Tonsils… what do I do?
m a 23 year old female, 5’8, 150 pounds. Past medical history of anxiety, on propranolol, lexapro, and slynd. I am a non smoker. I have big tonsils at baseline, and they get irritated quite frequently, but about 5 days ago they were more painful than normal and I developed severe body aches. No runny nose, cough. Had chills and my voice has been a little muffled. I went to urgent care the day after my symptoms started as I had my graduation this weekend. I was negative for strep, mono, covid, and flu. I was given one oral 10 mg dose of dexamethasone. I felt a little bit better later in the day and a little into the next day, and my throat culture came back negative. On day 4, AKA yesterday, the pain rebounded, and it was as bad or if not worse than it was when it started, and the pain feels the same today. Ibuprofen helps enough that I can eat with some discomfort, and i’ve tried alternating with tylenol but tylenol does not seem to help. Currently, my right tonsil (which i think appears on the left in this image) is bothering me more than the left, and I have large swollen lymph nodes on that side, and the pain is spreading to my right ear as well. I am not having trouble opening my mouth or drooling, but my tonsil does hurt when I open my mouth and swallowing is extremely painful. I’m coming here because I just want to know where I should go from here, as I already went to urgent care. Money is a concern for me, but I’ve also been missing work due to the pain. Any ideas on what I should do next?
I have a consult with an ENT surgeon in June actually to discuss getting them removed, but in the meantime and with this flare up… I am at a loss. Thank you for any assistance.