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How Long Does Tonsillitis Last?

Posted , 139 users are following.

mvh81
mvh81

Hi. I'm 32 and currently going through an horrendous dose of tonsillitis. What started out on Monday as general aches and pains was followed by fever/shivers Mon night into Tue. WED saw some improvement ache wise but then the sore throat started. It's now Fri and I've got horrendous ulcers covering both tonsils, some 3 or 4mm across and it sure is painful.

I believe I've got everything I can from antibiotics (amoxicillin) to throat lozenges and mouth wash (difflam and difflam spray). However the unknown progression is worrying as I keep reading some improvement should be visible in 5 days after onset yet some day it can last up to 2 weeks!

A horrid week and a horrible illness. Any info/stories/comments would be appreciated.

5 likes, 206 replies

206 Replies

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  • josephine41461
    josephine41461 mvh81

    Posted

    Im so glad i stumbled across this website. I am currently experiencing the most horrific bout of tonsilitis i have ever known, a constant fever/ night sweats/ migraines/ earache to name a few, its been so bad i have been convinced it must be something more serious due to the excrutiating pain and yesterday morning i spat up loads of blood which saw me ending up in A&E where they confirmed my tonsils were swollen and riddled with ulcers that my throat airway was so small they considered keeping me in to administer antibiotics IV as they were worried i wouldnt be able to swallow! I am on 2 lots of antibiotics and the strongest cocodamol available, its now day 4 and i remain bedridden, im only able to drink and eat when my painkillers have kicked in, otherwise swallowing my own saliva is too painful. Today i feel so down and generally fed up. The double dose of antibiotics is making me feel drained. At first i tried to treat the tonsilitis without antibiotics but the pain became too unbearable, for everyone taking antibiotics make sure you take probiotics too restore the good bacteria in your gut. Im also taking 1600mg garlic in capsules as garlic can kill tonsilitis infections and im taking echinacea drops as an immune booster. My heart goes out to everyone whose experienced this, it really is truly awful and much worse than a "sore throat"
    • Spaceace
      Spaceace josephine41461

      Posted

      Hi Josephine, did you ever figure out anything here?  I am having the same symptoms and am getting a little concerned.  I don't have insurance and have been to the doctor twice followed by antibiotics both times with little to no effect.

      Hope you found relief and could share.

      Thanks,  

      ​Todd

  • michelle1391
    michelle1391 mvh81

    Posted

    Hello I am so glad I found this thread.

    I am suffering from what is my first tonsilitus ever, and it's horrible.

    I can't sleep, I feel sick, I even had diarroeah yesterday.

    My tonsils are covered in ulcers and my mouth is so dry but i cant swallow drink.

    With a active 4 year old running around i am finding it hard to rest, but all I want to do is sleep as if I sleep I am not aware of the pain sad

     

  • Karel123
    Karel123 mvh81

    Posted

    I hope someone here has some reassurance for me. have never used this site and any other like it, but at the moment I feel like I need all the help I can get. I was diagnosed with tonsillitis a week ago, I'm 45 years old and never had it before or any kind of throat problem. I was given anti-biotics and in the beginning felt I was getting a bit better. I had a fever in the first few days, then that went away. But then it started to get worse. Its only on one side. I went back to the doctor after 1 week and when he looked down my throat he said that my tonsills looked a lot better, still a bit read but not swollen. From what he saw he was surprised that I am still in so much pain. I feel there is a lump on the left side inside my throat, my glands on that side are swollen, but the worst thing is I can't open my mouth, it hurts when I try to move my tongue and eating/swallowing is very difficult. after looking on the internet I become convinced it must be an abscess. The doctor said it isn;t as my face and neck is not swollen. Have been taking the second set of anti-biotics for just one day, and I'm hoping and praying it starts to get better, but I must admit I am worried. I have never taken so many painkillers in my life (1000mg paracetemol every 6 hrs, with ibuprofen inbetween). Has anyone had symptoms like these? Thank you.
    • Chaupot
      Chaupot Karel123

      Posted

      This thread is giving me some brief respite and hope.

      so sorry to hear you're in so much pain Karel.  I am on day 4 with antibiotics and just realised I have the ulcers on my tonsils.  Wow, no wonder eating hurts so much!

