at the pharmacy if they have the strep test strips, which give a result in 10 minutes.

In either case, ibuprofen or tylenol will help with pain, and you can put ice packs on your neck as well.

If it continues for more than 10 days, go get testing done by a doctor.
posted by ananci at 10:45 AM on January 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

Lozenges with benzocaine (a topical anesthetic), available without a prescription in the US, are the best thing I've found to make sore throats feel better while my body fights off whatever virus I have (with the help of rest and liquids.)
posted by needs more cowbell at 10:47 AM on January 12, 2020

Very warm/hot salt (quite salty!) water rinsing/gargling 4-6 times per day.
posted by fourpotatoes at 11:29 AM on January 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

Medicines often have different names in different countries. The pharmacist may be able to help you figure out what you need if you or someone translating for you describes your symptoms in full. Alternately it may be worth while to see if there is a nurse at the resort. A sore throat can be a symptom of a variety of things so your best bet is to get some sort of medical professional (even if just a pharmacist) involved.
posted by donut_princess at 3:01 PM on January 12, 2020

Chloroseptic spray (phenol 1.4%) makes your throat feel worlds better, as does saltwater, or vinegar if you're desperate. I've had the worst sore throats, been sure I had strep, and it turned out to be viral so there was nothing to do but treat the symptoms, get plenty of rest, and hydrate. I'm not a doctor, etc., but the main reason drugs are prescription in most countries is not out of any desire to keep "the good stuff" away from patients. Drugs have severe side effects, drugs require some level of expertise to make sure you're treating the right condition, and drugs have potentially fatal interactions. If you've had a bad reaction to penicillin, you want that doctor and/or pharmacist to know that prescribing you amoxicillin is a really bad idea. Hope you feel better.
posted by wnissen at 5:16 PM on January 13, 2020 [1 favorite]