Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Ode to a Sore Throat

The painful swallowing I can hardly bear
along with the throbbing in my ear.

That scratchy feeling, so unkind
The beating drums within my mind.

A rundown ache down in my chest
and a burning feeling inside my breast.

Pressure builds behind the eyes
which water much, like little cries.

O sweet physician, can't you cure
how much more must I endure?

***

I have had a sore throat now almost constantly since Christmas. I went to the doctor prior to New Year's and received an antibiotic. A few days after finishing the antibiotic, the sore throat returned (this is a sore throat complete with blisters; it's like swallowing a cactus constantly). I phoned the doctor and received a different antibiotic prescription. The sore throat cleared up and I finished the antibiotic about a week ago, and on Saturday the blisters and sore throat returned.

The doctor saw me again yesterday and I asked for a strep test, which was negative. She suggested I might have mono! So she took blood to test for that and I am waiting on the results. I guess they'll look for other things, too, if that is negative.

I must say, looking at the list of symptoms, mono does seem a likely candidate. But I suppose it could be any other virus, too.

I did not know you could have mono more than once. I had it when I was 19 and was very sick with it for nearly a month. Of course, this sore throat has been going on for about a month now so maybe whatever this is is nearing the end of its course.

Additionally, I have wondered if this is some weird allergic reaction, because I have many allergies. I don't have a lot of food allergies, though I do have some. In thinking back, I believe if it is an allergy, it might be shrimp, because I had shrimp Christmas Day and woke the next morning with a bad sore throat, and I had sweet and sour shrimp right before I woke up with the second round of sore throat, and again this Friday night and woke Saturday with a sore throat. However, I don't know how you check that other than by staying away from shrimp for a while and then eating them to see if you get a sore throat.

A shrimp allergy would be new to me, and I don't know if that would translate into a new allergy to shellfish or all fish or what. Which would be terrible because I really like fish.

However, I don't have hives or anything like that, just this sore throat, so I am not at all sure this is an allergy. Guess I'll let the doctor sort it out.

2 comments:

  1. I hope you find out what is causing the sore throat with blisters. I think it may be an allergy to shrimp, since it got worse every time you ate them.

    Hope you will feel better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa (ninjiom-hk.cwahi.net) may be another choice. i know alot of people use it, its also non alcoholic, though it's effectiveness is not as good as alcohol based cough medicine, but it's still good to use on not so serious sore throat.

    ReplyDelete

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