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Sore Throat Loss?
bcon49 posted:
First of all, thanks for this awesome resource! This is my first post so hopefully its not too crazy!

So I have had a sore throat for a few months now which started with pain but went away within the first week of having it. Although the pain went away, I noticed my throat remained red and had much more mucus build up than normal! I was also sexually active at this time and had symptoms that seemed like a UTI. I went to the doctor who treated me for gonorrhea and chlymidia (both tests later came back negative) and the symptoms went away. About a month later my nose began to become stuffed up so i went to the doctor who diagnosed me with a sinus infection and but me on amoxicillin... I finished all these antibiotics as prescribed and I felt better (although the throat thing stayed).

Eventually I became paranoid and went back to the doctor due to some fatigue kicking in as well and we figured it would be best to test for more stuff... So I had a strep test, ESR, CMP, CBC, and heterophile test all ordered and he said I had no swollen lympnodes and my throat looked red but not swollen or inflammed. All these tests came back normal to him!

So am I being paranoid? As of right now my only lasting symptoms are still the the red throat and some fatigue? I feel like the tests we ordered would have caught everything under the sun and don't want to keep wasting money going back to the doctor over and over?
bcon49 responded:
I also forgot to mention that since my sinus infection I had been taking generic claritin and a nasal spray prescribed by my doctor to fight off any allergies I had... which would make me think any post-nasal drip would stop soon after?
Rod Moser, PA, PhD responded:
A few comments....

A single course of antibiotics may not fully clear a sinus infection. A person who has a chronic sinus infection would require a longer course than ten days or so. Because you have had a sore throat for months now, you may have night-time sinus drainage, or you may be mouth-breathing (due to a stuffy nose) where you throat dries up and becomes painful (mostly in the morning). Since I have no way of knowing if your sinus infection has been completely eradicated, you may end up seeing your medical provider again for another evaluation.

The fatigue concerns me. Even though you were checked for mono, some mono test need to be repeated. The EBV panel is consider the most accurate.

I don't know if you are male or female, or the type of sexual activity you are having, but if you were concerned about having an STD, I am assuming that you had unprotected sex...correct? Have you had an HIV test?
bcon49 replied to Rod Moser, PA, PhD's response:
I am a male and had an HIV test when the doctor had all those other blood tests done... That would have been about 3 months after my last sexual activity... All tests came back negative and he didn't see anything else that needed attention?

I had a positive mono test in high school (would be close to 8 years ago now) and then this mono test came back negative... I suppose it is possible but seems the odds of catching it again and having it test negative now would be slim if I understand correctly?

I will probably end up going again to get checked but I find it weird all of these tests don't seem to be catching anything?
Rod Moser, PA, PhD replied to bcon49's response:
The duration of your symptoms is most concerning. An EBV panel would tell your medical provider if you did have mono, or even had mono eight years ago. Some mono tests are not accurate, so your test eight years ago could have been wrong. We typically only get mono once, so a new and more accurate test would seem to be appropriate now. A negative HIV is good.

I know this is frustrating to you, so I hope your doctor will take your evalation to a higher level. Keep me posted.
bcon49 replied to Rod Moser, PA, PhD's response:
So I went to the doctor again the other day and they did a physical evaluation... they said my sinuses looked fine and didn't see any issues nasally... They also said they could tell my mouth and throat had alot of mucus buildup but were unsure of where it was from! My throat wasn't causing any pain and the doctors didn't think there was an inflammation or reddening of the throat... I do experience a loss of voice or hoarseness if I talk for extended periods of time when before this started I could talk for the same amount of time without issue!

They ended up doing a swab of my throat checking for all bacterial infections (since the last swab was for just strep)... I asked and they confirmed that all bloodwork came back negative for HIV and the mono test did as well! A week later all bacterial infections showed negative...They told me to switch from generic claritin to zyrtec to see how that effects what they expect to be a post-nasal drip!

My nose and sinuses haven't been giving me issues since I got off the amoxicilin however, and I just don't feel like these fatigue/throat symptoms are allergy related? I am trying to pay attention to patterns within the environment... but so far no luck!

Some other symptoms I have sort of noticed are extremely cold extremeties (although i have been chalking this up to the colder seasons so far)... and feelings of hot flashes! I also seem to be experiencing chronic bowel issues (constipation in comparison to my normal schedule a few months ago)...

I'm sure this is alot of information that is probably impossible to accurately try and diagnose from, but it is getting frustrating and I have this feeling of always being "sick"
Thanks for that update....

I hope that you continue to improve and be symptom-free soon.

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