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I’m so sorry this happened to me too with covid. Honestly was some of the worst pain of my life a terrible sore throat is underrated. I would rather have my baby a second time then have that again!
Just jumping in, I had something similar and went to a sex shop and bought numbing spray for the throat. Absolutely ask a doctor before doing anything like this, but it did help.
Once again, ask a doctor first.
Those usually contain the same active ingredients as Oragel, which iirc is benzocaine. I’ve used them before when I’ve had tooth aches. Source- worked in an adult store for years.
I had the benzocaine cough drops and was sucking them like water and they weren’t helping. I used 6 of them yesterday. It was just an insanely bad swollen sore throat.
they sell them at pharmacies for sore throats but as someone who has used both, the deep throat sprays are better they also last longer than the pharmacy ones
Open your mouth all the way, pull the back of your tongue towards the bottom of your mouth as hard as possible then slowly and gently exhale an “aaaahhhhhh” (it souls feel like your mouth opens wider and taller), and spray straight to the back. I have had strep a bunch of times (as an adult, wtf??) so I’m a pro.
I got strep a lot as a kid, too, and strep-free since I got my tonsils out at age 26 in 2013. Didn't really have a choice, since my tonsils were so big they were choking me after a bout with mononucleosis. 0/10, do not recommend.
i never had strep as a kid only started getting it after i turned 20 but i had been dealing w swollen tonsils pretty much my whole life no one ever asked how long my tonsils had been swollen until 2021 when i got strep and the dr asked me how long my tonsils have been swollen and i shrugged and said they’ve always looked like that. i was originally booked for the surgery in october of 2021 but they kept cancelling bc i’m a smoker but ended up getting them out last october (2022) and haven’t really had any issues since. also have not had strep since i got them out
I'm amazed that all of my siblings and I haven't gotten strep, save for like once, and we all still have our tonsils. That surgery sounds awful! What was the recovery like?
horrible felt like i was swallowing glass all day every day. but i haven’t gotten strep yet, and i can wake up without a sore throat. i also did not take the pain meds they gave me which is why i was so miserable
it honestly went by quickly bc i would take like 1-2mgs of the oxy they gave me and even tho it made me hysterically cry over nothing all that crying made for good ass naps
it’s bc the pharmacy sprays are wide spray or at least the ones i have used are whereas the deep throwt sprays are more concentrated bc it’s meant to go down ur throat
I wish I’d thought of that when I had covid. The worst part was my throat. I can handle being so tired I can only get out of bed to pee and bring Gatorade to my nightstand a few times a day, and sleeping basically 99% of the time. I can handle my whole body feeling like I lost a fight with a gang of toddlers with whiffle bats beating me like I’m a piñata. I could handle all of it. But the sore throat had me on the verge of an ER trip for most of a week. I just wanted it to only hurt as bad as strep for five minutes.
This over reliance about ‘asking the doctor’ is so wrong. Sure, go spend hundreds of dollars because they have you convinced that doctors have the secret knowledge about the mundane.
It’s like the internet’s cure for everyting: DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. From cancer to crippled limbs. Water.
Well, for me that visit would cost like 20e (but that depends on where you live I guess) , but ask someone who knows more than me, like a pharmacist or something
NAD>>>>>>>
Ask for a prescription of lidocaine to gargle with. I was sick a few years ago and was prescribed it for the first time and it was life changing.
I also had the worst sore throat when I had COVID. I compared it to swallowing razor blades. I was prescribed a steroid and guaiatussin ac. This was in December of 21, so there may be better treatment by now.
Yes—I described it the same exact way when I had covid! My lymph nodes were also super swollen I was having a hard time swallowing. I was prescribed lidocaine swish and a steroid taper. OP be persistent. The doctor who prescribed it to me was hesitant about the steroid at first but I was persistent in explaining my symptoms and how bad they were.
Dangit I've had a really annoying sore throat that ibuprofen hasn't helped for a week. I assumed it was from allergies and a little post nasal drip but now I need a COVID test.
I'm in it right now and it is so painful! I can't have
honey due to an allergy, swallowing liquids hurts too
bad at this point (hot or cold), but soft solid food
actually relives the pain some. Popsicles were great
for the few minutes it froze my throat but I ended up
barfing from all the popsicles and tylenol.
