• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

99.7 F and going up!

maryb

iherb code TAK122
Messages
3,602
Location
UK
Orange juice before bed gives me heart burn.. Heart burn of cause may cause sore throat, often i dont get any other sign of the heart burn except a burning throat (which feels different to the sharp pain of the more infectious feeling throat soreness i used to get). But anyway.. take care that orange juice before bed isnt making things worst as its acidic
One would only think possibly yes. Viruses commonly give sore throats due to our bodies trying to fight them.

I have chronic EBV - always aware of symptoms in my ear/head and throat.
I was told by a ENT consultant that the above advice is correct, stomach acid can leak up into the throat and cause throat pain, without you being aware of any problems. Orange juice being acidic may well be adding to the problem, worth cutting it out for a while I would say.
 

soxfan

Senior Member
Messages
995
Location
North Carolina
I have nodules on my thyroid too..they caused me to have sore swollen glands for 6 weeks. Then they finally did an ultrasound and found them. At times it felt as though my throat was sore too but only on one side. My husband said the best thing for a sore thorat is lidocaine. I think you can find it in sprays like chloreseptic and sucrets. Plus the magic mouthwash he made me did have lidocaine which is why it probably worked so well..

Sorry you are going through this..I honestly know what it feels like only I never had a temp or any other symptoms with mine.
 

Victoria

Senior Member
Messages
1,377
Location
Melbourne, Australia
In the short term, you can take as much vitamin C as your bowels can handle. When you get diarrhoea or a loose bowel movement, cut back on the vitamin C a bit. I've heard of people taking 18,000-20,000mg for a few days.

I think this is excessive & a waste of money. The excess is only excreted by the kidneys anyway. I take 1500 in the morning & 1500mg at night. I've read somewhere that too much vitamin C (long term) is bad for your kidneys. Don't know whether that is true of not. My kidney function tests have been fine in the last couple of years (since I increased my Vit C).

My TCM doctor told me a few lemons or half a glass of lemon juice each day is adequate for vitamin C intake.

Red Capsicums have twice the amount of vitamin C than oranges. Lemons also are high in Vit C.

If you're going to drink orange juice for the vitamin content, you should press the juice yourself & drink it immediately. Within half an hour of pressing the juice, the vitamin content deteriorates rapidly (which suggests that buying "fresh" orange juice in the supermarket & keeping it in your fridge all week is a waste of money. By the way, fresh oranges (despite the acid content) have an alkaline action in the digestive system.

The only seriously acidic foods are asparagus & cooked tomato. Many other fruits & vegetables have acid content, but not too much to worry about in a good varied diet.

Red meat is another very acidic food. Try not to eat red meat late at night.

While there's a lot of good suggestions for the sore throat, I'd be keen to find out what is causing sore throats for such a length of time, so you can get rid of the cause. I've never actually been formally diagnosed with CFS, but my sore throats, low grade fevers & a host of other symtoms suggest the possibility of CFS.

But I do know for sure that I am allergic to mould. I had to leave a flat about 14 years ago due to mould (& sore throats). As soon as I moved into a different flat (for 4 years), my sore throat went away.

I have lived in my current flat about 10 years, but it was only a year or so ago, that I found mould on the side of my old bed & the wall behind the bed end was damp. My new bed is set about 5 inches away from the wall, but I am still suspicious of mould spores lingering. Once the summer comes & I can leave all my windows & balcony doors open all day, it will be interesting to see if my hoarse voice goes away (assuming the recent thyroid tests don't show anything abnormal).

I got fed up going to the Dr in recent years for all these symptoms. I figure if I eat as well as possible, supported by a few good supplements & plenty of fresh air & a little exercise, my immune system should be able to do the rest of the fighting.

Antibiotics are useless.
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
In the short term, you can take as much vitamin C as your bowels can handle. When you get diarrhoea or a loose bowel movement, cut back on the vitamin C a bit. I've heard of people taking 18,000-20,000mg for a few days.

I think this is excessive & a waste of money. The excess is only excreted by the kidneys anyway. I take 1500 in the morning & 1500mg at night. I've read somewhere that too much vitamin C (long term) is bad for your kidneys. Don't know whether that is true of not. My kidney function tests have been fine in the last couple of years (since I increased my Vit C).

My TCM doctor told me a few lemons or half a glass of lemon juice each day is adequate for vitamin C intake.

