Hey everyone. I'm a little concerned about my throat and I just have some questions. Back in February my throat swelled really badly and I felt like I couldn't breathe properly, although I experienced no pain at all, I went to the doctor and he told me that I had strep throat and prescribed me antibiotics, and the swelling went away a few days later. So now I'm experiencing the same thing. My throat feels very tight and I have trouble breathing, although I feel no pain, have no fever and don't feel sick at all. I went back to the doctor and she told me she thinks it's allergies, but I didn't believe it because it feels like the same thing as last time, which was an infection.

The doctor took a swab of my throat and prescribed me antibiotics as well as allergy pills but I'm only taking the antibiotic because I think it's an infection, which is what concerns me. I never experienced this before in my life until this year, and now it's happened to me twice in 10 months. Also, if infections are causing this, why doesn't my boyfriend become infected? I kiss him everyday and he never gets these symptoms, only I do. So my question is, what would cause my throat to swell but wouldn't cause any pain? I just feel like there's a ball in my throat all the time, and I have like dripping from my back of my nose to my throat, if that makes sense.

My mother experienced the same symptoms as you. She didn't know what was happening and neither did the doctors. It turned out that she had something wrong with the thyroid glands in her throat and they had to be removed because of the large swelling which was giving her trouble breathing. It runs in her family, her mother and her older sister have also had the same problem. Have you heard of anyone in your family with problems in their thyroids? Hyperthyroidism is what she had, and the doctors unfortunately let the problem get very bad for my mother because they left it for so long. I suggest mentioning "hyperthyroidism" to your doctor and see what happens.

The doctor took a swab and what was the result? Infection or not? Antibiotics are for bacterial infections, and strep is one. This is not to say that doctors don't hand out antibiotics when they are not applicable.
Dripping (post nasal drip) is very common in colds, allergies, anything that fills the sinuses with mucus which drain down the back of the throat.
The ears also drain there, through the eustacian tubes, which can clog or collapse.
Do you have your tonsils and adenoids?

slightlyopaque, no, no one in my family has ever had thyroid problems. If this happens to me again though I will mention hyperthyroidism next time I go to the doctor. Thanks.

joypulv, unfortunately the result of the swab won't come back until next week, so I don't know if it's an infection or not. The dripping makes me think it's allergies, but I took 3 of the antibiotic pills and the swelling in my throat has gone down, so I'm confused as to if it's a infection or allergies. The reason I don't think it's an infection is I feel no pain. And yes I have my tonsils but I'm not sure what "adenoids" are.