      I have noticed the only two things that help in any small way are drinking warm water, honey and lemon tea, and ibuprofen.

      Other than that I have:

      -gargled salt water (wowsers it hurts)

      -mouth sprays (don't seem to work)

      -paracetomol (doesn't seem to work)

      -icecream (BAD IDEA)

      -Basically anything sugary kills. 

      Has anyone found anything they can eat that doesn't hurt?

       

    • pratik_80216
      pratik_80216 Chaupot

      Posted

      I m suffering from tonsilities prob since 4 years. last 1 n half year was good for me coz i got it only 4 times, during that time I was prescribed la tablet n b12 injection i think those were the reason for 1.5 year i was less infected by tonsilities, bt sadly i have been getting tonsillitis 5 times in last 3 months. Had antibiotics bt it comes again. I think the main problem is with my imunity. I m Going to take some tables which can boost my imunity if my doctor will prescribe ill let u know if it will help me.
    • pratik_80216
      pratik_80216 Chaupot

      Posted

      And i drink milk and somtime Maggie noodles idk if it will hurt your throat but doesn't hurt me u should try if its available in your country. Or any noodles which is not spicy.
    • pratik_80216
      pratik_80216 Chaupot

      Posted

      If u got ulcer than dont try to eat anything jjst drink hot milk or hot chocolate milk.or any milkshake but make sure its not cold.when i eat ice cream or drink any cold shake it make tonsilities worse. I have noticed that i get tonsilities more often when i drink coca cola pepse or any colddrink. Meet your doctor otherwise ulcer spread and it ll make situation worse. Before 20 days i got ulcer too bt after taking medicine my ulcer gone. Now i m again suffering from tonsilities hope this time ulcer wont appear. I was also prescribed painkiller coz i was not even able to breath without pain.n sorry foe bad English i hope u can understand me.
    • Spaceace
      Spaceace pratik_80216

      Posted

      Hi Pratik, did you ever figure out anything here?  I am having the same symptoms and am getting a little concerned.  I don't have insurance and have been to the doctor twice followed by antibiotics both times with little to no effect.

      Hope you found relief and could share.

      Thanks,  

      ​Todd

    • melissa_76678
      melissa_76678 Chaupot

      Posted

      I am on Day 5 of tonsillitis and Day 2 of antibiotics, I have found using my Boyfriends Protein Shake Powder in Luke Warm Water is pretty much all I can eat/swallow, its still a little uncomfortable but less uncomfortable then trying to eat soup, ice cream and any of the other usual foods told to eat
    • cbrezo
      cbrezo Chaupot

      Posted

      I know I'm a year a little too late but I found what you said about the sugar to be true. When you have tonsillitis Do Not eat/drink sugary foods. And if you cannot help yourself to a piece of treat, well prepare yourself for some reckoning.

      Last night I ate waaay too much chocolate and drank not enough water, also didn't do a salt water gargle which is what helps me quite a bit when my tonsil starts acting up. Also get Plenty of rest. Don't agitate your tonsils like sucking on them because you think you can get the abscess out. No no no.

      I've been having tonsillitis each year since I turned 17 and I'm now 20. I lost 30 pounds because I was basically fasting, 0 appetite/it hurt too much to swallow, also had no energy to do anything so all I did was sleep and use the washroom. I recommend that if you get it annually it's better to remove them. It will save you suffering. I was stupid to not have them removed when my doc said I should get them out. Which resulted in 2 months of IV treatments, gosh I do not miss walking around with a cannula.

    • Glenn1234
      Glenn1234 Karel123

      Posted

      Hi this is my exact symptoms I am on day 6 and no relief my ear is also hurting so badly I cannot hear from it . Can you tell me if you are better and how long it took ? 

      Thank you 

    • jay85585
      jay85585 pratik_80216

      Posted

      Right with you on this one. I've had it two days now and on antibiotics. Haven't really left the bed which is hard for my wife and two kids. I feel for them. It sucks.

  • wolfie0628
    wolfie0628 mvh81

    Posted

    I'm 19 years old and this is the very first time I've had tonsilitis. I've definitely taken eating and drinking for granted in my entire life and when it goes away eventually I will most likely live in constant fear of getting this crappy sickness again. My boyfriend has been very helpful lately and so has my mom but it still can't take the agony away. 