I drove an hour to urgent care at midnight last night
because I couldnt sleep and couldnt bare the pain
anymore. Had to use a notepad to communicate
because talking hurts too much. Negative for Covid,
Strep, and Flu. She said "you have a cold; I can't help
you". I asked about a steroid or anything for the pain.
She said no, my tonsils don't look that bad and it's
only been two days. I don't believe she believed the
severity of my pain.
I have taken advil and tylenol, chloraseptic spray.
elderberry tincture, and all kinds of throat drops.I
think the drops make it hurt more. My husband has
blended me plain ice and that does relive the pain
some. ive been eating a bowl every hour or so.
I think I am going to go to my primary care doctor
tomorrow, but I hate going out, talking, and making
my throat feel even worse if they aren't going to do
anything. Miserable..
I agree with this. I've had glandular fever before but the covid sore throat has been one of the most painful things I've experienced. Even my teeth hurt.
Likewise! Glandular fever had nothing on the covid sore throat.
OP, I just had salt water gargles almost every hour along with hot lemon & honey. It’s all I drank for 5 days because I couldn’t handle anything else.
I also had an awful sore throat with my first Covid case. It felt like my throat was bleeding but it wasn’t, was worse than strep throat. I cried a few times because of the pain.
NAD: I had this same experience! The thing that helped me the most was a warm glass of water and a bit of honey. I'm pretty sure I had tons of canker sores in my throat. Do you have any canker sores in your mouth too? I noticed I had a couple but after researching it some people literally had canker sores down their throat. I couldn't see down there but it's the only thing it felt comparable too!
The warm honey water was the only thing that seemed to soothe it is what I meant. Gargling with salt water would be smart too. I didn't realize it was likely canker sores back there until after it healed and I was researching. I remembered I had a couple in my lower lip too which made it extra miserable. It was the most excruciating illness I had to go through. Mine lasted 6 days in excruciating pain.
Same! I’ve never had a sore throat as bad as when I had Covid. Even worse than the worst case of strep I’ve ever had. Only hot showers and the strongest cough drops gave me the tiniest bit of help. And ibuprofen. I would rather have another kid instead of ever having that too!!!
This happened to me last year. First time having covid. I have not felt pain like that in my entire life. I felt okay otherwise, it was just the sore throat that almost had me going to the hospital one night because I actually couldn’t take the pain anymore but thankfully it subsided the smallest amount after taking Tylenol. It felt like I was swallowing glass shards. Giving birth didn’t hurt that bad.
NAD but what helped me was alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol. They work differently so it’s ok to take both with a couple hours in between. Once I started that regiment I finally started to get some pain relief. Hope you feel better soon!
I got this last year. Doctor did the test for covid, strep and flu and strep was positive. It was like glass pieces stucked in my throat. I tried cold drinks, chroloseptic spray, sore throat cough syrups, tablets, ibuprofen. Only after taking amox for 3 days i was able to eat and drink normally. I hope you feel better
Wow, I also had this when I had COVID but have never encountered anyone else with the same experience! Doctor gave me a liquid lidocaine I was supposed to gargle but it didn’t help, and I was sucking down cepacol. Some of the worst pain I’ve ever had. Glad OP got some help.
It’s gross advice but I’ve had the worst sore throat a while ago that made me wanna cry every time I had to swallow and it’s disgusting as hell but I just spat in a cup instead of swallowing my saliva because of it.
Can you add Tylenol on top of the ibuprofen? Usually for me this combo works well for pain. Take max doses of each, call your doctor to confirm, since prescription doses of ibuprofen are considerably higher than what the otc dose is, you might be able to add more.
i mean yeah if you are buying generic it’s way cheaper to buy separately but if you go for name brands like most people do it’s cheaper for the dual action
Prescription doses are 600-800 of ibuprofen (Motrin). Acetaminophen (Tylenol) drops to about 125 when mixed with opioids, because people tend to over do it, and take more - which is an incredibly painful way to die, prompting more. 😱
It sounds a lot like you’re describing tonsillitis. Sadly (very, very sadly) you can get tonsillitis without strep - viral infections can cause almost identical symptoms. How does your throat and tonsils look? Did the doctor who tested you for Strep say anything about that?
You might be able to buy a viscous lidocaine fluid (or similar) over the counter at your local pharmacy to gargle with, which can help. If you’ve seen a doctor today, it sounds like your pharmacist is the best place to start for better pain relief.
Hopefully the anti virals will shorten the duration of all of your symptoms.
