Strep Throat and Running

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Sick and Sick wrote:

Hey there, I am in the middle of a pretty intense block of training, and I have a really bad sore throat.

I cannot get into the Dr office until Monday, and i need to know what to do running-wise until I hear from him.

If I just have a cold, I will just dress warmly and take it a little bit easier. If I have strep throat, i should probably not be running.

Is there any way I can tell if it is strep, or just a cold b4 I go to the Dr?

Are there any tell-tale signs that it is one or the other?

Thanks so much.

The vast majority of sore throats are caused by viral infections and therefore don't require antibiotics. Usually (but not always) step is a secondary infection which occurs after you've have a viral infection for a while. So, the key is to REST, SLEEP, and DRINK lots of liquids (non alcoholic of course).

To see if you might have strep, first thing in the morning (before eating or drinking anything) look at your throat in the mirror (use a flashlight). Strep usually comes with white lines in the back of the throat.

Here's a picture of a bad case -

In any event, if you've got a FEVER, don't run at all. If you've got a really bad sore throat, take it easy. You really shouldn't run at all if you're sick. Just opens youself up for further illness or extended illness. If the sore throat isn't gone after 7 days, I'd go to the doctor. Anymore, the mantra of doctors is "you've got a virus" and they just send you home. In order to get antibiotics, you've got to have a compelling reason why you think you've given the virus enough time to go away. Some doctors won't even treat you with antibiotics until you've had a bad sore throat for 2 weeks. And, of course if it's a virus, those antibiotics don't do anything anyway other than protect against a secondary bacterial infection.

Just SLEEP brother!

Thanks Flagpole, I appreciate the advice.

Strep will have the characteristic mucoid patches on the tonsils the majority of the time along with swelling and redness around the tonsils. The other key characteristic that doctors look for is a significantly elevated temperature because of the toxins that the bacteria give off.

This is however all generalities of course and for any severe sore throat you should go to the doctor to get checked out that way you don't get rheumatic fever or anything down the road.

This also ties into the people that do just want or think they need pills from a doctor because viral infections will usually start feeling better the same time someone goes to the doctor then gets home and starts popping pills so they think the medications help.

Either way, take it easy for a while, it won't kill you.

Last month, I had strep.

Sunday afternoon I went out for a great run.

Monday morning, I woke up with a sore throat. Stayed in bed all day.

Tuesday - same. Stayed in bed all day.

Wed. - I see the white lines in the back of my throat and my throat is getting worse. I head to the doctor and they couldn't see me until Thursday.

Thursday - Doc says it is bad tonsilitis and puts me on 875MG amoxicillin twice per day.

Friday - It appears to be getting better. Placebo effect?

Sat/Sun - the white stuff is gone, but fever remains and tonsils are still inflammed. Now, I can barely swallow or eat. I spit constantly. I throw up frequently due to gag reflex.

Monday - Head back to the doctor. He refers me to ENT specialist. The ENT sticks a needle into my tonsil and withdraws a test tube full of pus. Pus comes back positive for strep. He puts me on five extra days of amoxicillin and also gives me tylonol with codiene. (vicodin does nothing for me)

Tuesday - I stay in bed all day, but am able to eat chicken with no real pain.

Wed - I feel ready to run, but take the next few days off.

I run 2 miles on Sat. I run 3 miles on Sunday. My tonsils are back to normal.

Yea, sounds like the doctor was correct with the tonsilitis which is inflammation of the tonsils, due to the strep and wrote a script for a proper and common rx for strep pyogenes. Sounds like maybe you had a resistant strain so the script was lengthened although I'm suprised they didn't up or change the drugs. Anyways, yes, sounds like the doctor and ENT were right. I would say you have a good doctor though that willingly refers as many are hung up on saving money and getting bonuses for decreased referrals