Red Capsicums have twice the amount of vitamin C than oranges. Lemons also are high in Vit C.

If you're going to drink orange juice for the vitamin content, you should press the juice yourself & drink it immediately. Within half an hour of pressing the juice, the vitamin content deteriorates rapidly (which suggests that buying "fresh" orange juice in the supermarket & keeping it in your fridge all week is a waste of money. By the way, fresh oranges (despite the acid content) have an alkaline action in the digestive system.

The only seriously acidic foods are asparagus & cooked tomato. Many other fruits & vegetables have acid content, but not too much to worry about in a good varied diet.

Red meat is another very acidic food. Try not to eat red meat late at night.

While there's a lot of good suggestions for the sore throat, I'd be keen to find out what is causing sore throats for such a length of time, so you can get rid of the cause. I've never actually been formally diagnosed with CFS, but my sore throats, low grade fevers & a host of other symtoms suggest the possibility of CFS.

But I do know for sure that I am allergic to mould. I had to leave a flat about 14 years ago due to mould (& sore throats). As soon as I moved into a different flat (for 4 years), my sore throat went away.

I have lived in my current flat about 10 years, but it was only a year or so ago, that I found mould on the side of my old bed & the wall behind the bed end was damp. My new bed is set about 5 inches away from the wall, but I am still suspicious of mould spores lingering. Once the summer comes & I can leave all my windows & balcony doors open all day, it will be interesting to see if my hoarse voice goes away (assuming the recent thyroid tests don't show anything abnormal).

I got fed up going to the Dr in recent years for all these symptoms. I figure if I eat as well as possible, supported by a few good supplements & plenty of fresh air & a little exercise, my immune system should be able to do the rest of the fighting.

Antibiotics are useless.

Thank you for you help.

Vitamin C and diarrhea - Since I suffer from IBS, I could not rely on that to figure out when to stop. But, I will drink more orange juice (freshly squeezed).

I have what we call hypochlorhydria (low gastric acid) which is a problem when digesting food. I already take 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar before each meal. It seems to help. So I'm not too concerned about the acidity I might ingest.

http://www.homeremediesweb.com/apple_cider_vinegar_health_benefits.php

I can see we have many things in common. Are you also having problems with alcohol?

I was wondering if my "acute" sore throats could be related to hormones. It seems that I get worse three or four days before having my periods. I feel more weak and fragile, and then I get better about two or three days afterwards. The rest of the time, I have a "chronic" sore throat. My body can't get rid of the "virus" but it's better at managing it.

Today, my fever is back to normal. I'm still pretty sick, but it's bearable.
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
I have chronic EBV - always aware of symptoms in my ear/head and throat.
I was told by a ENT consultant that the above advice is correct, stomach acid can leak up into the throat and cause throat pain, without you being aware of any problems. Orange juice being acidic may well be adding to the problem, worth cutting it out for a while I would say.

I don't think it is a problem for me since I have hypochlorhydria (low gastric acid).
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
I have nodules on my thyroid too..they caused me to have sore swollen glands for 6 weeks. Then they finally did an ultrasound and found them. At times it felt as though my throat was sore too but only on one side. My husband said the best thing for a sore thorat is lidocaine. I think you can find it in sprays like chloreseptic and sucrets. Plus the magic mouthwash he made me did have lidocaine which is why it probably worked so well..

Sorry you are going through this..I honestly know what it feels like only I never had a temp or any other symptoms with mine.

Good idea!
I always keep a stack of chloraseptic losanges in my medicine cabinet "just in case" for my children and husband. However, they are usually not helping much. But, I will give it a try. It won't hurt.

Yesterday, out of desperation, I looked up "causes of sore throat" and I ended up reading about throat cancer. One of the symptoms is "a sore throat that does not go away". How do I find out that what I have is related to CFS and it is not something else? I'm worried that my doctor and I may miss some signs...
 

maryb

iherb code TAK122
Messages
3,602
Location
UK
My tests for gastric acid were so low they offered to re-test free- but its to do with the opening to the stomach/can still have reflux without being aware of it. I never did find out for certain the cause though. Hope you do soon.
 

glenp

"and this too shall pass"
Messages
776
Location
Vancouver Canada suburbs
Yesterday, out of desperation, I looked up "causes of sore throat" and I ended up reading about throat cancer. One of the symptoms is "a sore throat that does not go away". How do I find out that what I have is related to CFS and it is not something else? I'm worried that my doctor and I may miss some signs...