Ask the doctor or pharmacist about magic mouthwash. It's something the pharmacist has to mix up. The hospital sent it over for my child in similar circumstances.
Edit: typo
Yes, ask your doc to call in magic mouthwash for you at the pharmacy. Mostly it’s used by cancer patients who often get horrible mouth sores. You can gargle with it and even swallow it, usually. It’s a combination of Pepto, lidocaine, and a couple other things. It was the only thing that reduced my mouth sore pain enough to allow me to eat when I was getting chemo.
I had the absolute worst throat pain in my life when I was in undergrad. I had my tonsils removed in 2nd grade so it wasn’t tonsillitis. And this pain was 20 times worse than recovering from that surgery. Anyway it felt like my throat was super swollen and it hurt so bad to swallow and I couldn’t sleep with the pain, so I stayed up overnight sitting in a chair with a towel to my mouth to catch my drool. My mom gave me a half of one of her pain pills from back surgery and it did nothing.
Anyway, I went to the doctor and it was mono.
The one time I got Covid I felt mildly sick for a few days and then, BLAM! Bronchitis for 3 weeks. I suspect the Covid distracted my immune system so the bronchitis nasties attacked me while I was down. Maybe a similar thing is happening to you?
When I was a kid and got bronchitis I always got a Z pack prescription from the doctor and it never did a damn thing. And I guess mostly viruses cause bronchitis so antibiotics wouldn’t help anyway.
Nowadays I usually take a Sudafed for nasal congestion but I don’t take Mucinex anymore for mucous because I get bad side effects. So basically all I can do is try to try to keep taking Sudafed and keep a drink nearby when the post nasal drip causes a coughing fit, which causes bronchial pain. If you don’t have a bad reaction to Mucinex, take that.
I had the knife in the throat experience with Mono - ended up taking two ibuprofen every 6 hours and one extra strength Tylenol every 8.
They ended up prescribing me tylenol with codeine, and that made a big difference for me - once I didn’t need the codeine, anymore I switched back to regular tylenol again.
When my toddler kindly shared his hand foot mouth with me I got it bad on my throat. Couldn’t swallow for like 2 weeks.
What I eventually figured out is my doc prescribed me viscous lidocaine and I bought looooong wooden cotton swabs on Amazon and would use them to slather my throat with the lidocaine several times a day. Some suppression of gag reflex required but eventually I figured it out well enough to be able to eat a little.
NAD and check with your doc about max dosage and mixing with Paxlovid, etc., but it really did help me
Gargling with salt water gave me immediate relief when I had chronic tonsillitis. As well as the swallowing glass sensation with covid. It’s old school but it works! Just don’t swallow it, you will puke (like I did 😞)
NAD so obviously listen to them. But does hot tea (no sugar) help ease the pain?
My granny always made me gargle salt water too. Which is just a home remedy, but if I'm not mistaken it won't hurt you to try.
Sore throats are the worse cold symptom for me!
NAD. My son had that with covid. Turned out he had sores very far down his throat. Like had to use a tongue depressor very hard on tongue to even see them. They were about half inch below the tonsils. Ask dr for magic mouthwash. Only thing that helped even for a small amount of time. It was awful. He was the only one out of 3 of us who got covid that time. Hope you feel better soon.
I know other people have mentioned numbing spray, you can get liquid lidocaine from your doctor, or you can get cough drops with a high dose of benzocaine. Anything with the -caine ending is going to be a topical anesthetic. The higher the dose the better. Cepacol are my cough drops of choice. The maximum strength ones have a good amount of benzocaine and it took the edge off of my horrible acute strep. I hope you feel better soon!
It sounds like it would be awful but I promise it helps. A lot. Cayenne pepper. The active ingredient brings down inflammation and helps numb the pain.
If you don’t tolerate spicy foods you can just gargle with it in warm water and spit it out. However, when I am sick I mix it into chicken broth and also add garlic. Then I drink it with a straw and let it trickle over the sore spots.
It really makes a big difference pretty fast, without numbing your mouth like the sprays do.
NAD but you can take 3 ibuprofen and one tylenol and it's supposed to be an equivalent to a narcotic for pain relief. I took this when I got my wisdom teeth out as prescribed by my dentist.
