hi, I had asked a question here almost a year ago- I hooked up with my friend- a few days later had viral tonsilitis. You assured me it was likely not an STD, but a regular virus. This now has happened to me 3 times this year. The first time i thought it the timing was just a coincidence, but now I know its related. The information is this: I'm a girl, and I have protected sex but unprotected oral sex with a male friend regularly- he is not monogamous. Most times we have sex, nothing happens, I feel fine and don't get sick. We've had sex maybe 20 or so times this year. But now on 3 separate occasions, always 3-4 days after we hook up like clockwork I get swollen infected tonsils, swollen lymph nodes and sore throat but no other symptoms (no mucus or cold symptoms). Ive now been swabbed 3 times for everything at the doctor- its always a virus that gets better on its own or with steroids after a week - 10 days. I've never gotten tonsilitis ever in my life except after I hook up with him. It doesn't happen every time I have sex, but the only time it does happen is when I do. If it was a cold that I get, Id say its probably just germs I caught from him. But this is a weird specific tonsil infection that is unique to me hooking up with him. Any ideas? I don't think its an STD, i've been swabbed many times, and it would be weird to get a recurring virus...? My thought is maybe he has germs, & maybe from the oral sex its literally pushing the germs further back to my tonsils causing them to become infected if my my immune system is down or i don't get a lot of sleep, when normally if i were to catch a germ it might just turn into a cold? He is never sick any of the times I get this though- so its strange. I'm getting annoyed as it's putting a damper on things when I know i might randomly get sick a few days later. Any thoughts or advice would be helpful!! Thanks!

Welcome to our Forum.  Apparently you are using a different user name from your prior visit to the site so I am not able to review what was said at your previous visit.  I'll be happy to offer some thoughts although, like you, there is nothing here to suggest that this is an infection.  Rather some sort or irritation. 

Before I give some preliminary thoughts, please let me make sure that when you state that you have been swabbed on several occasions, I want to be sure that it is your throat that has been swabbed, correct?

Also, while your partner is not monogamous, are you?  Does this ever happen with other partners?

The fact that this has happened thee or four times out of somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 encounters makes it most likely that this is primarily bad luck.  There are instances when persons can be allergic to latex, to lubricants, or even a partners secretions but these reactions typically occur within hours of exposure, not after two or three days. 

I have two suggestions which may, perhaps help you sort this out:

1.  Start to keep track.  Keep a diary of your sexual activity including sequence of events, condoms, lubricants, etc. to try to identify a pattern which distinguishes those times when you get this irritation from times when it doesn't. 

2.  Just an observation- it appears from what you say that steroids and perhaps antibiotics don't change the course of things.  If this is the case, I would not both with them.

Sorry I don't have a better answer for you.  Sometimes in the process of discovering the origin of things an important first step is determining what is not causing it and, in this case, it certainly does not sound like an STI.  EWH

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Thank you for answering so fast! Yes I wasn’t able to login with my other login for some reason. Anyway- yes they swabbed my throat for all bacteria including STIs. The steroids DO help. In fact that was the only thing that helped me to get over it the first time- prednisone was able to get the swelling down fast. I’ll also note that when I see my ent They always think it is strep because of the white pus that covers my tonsils but it never turns out to be so. I feel generally sick when This happens and my throat hurts extremely bad (like with strep) but no other cold symptoms- just the tonsils, redness & lymph node swollen. It has never happened to me with other partners- but this partner is the person I hook up with the most. 

Thanks for the additional information.  The additional description that you provide, as well as the fact that steroids help a lot suggest that this is an inflammatory process- the white coating, the swollen nodes, the trouble with swelling are all signs of inflammation and steroids tend to quickly subdue inflammation, no matter what is causing it.  I'll consider to think about this but my only other immediate response is to stick with your current health care providers, if you feel comfortable with them, so that they can continue to work with you to address it with the benefit of having seen this before. The reason that I say this is that if you were to go somewhere else, they would have to start from point zero and likely just repeat a lot of what has already be done. 

EWH

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