2+ months of strep

[Starlight1287]

Hi -

Sorry this is so long, but it takes some explaining...

I've been sick since the beginning of February, and I don't know what to do.  I came down with strep in February; it hit me very suddenly overnight.  I waited a couple days to go to the doctor to see if it would get better, but it turned into the worst sore throat I've ever experienced, so I went to the doctor and the strep test came back positive.  He put me on 10 days of amoxicillin.

I was feeling better by the time that was done, but within a couple days of finishing the antibiotics my sore throat was back, just as bad as before.  The strep test came back positive again, and I was put on 10 days of penicillin.

The same thing happened again - within a few days the sore throat came back, though not quite as painful as before.  This time, I was given 10 days of augmentin.

After that round of antibiotics my throat seemed to be better.  I never felt 100%, but my throat wasn't hurting anymore.  About a week later the sore throat started building up again.  I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled to talk about why my strep may have been so hard to get rid of (I had travelled in this time period, so I  went to urgent care clinics, not a regular doctor).  Since I already hadn't felt 100% well, which I felt like I should after 30 days of antibiotics, and my sore throat was coming back, she decided to do another strep test, and it also came back positive.

She gave me 10 days of levaquin, and then an additional 5 days a few days after I finished that dose.

I went to an infectious disease doctor she referred me to in order to figure out if something else might be going on.  He said he thinks I'm a strep carrier, which is why the tests kept coming back positive, and that something else is causing my sore throat.

I can accept that answer for the last couple recurrences, but at least the first two times I'm positive it had to be strep.  My throat hurt more than it ever has, I had a lot of swelling, and it just kept getting worse.

When I went to see the infectious disease doctor, he based his conclusion on my lack of fever and swollen lymph nodes.  The thing is, I never get real fevers - I get sick fairly often, but the last time I had an actual fever has to be over 10 years ago.  It makes it hard sometimes for doctors to believe me that I'm sick because I never have the fever symptom.  My normal body temperature is 97.9, too, so a very mild fever looks normal.  The highest it's been in the last 10 or so years is 99.5, which was in the first month of my strep ordeal.

Now, starting 2 days ago, my throat is essentially better - nothing I would go to a doctor for - but my lymph nodes underneath my chin and down the front of my neck are swollen and very tender.  It hurts to move my head because even that puts too much pressure on them.

I have a mild headache and feel generally achey.  It feels the way my body would if I had a fever, except that I don't  - it's just between 98.6  and 99.1.

I feel like this has to all be related - it would be oddly coincidental for me to get so sick so many times in the past two months, all in the same region of my body.

In all the time I was sick since March they were never swollen or sensitive; it seems odd to me that they are now.  Should I let it go a few more days, or should I see a doctor again?  Also, does anybody have any idea what could be going on with me?

Thanks for your help!

[Murriettabd]

Hello
This is exactly what I am going through! Did you ever figure it out?