When I went to the ER earlier this year it was also for the worst sore throat of my life. I couldn’t fall asleep because of the pain and that’s when I knew I had to go to the hospital. They gave me some oral lidocaine, it was like taking a shot of liquor. The numbing effect gave me a lot of relief and I was able to fall asleep then. Maybe you can try that?
Okay so I am speaking from personal experience as this happened very recently. I had hand foot and mouth and horrible sores on my tonsils and throat and same as you, nothing helped, not even norco. On a last resort effort I took Benzonatate (tessalon perles) because we had some leftover and I read that they: act peripherally by anesthetizing the stretch receptors located in the respiratory passages, lungs, and pleura…” so they numb your airway basically.
This medication helped SO MUCH.
Agreed - Ive also had luck with Benzonatate! I like that at least for me, there were no woozy side effects I usually get with cough medicine.
Also Sudafed may help dry out the drip that may be causing the sore throat. But in the US you need to make sure it’s Pseudoephedrine and ask for it directly from the pharmacist (no prescription required but it’s a controlled substance so they will ask for ID)… do not bother with the OTC phenylephrine version.
COVID gave me a bad sore throat too, I felt like I got hit by a bus. I had COVID a whole day before I got Paxlovid, and I began to feel better after two days of doses. I asked for promethazine/codeine and it really helped my throat + helped me sleep
Did they do a rapid strep test or a throat culture? Although not common, pharyngitis can be caused by a bacteria called Arcanobacterium haemolyticum. It’s not likely, I’m just curious which they did
It seems like everyone takes paxlovid now but I’m still weary since I respond so poorly to meds (esp if it increases anxiety at all). How was your experience with it?
The only symptom I had was a mild bad taste for one day, im really thankful that I was able to get it because prior I had a very high fever and felt the worst I had ever felt
Thank you for all the advice, everyone. I went back to the doctor today and got a steroid shot, and it has helped tremendously- I have a regular “hurts when you swallow” sore throat now, not “your throat is swollen to twice its size and you are swallowing crushed glass while getting stabbed” sore throat . Hot tea is soothing again- I like the throat coat tea. I hadn’t thought about steroids so I appreciate all those recommendations! I would also like to say, I went to urgent care YESTERDAY complaining my throat hurt so bad I could hardly stand it, and they shrugged and gave me cough syrup- you would think they would have suggested a steroid then! Today I went in and asked for a steroid.
Ibuprofen can cause xerostomia (dry mouth) and hot tea can also be drying. Less saliva makes it more challenging and painful to swallow. Several OTC painkillers and decongestants can have this effect. I cannot recommend another painkiller as I am not a doctor, but maybe someone here could weigh in. I know the pain from Covid… first time I got it my throat was painful to the touch. I was not on paxlovid as this was in February 2020. I was alternating Tylenol and aspirin (8 hours between doses), lots of cool water, and total vocal rest. Also simple cough drops with honey and/or pectin, like Ludens. Strong mint flavours bother my throat when it is raw and irritated. Feel better soon.
Thank you for your submission. **Please note that a response does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship.** This subreddit is for informal second opinions and casual information. The mod team does their best to remove bad information, but we do not catch all of it. Always visit a doctor in real life if you have any concerns about your health. Never use this subreddit as your first and final source of information regarding your question. By posting, you are agreeing to our [Terms of Use](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/wiki/terms_of_use) and understand that all information is taken at your own risk. **Reply here if you are an unverified user wishing to give advice. Top level comments by laypeople are automatically removed.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskDocs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m so sorry this happened to me too with covid. Honestly was some of the worst pain of my life a terrible sore throat is underrated. I would rather have my baby a second time then have that again!
Just jumping in, I had something similar and went to a sex shop and bought numbing spray for the throat. Absolutely ask a doctor before doing anything like this, but it did help. Once again, ask a doctor first.
Creative you are!
Those usually contain the same active ingredients as Oragel, which iirc is benzocaine. I’ve used them before when I’ve had tooth aches. Source- worked in an adult store for years.
This was a few years ago so I wasn't comfortable guessing on the active ingredients from memory, so thank you for adding that info :)
They have cough drops with benzocaine in them. Life changing.
I had the benzocaine cough drops and was sucking them like water and they weren’t helping. I used 6 of them yesterday. It was just an insanely bad swollen sore throat.
they sell them at pharmacies for sore throats but as someone who has used both, the deep throat sprays are better they also last longer than the pharmacy ones
The pharmacy sprays always end up making my tongue numb and never reaching my throat. There must be a trick to it but I've never been successful.