This illness causes so much anxiety. You need to make sure that your soar throat is not "something else". Soar throats have mostly been chronic with me over many years. Recently it has spread to the roof of my mouth so I will be speaking to my doctor about this next week. I do not get the fevers, my temperature is usually below normal. My thyroid has been swollen at times, I do not know if that has anything to do with it

glen
 

Mij

Messages
2,353
How do I find out that what I have is related to CFS and it is not something else? I'm worried that my doctor and I may miss some signs...


Did your doctor check for anti-thyroid antibodies? I had a sore throat, ears and vertigo at the acute stage of my illness, my anti-thyroid antibodies were highly elevated at time. I was sent for a thyroid scan that showed my thyroid function was "normal", the Endo told me it was viral.
I still get these symptoms from time to time but my antibodies are at normal levels now but I feel like I'm constantly fighting a virus.

Mij
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
How do I find out that what I have is related to CFS and it is not something else? I'm worried that my doctor and I may miss some signs...


Did your doctor check for anti-thyroid antibodies? I had a sore throat, ears and vertigo at the acute stage of my illness, my anti-thyroid antibodies were highly elevated at time. I was sent for a thyroid scan that showed my thyroid function was "normal", the Endo told me it was viral.
I still get these symptoms from time to time but my antibodies are at normal levels now but I feel like I'm constantly fighting a virus.

Mij

I went through a thorough investigation just before summer. I am pretty sure it is viral since it comes and goes during the day. My temperature might be fine one minute and then it will go up again. It's like a roller-coaster. I had just written that my temperature was down, and I took it again to read that it was back at 99.6 F. I am fighting something for sure.
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
This illness causes so much anxiety. You need to make sure that your soar throat is not "something else". Soar throats have mostly been chronic with me over many years. Recently it has spread to the roof of my mouth so I will be speaking to my doctor about this next week. I do not get the fevers, my temperature is usually below normal. My thyroid has been swollen at times, I do not know if that has anything to do with it

glen

I hope it is nothing serious, glen. Please, do look into that. Don't wait.

At this point, I feel my GP is not worrying about anything anymore. He will ask me if I have new symptoms, but things like an ever-lasting sore throat will go unnoticed. I'm probably worrying for nothing. I am also afraid to become hypochondriac. I know I am very sick (so, less likely) but I could still become too focused on my health and on things that are going wrong in my body...

On top of that, there is another problem. If I do come up with something new (like pain in my breast), I am rushed to a specialist who will find odd things with me. I am always on the edge of my chair, waiting for "the results". Each time, It brings a LOT OF STRESS. They are now going to biopsy to see what is going on in there. Same thing with my thyroid (before summer), I have something odd (affecting 5% of the population). It is not life-threatening but it's enough to request all kinds of procedures and tests to be done. I don't have the energy to sit in a waiting room or to go to different specialists.

So, how do I figure out what to say and what not too say? I don't know anymore. I'm seeing my GP every two or three months and each time it's a struggle to go see him. I always come prepare, and try to mention the things that matter the most but I'm no expert to figure them out.

I feel so frustrated, right now.
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
My tests for gastric acid were so low they offered to re-test free- but its to do with the opening to the stomach/can still have reflux without being aware of it. I never did find out for certain the cause though. Hope you do soon.

I don't think they can figure it out. It something we have to live with...
My dad has reflux and finds that Nexium really helps him. However, he was not dealing with a sore throat but with nausea. Unfortunately, it did not work for me.
 

Mithriel

Senior Member
Messages
690
Location
Scotland
There is a lot about vit C here

http://www.hfme.org/treatingmethebasics.htm

I think it would be worth trying vit C for a while. I have taken about 4 g a day for years with no side effects. It is not like other vitamins, there are only a few mammals they know off which can't make their own and the ones who do have much higher levels than are recommended for us. Looking at the science and our evolution (living in the tropics eating fruit) I believe that vit C ad D are needed in much higher doses than we take them especially when we are ill.

Buying Vit C as a powder is quite cheap and taking it for a few months will not cause problems as any not used will be flushed away. Start low and build up. You will not have lost anything by trying it.

I've just remembered that a friend's mother was discovered to have crohn's disease in her gullet. It took the doctor ages to diagnosis it because it is not common knowledge that it can affect the entire digestive tract from the mouth to the end.

