hi all...so i am a 33 year old, used to smoke once in while and don't drink too much. i traveled to australia for the month of december 2008 and ever since my return to the states, i have been ill. i started out with a bad stomach flu, was put on cipro for 2 weeks, that cleared up...but while on that i started to feel like i was getting a sinus infection and my throat was a bit sore. i went to my doctor and she said it was sinusitis, didn't do a test or anything, and prescribed me amoxicillan for 10 days. those pills finished and i still had the infection, not as strong, but it was still there. i called the doctor and told her that my amoxicillan had ended and that i still had the infection, so she called my pharmacy and put in an order for augmentim 10 days worth. those finished almost 3 weeks ago and i could still feel that i was not 100%, still had a little green mucus in the mornings and my throat was dry every night...always needed water at my bedside and i had never been this way. finally i went to the doctor 2 days ago because my throat was hurting me and i had a temp of 100 degrees and i developed a lump all the way in the back of my tongue, the size of a chickpea. it is so painful, i can't even swallow my own spit. i can barely talk and am making myself eat applesauce and soup (without any chunks in it) because i can stand to chew, never mind swallow. the movement of my tongue is so painful. she took my blood to check my white blood cell count and gave me another prescription for augmentim. she said that it should help get rid of the lump, which she thought was strange (she said that), but thinks it's an abscess...bacteria. so i have had 3 augmentim pills since and no change in the pain or size. i physically feel better, but the lump is not changing. i still have a slight temp of 99.8 degrees. i also want to mention that i have been getting tested every 6 months for my thyroid and decided to go a month early since i have been sick for so long. i thought maybe this had a correlation. my endocrinologist said that i have hashimotos disease but since i had no symptoms yet, so he elected not to medicate me at the time and i agreed. i got tested last week for my tsh levels and they had gone up from 5.8 in october 2008 to 8.5 last week...so he decided to start my medication. i have also started that yesterday as well as the augmentim. not sure if this has any correlation to the lump, but wanted to share. i think the lump is one of the circumvallate papillae, but is it possible for only one to be swollen and for it to be so painful that i can't even swallow my own saliva? i am nervous...sorry for such a long message. thanks so much!

hi janet
do you have any lumps in your neck glands or ear pain?often the lymph glands swell with an infection,i am sorry to hear that you are in a lot of pain.i would suggest that if you are not happy with the diagnosis and the lump does not go away then go back and ask to be referred to an ent specialist.i hope that you have nothing to worry about,but please keep us informed of your progress.kindest regards.shirl x

Hi Janet

I agree with what Shirl said.

Apart from the fever, your symptoms sound a lot like mine--especially the ear pain. Does yours feel like someone has shoved a letter opener or knitting needle into your ear? I'd also like to offer a couple of dietary suggestions. They won't make the lump/abscess go away, but they'll make eating a bit less unpleasant: switch from cow milk to soy milk, and drink chai instead of coffee. For some reason, were less irritating to my tongue. Hot food and drinks also went away--they really hurt my tongue. And, since you're probably eating a lot less than usual, you might want to add a liquid vitamin.

Antibiotics are good things, but they're clearly not working for you (seems like your doctor would notice that). Please ask her to refer you to an ENT; not every lump is cancerous, but the only way to rule that out is a biopsy.

I'm hoping for the best for you. Please let us know how things turn out.

Julia