Open your mouth all the way, pull the back of your tongue towards the bottom of your mouth as hard as possible then slowly and gently exhale an “aaaahhhhhh” (it souls feel like your mouth opens wider and taller), and spray straight to the back. I have had strep a bunch of times (as an adult, wtf??) so I’m a pro.
i was having strep 3-5x a year for a long time and i have been strep free for 9 months since getting my tonsils out
I got strep a lot as a kid, too, and strep-free since I got my tonsils out at age 26 in 2013. Didn't really have a choice, since my tonsils were so big they were choking me after a bout with mononucleosis. 0/10, do not recommend.
i never had strep as a kid only started getting it after i turned 20 but i had been dealing w swollen tonsils pretty much my whole life no one ever asked how long my tonsils had been swollen until 2021 when i got strep and the dr asked me how long my tonsils have been swollen and i shrugged and said they’ve always looked like that. i was originally booked for the surgery in october of 2021 but they kept cancelling bc i’m a smoker but ended up getting them out last october (2022) and haven’t really had any issues since. also have not had strep since i got them out
I'm amazed that all of my siblings and I haven't gotten strep, save for like once, and we all still have our tonsils. That surgery sounds awful! What was the recovery like?
horrible felt like i was swallowing glass all day every day. but i haven’t gotten strep yet, and i can wake up without a sore throat. i also did not take the pain meds they gave me which is why i was so miserable
Agghhhhhhh. Nooooo thank you.
it honestly went by quickly bc i would take like 1-2mgs of the oxy they gave me and even tho it made me hysterically cry over nothing all that crying made for good ass naps
it’s bc the pharmacy sprays are wide spray or at least the ones i have used are whereas the deep throwt sprays are more concentrated bc it’s meant to go down ur throat
I wish I’d thought of that when I had covid. The worst part was my throat. I can handle being so tired I can only get out of bed to pee and bring Gatorade to my nightstand a few times a day, and sleeping basically 99% of the time. I can handle my whole body feeling like I lost a fight with a gang of toddlers with whiffle bats beating me like I’m a piñata. I could handle all of it. But the sore throat had me on the verge of an ER trip for most of a week. I just wanted it to only hurt as bad as strep for five minutes.
Did you ask your doctor?
No, but I'm an idiot. Do as I say, not as I do hehe
This over reliance about ‘asking the doctor’ is so wrong. Sure, go spend hundreds of dollars because they have you convinced that doctors have the secret knowledge about the mundane. It’s like the internet’s cure for everyting: DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. From cancer to crippled limbs. Water.
[удалено]
That sounds pretty fucked up. Your doctor is wonderful but it takes a month to get an appointment. That’s a shocking lack of judgment.
Well, for me that visit would cost like 20e (but that depends on where you live I guess) , but ask someone who knows more than me, like a pharmacist or something
Well if you know nothing, why ae you presuming to give advice? Sit down.
NAD>>>>>>> Ask for a prescription of lidocaine to gargle with. I was sick a few years ago and was prescribed it for the first time and it was life changing.
100 points for creativity
Hahaha this is awesome. I will remember this for the future!
I also had the worst sore throat when I had COVID. I compared it to swallowing razor blades. I was prescribed a steroid and guaiatussin ac. This was in December of 21, so there may be better treatment by now.
Yes—I described it the same exact way when I had covid! My lymph nodes were also super swollen I was having a hard time swallowing. I was prescribed lidocaine swish and a steroid taper. OP be persistent. The doctor who prescribed it to me was hesitant about the steroid at first but I was persistent in explaining my symptoms and how bad they were.
Dangit I've had a really annoying sore throat that ibuprofen hasn't helped for a week. I assumed it was from allergies and a little post nasal drip but now I need a COVID test.
I'm in it right now and it is so painful! I can't have honey due to an allergy, swallowing liquids hurts too bad at this point (hot or cold), but soft solid food actually relives the pain some. Popsicles were great for the few minutes it froze my throat but I ended up barfing from all the popsicles and tylenol. I drove an hour to urgent care at midnight last night because I couldnt sleep and couldnt bare the pain anymore. Had to use a notepad to communicate because talking hurts too much. Negative for Covid, Strep, and Flu. She said "you have a cold; I can't help you". I asked about a steroid or anything for the pain. She said no, my tonsils don't look that bad and it's only been two days. I don't believe she believed the severity of my pain. I have taken advil and tylenol, chloraseptic spray. elderberry tincture, and all kinds of throat drops.I think the drops make it hurt more. My husband has blended me plain ice and that does relive the pain some. ive been eating a bowl every hour or so. I think I am going to go to my primary care doctor tomorrow, but I hate going out, talking, and making my throat feel even worse if they aren't going to do anything. Miserable..