Mithriel
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
There is a lot about vit C here

http://www.hfme.org/treatingmethebasics.htm

I think it would be worth trying vit C for a while. I have taken about 4 g a day for years with no side effects. It is not like other vitamins, there are only a few mammals they know off which can't make their own and the ones who do have much higher levels than are recommended for us. Looking at the science and our evolution (living in the tropics eating fruit) I believe that vit C ad D are needed in much higher doses than we take them especially when we are ill.

Buying Vit C as a powder is quite cheap and taking it for a few months will not cause problems as any not used will be flushed away. Start low and build up. You will not have lost anything by trying it.

I've just remembered that a friend's mother was discovered to have crohn's disease in her gullet. It took the doctor ages to diagnosis it because it is not common knowledge that it can affect the entire digestive tract from the mouth to the end.

Mithriel

Not enough time to read the documentation on vitamin D, but I will read it all this week! I just wanted to say thank you for this. Talk to you, later (once I know a bit more on this subject).
 

glenp

"and this too shall pass"
Messages
776
Location
Vancouver Canada suburbs
Scarey

No wonder why some say we are hypochondriacs!!! yea right

This illness is terrifying, we always getting something and havent any idea what or why.

I usually go in with anything new and get it checked out - you have to get everything ruled out. The trouble with this illness we often think a symptom is just another part of this illness when it DOES need to be dealt with

I will be asking my doctor about the roof of my mouth next week, I have never mentioned my soar throats as I have had them since way before he became my gp and just got used to them. It has only recently spread to the roof. An HIV patient that I used to work with used to complain about his soar mouth!!! I'll never forget that.

Breast cysts are scarey. They have to be checked, but please try to remain calm, I have had many and all were non cancerous. The first ones they removed, now they "watch" them and I go in often for mamograms and the last ones disappeared so I am back to the regular recalls. I think i read somewhere that those with lower body temps had more brrast cysts and did better with procrit but now I think that has changed. i think that there might have been a warning on procrit now, can't quite remember

glenp
 

Otis

Señor Mumbler
Messages
1,117
Location
USA
Sorry for the delay. I added water to the gel in order to gargle it. I got it as an Rx - here in the US.

Best wishes with all this. If you GP is giving up on you it may be time to give up on your GP and go elsewhere.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
I don't think they can figure it out. It something we have to live with...
My dad has reflux and finds that Nexium really helps him. However, he was not dealing with a sore throat but with nausea. Unfortunately, it did not work for me.

You might want to look into Nexium and other drugs like that for your Father's Health! I have heard that people who take these meds can end up something like us!
 

Victoria

Senior Member
Messages
1,377
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Glenp, I don't suppose you've got thrush in your mouth & throat have you?

I vaguely remember having that once about 30 years ago.

I've also had roof of mouth problems a couple of times when I burnt the roof of my mouth with hot food & the blisters have burst & have ended up with a mouth infection. I didn't go to the Dr's - it healed by itself - but did take quite a while.

PS. You're right about the hypochondriac label - if normal, healthy people had as many symptoms & episodes of unwellness as any of us with an invisible chronic illness, they would understand completely how frustrated we get. And when we get labeled as hypochondriacs - well - wouldn't it be wonderful if everything REALLY was all in the head. At least there would be a chance of getting better & living a normal life ! LOL.

If I didn't have a long list of scans, xray, MRI's, blood tests etc as proof, I would begin to think even I AM A HYPOCHONDRIAC. :D
 

glenp

"and this too shall pass"
Messages
776
Location
Vancouver Canada suburbs
valtrex

I saw my doctor today on another matter aling with my mouth. He gave me Valtrex and said that it is similar to the soar mouths that HIV patients get. He seemed surprised that I do not get cold soars Feels to me like my soar throat has just spread in to the mouth, kind of like the roof of my mouth is burnt. Winder if you can get that from blood transfusiin?
I wonder if this is what could ne affecting our throats and maybe other stuff in the head? (the burning feeling)
 

Boule de feu

Senior Member
Messages
1,118
Location
Ottawa, Canada
Sorry for the delay. I added water to the gel in order to gargle it. I got it as an Rx - here in the US.

Best wishes with all this. If you GP is giving up on you it may be time to give up on your GP and go elsewhere.

Thx for the info. I am still struggling with the sore throat, but the fever is down. The pain was unbelievable. My daughter also caught something: sore throat and pain but no fever.