    It started around last Friday I started feeling a cold coming on. I felt weak and tired but that's it. So I didn't really do anything except take some Nyquil and Dayquil. They didn't seem to help but the cold has to go away on its own right? When my throat started hurting I was too concerned. I'm a healthy kid that NEVER gets sick so I just figured it was just a little sore throat whatever. I didn't take any other medicine though because I don't like taking stuff. It makes me feel anxious because I don't know if I'll have an allergic reaction or whatever. Anyway, when Sunday came around I knew something wasn't right. My mom took me to a nearby clinic (on my birthday ;(..) and shantibioticad sinus drainage that caused an ear infection. Took a strep test and it was negative. (Was grateful because I didn't wanna miss work). She gave me 850mg of amoxicillin to take twice a day and 15mg of Singulair for allergies to take once a day. I was happy that I had antibiotics because a few years ago i had an upper respitory infection and the antibiotics were a miracle! 

    Anyway I get to work Sunday and start the antibiotics that night with food.....

    ....Let me tell you how frustrating it's been. Not getting better. Not feeling better. Still going into work. I've started taking 3 ibprofens every five hours which I hate. It brings a little comfort by swallowing is still painful. Sleeping is painful and aggravating. The tonsilitis itself is the most ridiculous thing ever because people literally don't understand until they've had it. 

    I started noticing the white spots on my tonsils which I discovered were pus from the tonsils fighting the infection. This was on maybe... Monday... and my boyfriend and I went back to that same clinic. I was baffled when she said "the white spots are probably just food" and "the antibiotics don't kick in until day five or six" and a bunch of other stuff I was sick of. I'm extremely timid already so I didn't have the nerve to tell this woman how I felt. But I will NOT be returning to that clinic again...

    I've had tonsilitis since Monday I'm assuming because that's when I saw the white spots... swallowing as been awful, drinking has been awful. I've already lost weight and the only comfort I find is sucking on ice chips CONSTANTLY while I'm working. I feel your all's pain and I'm glad I have found this thread. Sorry if I typed too much haha. I really hope this clears up soon. I've had alot of support from my friends. Alot of them had their tonsils removed when they were young but the ones that have had tonsilitis before had helped a lot. I'm currently taking amoxicillin twice a day with food along with Singulair once a day and not to mention ibprofens every four or five hours. I'm going back to the doctor (he's an ENT doctor and he's a family friend) on Monday so hopefully we'll see how serious this is or not.

    Keep fighting!!!

  • vince20749
    vince20749 mvh81

    Posted

    Hi,

    This post really informed me a lot at the beginning of my Tonsilitis. I feel that i can share my experience as well to help others pass through this horrendous illness.

    From a discussion with my doctor, Tonsilitis can be caused by a bacteria, a virus or an infectious mononucleosis. Depending of the cause, the recovery time under medical treatment is different:

    - If caused by a bacteria, you can treat your tonsilitis within 3-4 days

    - If caused by a virus, you can treat your tonsilitis within 5-6 days

    - If caused by an infectious mononucleosis, you can treat your tonsilitis within 10-14 days.

    I'm 31, and it's my first time experiencing Tonsilitis. Mine is unfortunatly caused by an infectious mononucleosis, bringing my whole system down. I felt very weak for the 4 first days of my treatment. Recovering slowly, thanks to my Vitamin C and antibiotics.

    For those in my situation, you should keep taking your antibiotics (even when you feel better) to ensure the virus won't kick-in back in your body. Then reinforce your immune system with Vitamin C, and drink a lot of clear water to purge the virus / bacteria away. Make sure your thoat is always wet. No sport for few weeks as well.

    My medical treatment for 10 days:

    - Antibiotics (Amoxicillin)

    - Paracetamol 500g, for my fever

    - Pain killer (Ibuprofen or any others)

    - Anti-inflammatory  pills (to reduce the inflammation and swelling)

    - Anti-inflammatroy throat spray to help me during severe pains

    - Lozenges & mouth bath solution to relieve the ulcers pain as well

    If you have Tonsilitis several times a year, you should seriously think about removing them. The tonsils don't participate anymore to the immune system when you're an adult. The Bone marrow takes over this function. Therefore the tonsils are just acting like a "sponge", trapping the bacteria / virus. 

    Take care all !

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