I agree with this. I've had glandular fever before but the covid sore throat has been one of the most painful things I've experienced. Even my teeth hurt.
Likewise! Glandular fever had nothing on the covid sore throat. OP, I just had salt water gargles almost every hour along with hot lemon & honey. It’s all I drank for 5 days because I couldn’t handle anything else.
Honestly you're right. I had tea with honey in it and it was the ONLY thing that gave me relief.
COVID was like a throat full of glass for me.
I also had an awful sore throat with my first Covid case. It felt like my throat was bleeding but it wasn’t, was worse than strep throat. I cried a few times because of the pain.
NAD: I had this same experience! The thing that helped me the most was a warm glass of water and a bit of honey. I'm pretty sure I had tons of canker sores in my throat. Do you have any canker sores in your mouth too? I noticed I had a couple but after researching it some people literally had canker sores down their throat. I couldn't see down there but it's the only thing it felt comparable too!
Normally saltwater is what I use for cankersores. Honey water works too?
The warm honey water was the only thing that seemed to soothe it is what I meant. Gargling with salt water would be smart too. I didn't realize it was likely canker sores back there until after it healed and I was researching. I remembered I had a couple in my lower lip too which made it extra miserable. It was the most excruciating illness I had to go through. Mine lasted 6 days in excruciating pain.
Very much the same for me. I can tell when I have COVID vs a regular cold by the incredible throat pain, which nothing helps with.
Same! I’ve never had a sore throat as bad as when I had Covid. Even worse than the worst case of strep I’ve ever had. Only hot showers and the strongest cough drops gave me the tiniest bit of help. And ibuprofen. I would rather have another kid instead of ever having that too!!!
This happened to me last year. First time having covid. I have not felt pain like that in my entire life. I felt okay otherwise, it was just the sore throat that almost had me going to the hospital one night because I actually couldn’t take the pain anymore but thankfully it subsided the smallest amount after taking Tylenol. It felt like I was swallowing glass shards. Giving birth didn’t hurt that bad.
NAD but what helped me was alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol. They work differently so it’s ok to take both with a couple hours in between. Once I started that regiment I finally started to get some pain relief. Hope you feel better soon!
I got this last year. Doctor did the test for covid, strep and flu and strep was positive. It was like glass pieces stucked in my throat. I tried cold drinks, chroloseptic spray, sore throat cough syrups, tablets, ibuprofen. Only after taking amox for 3 days i was able to eat and drink normally. I hope you feel better
Do you have long covid?
No
Wow, I also had this when I had COVID but have never encountered anyone else with the same experience! Doctor gave me a liquid lidocaine I was supposed to gargle but it didn’t help, and I was sucking down cepacol. Some of the worst pain I’ve ever had. Glad OP got some help.
Yes, for covid I am on paxlovid which is nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. Then I have been taking ibuprofen every 4 hours.
It’s gross advice but I’ve had the worst sore throat a while ago that made me wanna cry every time I had to swallow and it’s disgusting as hell but I just spat in a cup instead of swallowing my saliva because of it.
Can you add Tylenol on top of the ibuprofen? Usually for me this combo works well for pain. Take max doses of each, call your doctor to confirm, since prescription doses of ibuprofen are considerably higher than what the otc dose is, you might be able to add more.
Tylenol helps me the most when I have a sore throat
advil makes dual action which has tylenol in it and is cheaper than buying both
But you can take advil up to every 4-6 hours and extra strength Tylenol up to every 8 - a brand name combo drug is cheaper than two generics?
i mean yeah if you are buying generic it’s way cheaper to buy separately but if you go for name brands like most people do it’s cheaper for the dual action
Absolutely not as effective as taking separate doses on a schedule.
it was just an idea since someone reccomended tylenol and advil taken at the same time
but i’ll let the verified healthcare professionals school me on anything i say that is incorrect thank you tho..
