My mom has strep and she's having trouble swallowing. ?

Question

She went to the doctors last Friday but the symptoms started on Tuesday. (She couldn't get an appointment) She got the pill form of Augmentin on Saturday but she can't swallow so she called in the liquid form and started taking it on Sunday. She still can't swallow and she's been on the meds for 3 days now. Over the past four days all she's had to drink was maybe one of those 16.9 oz bottles of water if all of that and 2 1/2 small jars of baby food, stage two breech nut I think if that helps any. She's had half of a yoplait light yogurt and a little bit of soup but that's it. She went to urgent care to get an iv and they're running tests because the physician said that the meds should have cleared up the trouble swallowing already. Could she be having complications of strep? Oh and we were painting our house for a week and me and her did almost all of the painting, but she slept upstairs where the paint was (we didn't paint her room though) and I slept downstairs. One of the nights she woke up gasping for breath and almost gagging.

If this sounds familiar or you know something about it please let me know. Thanks

Answer 1

if her symptoms aren't better with 3 days of Augmentin, maybe it's another infection. Ask her doctor whether he's taken a throat swab for culture before the antibiotic and whether it's grown something else, for her meds to be changed.

It could also be a complication of strep throat called a peri-tonsillar abscess. The earliest symptom would be a change in voice: her voice will sound hoarse. This is easily diagnosed because the tonsil will enlarge hugely and will be easily visible on a throat examination. This needs IV antibiotics and a tonsillectomy once the infection subsides.

If she has no shortness of breath now, then the paint is not to blame for her difficulty in swallowing.

The best home remedies for a sore throat are

salt water gargles ( 1 pinch of salt in half a glass of warm water) done once in 4 hours

honey in warm water to drink whenever her throat hurts

throat lozenges such as Vicks or any mint lozenges, and

Tylenol for the pain.

If all this doesn't work, seek an opinion from an ENT specialist who will do an indirect laryngoscopy (look at the back of her throat with a mirror held in the mouth) to make sure that it isn't anything more serious. Even a fish bone stuck in the tonsil or back of the throat can cause sympotoms such as these.

Hope she gets better.

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Good to hear that she is better.



After seeing those additional details, maybe it wasn't strep throat at all, but something known as pharyngeal edema which is usually caused by an allergy to something, and will respond to steroids. An allergy to paint fumes can cause edema of the larynx (the windpipe) and pharynx (the throat), and will respond to steroids. Make sure she has a steroid inhaler handy at all times in case of any further exposure.

I sometimes feel that busy doctors tend to overlook facts that don't fit in with their diagnoses, because you can't have a strep throat without sore throat and fever. Looks like you were right about the paint being connected with her symptoms,after all.