Worst sore throat ever
may 19th, 2006. Samuel j. Harkous
so I read this thread on tuesday, may
15th, the first day of the worst sore
throat of my life. Ever. I was looking
for help. I google searched "worst sore
throat ever"
it was terrible! I dont even want to talk
about it. But I will because I vowed that
if I ever got better I would just want to
go around helping people who were
suffering incurabely like me, especially
sore throat victims.
This is no laughing matter, even though
most people cant really understand how bad
having a sore throat like this really is,
and they cant really do anything for you
anyways.
Everyone seems to have some advice that
they want to give you. You know, some
herb or secret that I wished they would
just shut up.
Ginger, garlic, licorice root, cayenne
pepper gargling salt water gargling.
Yeah those are all great for minor sore
throats, but will not solve the problem!
They are just annoying! I speak from my
experience.
You see, there are some sore throats that
just cannot be cleared up that easily, and
I think their pain and duration are the
only visible signals of their viscious
nature.
My story:
may 15th: late evening minor sore throat.
Night one of excruiating sore throat
may 16th: woke up in the morning
suffering heavily. Tried tea, cayyenne
pepper gargling, ibuprofen, not much help.
My right tonsil was swelled, filled with
yellow stuff
( I could see it bulging and wanting to
come out of a little slit in my tonsil,
they usually call these things crypts)
another night of terrible pain (body
shaking every time I had to swallow)
may 17th: the pain gets worse in the
morning. Woke up in the night every hour
with a dry mouth urging for swallows that
would reply with unbearable pain. Hell.
I just wanted to die. Spent the whole day
being miserable and trying not to swallow
(see below for tips on how not to
swallow). Visited health center at 2pm.
Good idea
doctor checked for strep. 30 min test
showed negative strep. Sent home on
prescription of 2 ibuprofin and half a
vicodin 4 times a day. This is a good
idea because it will help you get through
the days until the throat heals. Felt
better after a smoothie. A night of pain
much worse than the previous nights. Un
doing it believable. My god. Again, I
just wanted to die and end my life,
especially with no cure in sight. Very
depressed. It was my birthday.
May 18th: woke up, determined to walk
around because that was the only thing
that seemed to save me during the days.
Went to the bank, dmv, wildberries for a
smoothie, and chp to correct a ticket. I
got a lot done that had to be done because
I expected to pass out/ die / become
completely invalid within the day. It was
that bad. But im proud of myself for
pushing through the misery to get those
things done.
4 o clock: went to the er
good idea
the nurse practitioner suspected an
abscess in my right tonsil, which had
swollen so large that it filled half of
the back of my throat. They decided to
numb up my throat and stick a needle in
the tonsil to drain it of puss and put me
on anti biotics.
I am scared of needles. I hate them.
They gave me a relaxer pill and an
antibiotic, and 30 minutes later they did
it. Sigh, I still feel traumatized, but I
was willing to do anything at that point,
even killling myself seemed like a great
option. Anything to stop the ceaseless
suffering. I went back to my friends
house and took a nap in the car while she
was getting ready to drive me home. I
woke up in terror, not knowing who I was,
where I was or knowing what was inside of
my mouth. It felt like wings of an
airplane sideways in my throat, choking
me. I panicked and ran upstairs, and was
scared shitless for a half hour, trying to
figure out what was in my throat. I broke
down and cried an hour later. It felt no
better and I couldnt swallow or even tell
the muscles to swallow. It was really
scary especially because I hadnt eaten in
5 days, since sunday night. But I buckled
up after a half hour of desperate crying
and forced swallows of "recharge" lemonade
and the liquid vicodin that they gave me
at the er, 2 ibuprofin and started to
chill out. It still hurt but at least I
chilled the medical question out. By the
time I went to bed at 12pm I put two sets
of pain dose (1 pain dose= 2 ibuprofin,
1/2 vicodin every 4 hours) for the night
and was feeling better already. The doc
had made holes in the tonsil when he poked
in there for draining. I was in good
spirits as I went to sleep.
This was the first night of no pain. No
waking up with a dry mouth. No screaming
or freaking out. Thank god. Thank you
doctors everywhere. Praise jesus himself.
I am so doing it thankful I cannot begin
to relate it in words. Maybe ill write a
song about it. I will definately help
people suffering in the world to show my
thanks.
May 19th: today. Woke up feelin allright.
Been feeling happy and chipper all day.
I can finally eat and swallow without
pain! Praise the lord! Hallelujah! Im
so happy to be alive.
Went to the student health center to fill
the meds. A followup showed an overnight
culture of strep was also negative, 98%
accurate. It probably was not strep.
I am going to take the half vicodins 4
times a day for the little pain thats left
until its gone, and take a 10day set of
antibiotics to make sure its done right
and doesnt come back. Antibiotics are
amazing, and I am so thankful that we have
them today, they really are a miracle.
Make sure you dont be foolish with them,
finish the prescription all the way to the
10th day. You have to, read about it if
you dont want to, ok?
So my advice:
1) if you can tell that its not a normal
sore throat, go to a doctor right away.
2) if you go to the doctor, they can help
you.
I didnt want to because I dont usually
trust in modern medicine. Also, I am
broke and knew I couldnt afford anything
expensive. (i wouldnt even go to the open
door clinic on tuesday may 16th because it
cost 20$) the thing is though, when you
are in serious pain and its getting worse,
you need help and it is out there. They
can at least try to find out what it is.
Bacteria, abscess, bad tonsils, strep
throat. Just going to see some one who is
a professional will help your outlook on
things.
3) get a second opinion
the health center could have stopped my
suffering by tuesday may 16th if they had
given me the antibiotics that I asked for.
The nurse practitioner would not
prescribe anti biotics because no strep
bacteria was found in the test.
Antibiotics were the correct solution,
even though it was not strep.
4) just know that the nights are going to
be the worst. You lie down and things get
all clogged up.
5) be strong. If all else fails and
nothing works and the pain is so bad that
you just want to kill yourself and you
dont want to go seek help, go to the
hospital before you kill yourself.
6) tip for not swallowing. Gently press
your tongue up to the roof of your mouth,
creating a sliding angle for saliva to go
down your throat.
I learned this tip from my dojo in san
diego. When meditating for hours on end,
swallowing can be a serious distraction.
So the monks figured out that if you point
the tip of your toungue to the roof of
your mouth and roll the tongue a bit, the
saliva will just slide down your throat
and you wont feel the urge to swallow so
often. Youll only need to swallow about
once every 15 minutes, or hour if your
sleeping. This is so crucial in avoiding
those heartbreaking moments before and
during each swallow.
7) be as healthy as you can be with
whatever supplements and food and fluids
you can get down past your throat
i really hope that this helps people
suffering from the sore throat out there.
I feel your pain, so much.
Love and respect,
samuel j. Harkous