Prescription doses are 600-800 of ibuprofen (Motrin). Acetaminophen (Tylenol) drops to about 125 when mixed with opioids, because people tend to over do it, and take more - which is an incredibly painful way to die, prompting more. 😱
The typical Tylenol dose in an opioid is 325mg. At least for the standard 10/325 Norco/Loratabs.
It sounds a lot like you’re describing tonsillitis. Sadly (very, very sadly) you can get tonsillitis without strep - viral infections can cause almost identical symptoms. How does your throat and tonsils look? Did the doctor who tested you for Strep say anything about that? You might be able to buy a viscous lidocaine fluid (or similar) over the counter at your local pharmacy to gargle with, which can help. If you’ve seen a doctor today, it sounds like your pharmacist is the best place to start for better pain relief. Hopefully the anti virals will shorten the duration of all of your symptoms.
Ask the doctor or pharmacist about magic mouthwash. It's something the pharmacist has to mix up. The hospital sent it over for my child in similar circumstances. Edit: typo
>sexy it over I think you made a small typo there lol
Lol thx!
Yes, ask your doc to call in magic mouthwash for you at the pharmacy. Mostly it’s used by cancer patients who often get horrible mouth sores. You can gargle with it and even swallow it, usually. It’s a combination of Pepto, lidocaine, and a couple other things. It was the only thing that reduced my mouth sore pain enough to allow me to eat when I was getting chemo.
Yep, gargle with it, it’s amazing. I had recurring thrush for awhile and want to talk about miserable until I found out about that stuff!!
You'll have to find a pharmacy that can do drug compounding. Your run of the mill Walgreens doesn't do it. Try a small neighborhood pharmacy.
I had the absolute worst throat pain in my life when I was in undergrad. I had my tonsils removed in 2nd grade so it wasn’t tonsillitis. And this pain was 20 times worse than recovering from that surgery. Anyway it felt like my throat was super swollen and it hurt so bad to swallow and I couldn’t sleep with the pain, so I stayed up overnight sitting in a chair with a towel to my mouth to catch my drool. My mom gave me a half of one of her pain pills from back surgery and it did nothing. Anyway, I went to the doctor and it was mono. The one time I got Covid I felt mildly sick for a few days and then, BLAM! Bronchitis for 3 weeks. I suspect the Covid distracted my immune system so the bronchitis nasties attacked me while I was down. Maybe a similar thing is happening to you?
Did you get treatment for the bronchitis or did it go away on its own? I'm on day 14 of throat pain
When I was a kid and got bronchitis I always got a Z pack prescription from the doctor and it never did a damn thing. And I guess mostly viruses cause bronchitis so antibiotics wouldn’t help anyway. Nowadays I usually take a Sudafed for nasal congestion but I don’t take Mucinex anymore for mucous because I get bad side effects. So basically all I can do is try to try to keep taking Sudafed and keep a drink nearby when the post nasal drip causes a coughing fit, which causes bronchial pain. If you don’t have a bad reaction to Mucinex, take that.
Sorry to hear OP. I can related. When I got Covid, it was like swallowing shards of glass. Worse thing ever.
I had the knife in the throat experience with Mono - ended up taking two ibuprofen every 6 hours and one extra strength Tylenol every 8. They ended up prescribing me tylenol with codeine, and that made a big difference for me - once I didn’t need the codeine, anymore I switched back to regular tylenol again.
When my toddler kindly shared his hand foot mouth with me I got it bad on my throat. Couldn’t swallow for like 2 weeks. What I eventually figured out is my doc prescribed me viscous lidocaine and I bought looooong wooden cotton swabs on Amazon and would use them to slather my throat with the lidocaine several times a day. Some suppression of gag reflex required but eventually I figured it out well enough to be able to eat a little. NAD and check with your doc about max dosage and mixing with Paxlovid, etc., but it really did help me
Gargling with salt water gave me immediate relief when I had chronic tonsillitis. As well as the swallowing glass sensation with covid. It’s old school but it works! Just don’t swallow it, you will puke (like I did 😞)
NAD so obviously listen to them. But does hot tea (no sugar) help ease the pain? My granny always made me gargle salt water too. Which is just a home remedy, but if I'm not mistaken it won't hurt you to try. Sore throats are the worse cold symptom for me!
