30 yr old male sore throat with white patches on back of throat

Posted , 3 users are following.

So as the title says I have had a sore throat now for about 6-7 days. Went to my PCP doc today to have him take a look. I have also have had sinus congestion also for the past 3 days as well. I have not had a fever, no chills, no body aches, and a very minor cough to clear my throat sometimes.

My PCP did a rapid strep test and that came back negative, so he said its probably a cold or some other virus and there was not much he could do. He did not not prescribe me any antibiotics or anything else. Below I have attached a pic of the back of my throat showing the the white patches. Just look for a second opinion on what it might be? I've never had white patches on the back of my throat like this before.

http://imgur.com/a/YAe3l

0 likes, 26 replies

26 Replies

  • Posted

     Looks like Tonsilitis caused by some viral infection. Therefore no antibiotics are needed. It should go away in a week, if you are otherwise healthy. 
    • Posted

      yeah the first few days I had the sore throat my tonsils felt really sore/swollen and thats mostly gone away now. I just have those white patches left now on the back upper part of my mouth/throat that are still sore. I post this on some other fourms too and other people said it looked like "oral thrush? what ever that is?

    • Posted

      Ok, if oral thrush or eosophageal infection can be yeast infection , also called oralpharyngeal candidiasis. You will need a throat culture for this, have you gotten this done ? 
    • Posted

      Funny you say that..

      So i sent that pic to my friend who is a vet, and she wanted me to come down so she could swab it and run some tests on it. She came back and said its deff a fungal infection. However... I am still gonna go to the ENT on monday.

  • Posted

    The whiteness to it kind of resembles something that could possibly be fungal. I had thrush and didn't even know, my ENT found it at the base of my tongue while scoping my sinuses for unrelated issues. I was prescribed Nystatin rinse for 2 weeks.. If your PCP isn't much help may you should check out an ENT. They're much more knowledgeable in these issues. Lots of luck smile

    • Posted

      yep I have an appointnent with the ENT on monday smile

      how helpful was your treatment, and how did you get it in the first place?

    • Posted

      Good! I'm sick of seeing my ENT.. Scheduled to have a full tonsillectomy on 2/8/17 and absolutely dreading it.

      I have asthma and use an inhaled corticosteroid (Advair) to control it. I was also on an antibiotic cycle around the same time period so my ENT wasn't sure if it was caused by the inhaler or the antibiotic (because they both can cause it).

      Nystatin isn't bad either. They made me rinse and swallow it because it was at the base of my tongue- so that's the only way it could get back there. 😕 It went away after two weeks. I'm also 30 y/o but female, BTW.

    • Posted

      prior to me  having this issue i had been using flonase 1 - 2 times a day for a few weeks which also is a corticosteroid. Wonder if thats the cause...

      glad to hear yours went away. I have since stopped my used of flonase for about 5 days now. It could be in my mind, but it feels like mine is getting better and it doesnt feel nearly as sore anymore back there. Is this something that will go away on its own too? obvisouly im still gonna go to the ENT lol. 

    • Posted

      Hmm.. That's interesting and totally possible if its a cortico too. I don't think fungal infections clear on their own so you'd probably need an antifungal if that were the case. Good luck at the ENT and let us know what they say smile

    • Posted

      for sure I go on monday, so hopefully only a few more days of suffering sad

      i'll comment back with results of the visit. 

    • Posted

      OK so went to the ENT. He didn't know what it was, I told him maybe oral thrush and he wasnt sure. He took a swab to culture it and said they should have an answer later in the week. He did proscibe me 2 weeks worth Clotrimazole Lozenges.

    • Posted

      Okay.. The culture should help them to pinpoint what it is! Lots of luck.. Come back and keep us posted.
    • Posted

      A few days.. I didn't have many symptoms aside from the white patches at the base of the tongue.

      How are you feeling?

    • Posted

      well most of the white patches went away on their own, or from gargaling salt water or listerine. I'm just left with sore red areas on the roof of my mouth and back part near the uvula. 

    • Posted

      Hopefully they'll heal up quickly for you. Mouth issues can be so annoying because we literally use them for everything!

    • Posted

      haha yeah thats for sure! My tongue also is a lttle white and sore sometimes also so im guess i have it on there too. Do you know how long it takes for you to notice the symptoms like I have? I only ask to try and figure out how this happened if its from antibiotics that I was on 2 months ago or if its the flonase or something else completely.
    • Posted

      From what I gathered during researching it (when I had it) is that it can occur from antibiotics or corticosteroid medications most frequently because it messes with the natural flora in your body. I had it for a while (I'd say a month or two) and didn't notice a thing. I assume if I left it alone I would have started getting soreness and whatnot.

    • Posted

      ok so this could be stemming from antibiotics i was on 2 months ago and now just growing to notice it?
    • Posted

      Its possible- if it is indeed thrush

      That's what they said mine could have been from.

    • Posted

      Ok, lets hope so, cause i started googling it HIV kept coming up over and over again making me anxious.
    • Posted

      Google is the worst. I'm having a tonsillectomy next week and I'm convinced I have ******* tonsil cancer at the moment courtesy of google. Stay away from it, its the devil lol

    • Posted

      Ugh i couldnt help it haha. Im like well if i read into it maybe it will make me feel better. Nope... now im all anxious lol
    • Posted

      Google is never reassuring.. The conclusion I get from every google search is either that I have cancer, aids, or I'm dying. Lol it sucks... You'll be alright.

    • Posted

      Haha well i apreciate all the responses! The ent said they should have the test back by thursday, and ill respond then.

      Also when you had thrush did you just have it on your tongue or on the roof of your mouth too?

    • Posted

      Yeah, let me know. I didn't have anything on the roof of my mouth, but I assume by my last research that it can grow anywhere in the mouth under the right circumstances. I think mine was on the back of my tongue from my inhaler.. When I spray and inhale it, it hits that exact area. Lots of luck.. Talk soon.

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