Hi,
I've suffered with sore throats most of my life, which includes being hospitalised in my early 20's. On that particular occasion i was diagnosed with a Peritonsillar abscess and of all the physical illnesses I've suffered from, it's got to be one of the most painful. Just trying to swallow is a huge effort. Your mouth continuously fills up with saliva, your glands are swollen, talking is a real effort and you feel constantly tired.
Trying to eat is a mission in itself, you can hardly open your mouth to take anything in and when you do and try to swallow the food, it just won't go down and usually takes 3 very painful attempts. Broken sleep throughout the night, simply because of the pain.
In the past whenever I get a flare up, cayenne pepper tends to fight it off before it can manifest itself.
The last time I had a bad flare up was about 5 years ago and when I went to see the doctor he wouldn't give me any antibiotics for it, he was more concerned with whether i smoked or not! He though it was due to a nasal infection.
And so 2 days later I ended up having to go the local hospital, simply because it had got so swollen and painful.
Anyway, a sore throat has been doing the rounds where I live and all of my family have been ill with it. Our 2 children were only sick for a couple of days, but my wife had it for a couple of weeks. I thought I'd got away with it, until i woke up one night and knew it had arrived.
I gargled with salt water and bicarbonate of soda, mixed cayenne pepper into a drink, drank bone broth, dosed up on vitamin C, massaged dmso all around my neck and throat and it still managed to get worse. Typically I'd taken a week off from work to spend some quality time with the children!
After a few more days, unfortunately I was left with little choice other than to go to the doctor. And what do you know? the first thing he asked was "do you smoke Mr Christie?". Well, smoking was virtually impossible anyway! trying to take a pull was far too painful, let alone opening your mouth to get the cigarette in! Talking was becoming an effort too and so you just sort of mumble your words.
Great. It was the same doctor I'd seen 5 years ago.
I explained (again) that I'd suffered from a peritonsillar abscess in the past and the symptoms were the same. I couldn't be bothered to mention what had happened the last time I'd seen him. After an examination though, he did decide to give me some penicillin. Phew!
I usually steer well clear of pharmaceuticals, but in this circumstance I was feeling like there just wasn't any other option left.
I've been taking the penicillin for 4 days now and this morning there was a definite improvement, oh the joy of being able to eat again!
And...... smoke again! Wahoo! :D
During the worst of it, I had to keep a real check on my mood swings. Little things suddenly became BIG things. Fortunately my wife understood what I was going through, having seen it before and she helped me through it, letting me get all the rest I needed. Sometimes it's hard to accept that you just need to rest and certain things CAN wait!
It's been a good experience to reflect upon and has certainly raised a couple of points that need addressing.
It definitely makes you appreciate things that are so easily taken for granted.
Well, I'm not quite there recovery wise yet, but certainly on the mend. :)