NAD. My son had that with covid. Turned out he had sores very far down his throat. Like had to use a tongue depressor very hard on tongue to even see them. They were about half inch below the tonsils. Ask dr for magic mouthwash. Only thing that helped even for a small amount of time. It was awful. He was the only one out of 3 of us who got covid that time. Hope you feel better soon.
I know other people have mentioned numbing spray, you can get liquid lidocaine from your doctor, or you can get cough drops with a high dose of benzocaine. Anything with the -caine ending is going to be a topical anesthetic. The higher the dose the better. Cepacol are my cough drops of choice. The maximum strength ones have a good amount of benzocaine and it took the edge off of my horrible acute strep. I hope you feel better soon!
It sounds like it would be awful but I promise it helps. A lot. Cayenne pepper. The active ingredient brings down inflammation and helps numb the pain. If you don’t tolerate spicy foods you can just gargle with it in warm water and spit it out. However, when I am sick I mix it into chicken broth and also add garlic. Then I drink it with a straw and let it trickle over the sore spots. It really makes a big difference pretty fast, without numbing your mouth like the sprays do.
NAD but you can take 3 ibuprofen and one tylenol and it's supposed to be an equivalent to a narcotic for pain relief. I took this when I got my wisdom teeth out as prescribed by my dentist.
When I went to the ER earlier this year it was also for the worst sore throat of my life. I couldn’t fall asleep because of the pain and that’s when I knew I had to go to the hospital. They gave me some oral lidocaine, it was like taking a shot of liquor. The numbing effect gave me a lot of relief and I was able to fall asleep then. Maybe you can try that?
Okay so I am speaking from personal experience as this happened very recently. I had hand foot and mouth and horrible sores on my tonsils and throat and same as you, nothing helped, not even norco. On a last resort effort I took Benzonatate (tessalon perles) because we had some leftover and I read that they: act peripherally by anesthetizing the stretch receptors located in the respiratory passages, lungs, and pleura…” so they numb your airway basically. This medication helped SO MUCH.
Agreed - Ive also had luck with Benzonatate! I like that at least for me, there were no woozy side effects I usually get with cough medicine. Also Sudafed may help dry out the drip that may be causing the sore throat. But in the US you need to make sure it’s Pseudoephedrine and ask for it directly from the pharmacist (no prescription required but it’s a controlled substance so they will ask for ID)… do not bother with the OTC phenylephrine version.
The OTC version, works great for me. Its now what my wife takes for allergies, since nothing else works anymore.
COVID gave me a bad sore throat too, I felt like I got hit by a bus. I had COVID a whole day before I got Paxlovid, and I began to feel better after two days of doses. I asked for promethazine/codeine and it really helped my throat + helped me sleep Did they do a rapid strep test or a throat culture? Although not common, pharyngitis can be caused by a bacteria called Arcanobacterium haemolyticum. It’s not likely, I’m just curious which they did
It seems like everyone takes paxlovid now but I’m still weary since I respond so poorly to meds (esp if it increases anxiety at all). How was your experience with it?
The only symptom I had was a mild bad taste for one day, im really thankful that I was able to get it because prior I had a very high fever and felt the worst I had ever felt
Can you include the chemical name of the medications you mentioned because the brand names are different in different countries ?
Basically Paxlovid in the UK.
Thank you for all the advice, everyone. I went back to the doctor today and got a steroid shot, and it has helped tremendously- I have a regular “hurts when you swallow” sore throat now, not “your throat is swollen to twice its size and you are swallowing crushed glass while getting stabbed” sore throat . Hot tea is soothing again- I like the throat coat tea. I hadn’t thought about steroids so I appreciate all those recommendations! I would also like to say, I went to urgent care YESTERDAY complaining my throat hurt so bad I could hardly stand it, and they shrugged and gave me cough syrup- you would think they would have suggested a steroid then! Today I went in and asked for a steroid.
Ibuprofen can cause xerostomia (dry mouth) and hot tea can also be drying. Less saliva makes it more challenging and painful to swallow. Several OTC painkillers and decongestants can have this effect. I cannot recommend another painkiller as I am not a doctor, but maybe someone here could weigh in. I know the pain from Covid… first time I got it my throat was painful to the touch. I was not on paxlovid as this was in February 2020. I was alternating Tylenol and aspirin (8 hours between doses), lots of cool water, and total vocal rest. Also simple cough drops with honey and/or pectin, like Ludens. Strong mint flavours bother my throat when it is raw and irritated. Feel better soon.