I always try and avoid googling my symptoms because it always leads to cancer... However after a couple of months not being able to shift my sore throat,  I typed in persistent sore throat online to see what it could be. As you can tell I'm pretty terrified hense writing on here and I hope I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. 
 

I remember clear as day, end of Jan 2020. I was working in the morning and my throat was slightly sore and I had no fever which was strange... I thought nothing of it as I work deliveries and thought it could be down to the boxes as they get quite dusty. I felt fine after a week but the redness didn't go away. After that week my sore throat came back however  I didn't feel like I was ill like I would if I had a cold which was still strange to me. I laughed and said to my mates it's karma for saying that I haven't been ill with colds last year/ this year. I remember having one cold I think in December but that was it.... (still being causious due to covid) 
February time my sore throat worsened so I tried home remidies and it did absolutely nothing. End of Feb/ early March  my throat worsened to the point it was hard to swollow, I was in agony, it effected my ears too and my tonsils looked like it was being attacked (choppy but no white stuff) and the redness spread all over my throat.  I ended up calling me GP  but due to covid I had to have a consultation call. They sent over some antibiotics that did absolutely nothing, I called again and was asked to send pictures of my throat and they said it does look irritated so they gave me more antibiotics... think it was penicillin which is for tonsillitis.. again it didn't work so I contact my GP yet again. At one point I was that worried I sent over my details to the NHS 111 site and a pharmacist gave me tips to help the pain and told me they would inform my GP that I reached out and that they contacted me. So I called my GP and this time I mentioned that I have a kitten which I got in December and said that it could be her. As I googled and I found out that you can become allergic to cats at any point in your life  and sore throats is a common allergy which I didn't know as I thought allergies leads to a runny nose/ itchy eyes as I don't have that.  The doctor prescribed me with fexifendine that I'm still currently on right now. Had to update them after my perception ended to see how I was getting on and if so I can keep it as a repeat prescription. I noticed after a week my throat felt so much better even though my throat didn't look any better. I also kept doing the same remedies the pharmacist on the phone told me to do which was to gargle antibacterial mouth wash, drink plenty of water, throat spray  and use honey as it helps.  
Then July came... I was away from my cat for 2 weeks... first week I was very low on my antibiotics so I stopped taking them as I thought I'd be fine since I'm away from my cat and after 4 days of being off my antibiotics,  my throat started getting sore, then it effected my ears and I just felt plain horrid. I called my GP again and  informed my concerns so I had to send over some pictures of my throat again as my throat now showed red veins, orange spots and tonsils still looks choppy. I noticed I was breathing slightly sort and every time I took a breathe I had a tiny sharp pain in my chest which really terrified me. I wasn't sure if it was the antibiotics as the side effects stated that you can get chest pains but like I said I voiced my concerns and the doctor said she'd send a request at my local hospital to see an ENT specialist since it's still happening.
About a week/ 2 weeks after contacting my GP I had THE WORST ANXIETY ATTACK  EVER!!! Not only was my antibiotics not working the same as it had been for a couple of months and not only having slight breathing problem and minor chest pains I randomly looked at my intire mouth, looked under my tongue and saw a few spots underneath and freaked out. I told my partner I need to go to A&E this must be serious it's spreading all over but my partner calmed me down and said stop overthinking, stop googling and we'll contact your GP. It's hard to no worry when you don't know what's wrong with you... and what concerns me to think it's serous is it's only effecting me, it's not contagious as I've been around all my friends before lock down started and they were fine and my partner still kisses me to this day and he's completely fine so I'm like what is it?  I contacted my GP and the doctor said there's nothing they can do now as they are only seeing those for emergencies and that they've sent a request for an ENT specialist so I'll have to wait for that. I got so annoyed  as I've been super patient for many months, I voiced my concerns again and said "I'm very worried now to the point were I nearly took myself to A&E but I didn't because they are already under a lot of pressure and thought you'd help me since this thing is effecting my breathing which I think is an emergency" the doctor apologised and said "you know what it has gone on for too long I'll book you in" 

I was so thankful as it's been 6 whole months, 6 months too long! The doctor checked and said she couldn't feel anything abnormal, looked inside/ under my tongue and ears and didn't say anything. She couldn't check down my throat as I need a specialist to do that. She prescribed me with acid reflux tablets which I didn't take for long as I was already feeling the side effects of the fexifendine. I think the  fexifendine started to turn against me or was reacting differently to my body as my throat isn't 100% pain free, I get dizzy and feel nauseous sometimes so that really sucks considering the start of taking them I felt great but I don't want to stop taking them like I did in July as the pain came back 10x's worse like how I felt in March when I wasn't on anything. I think the antibiotics did at least something that's why I'm still taking them to this day. Anyways she booked me in the next day for a nurse to do some blood tests and you guessed it, the blood tests came back clear. I don't remember what they were testing me for but the nurse used 3 different coloured tubes and I think one tube was yellow, maybe green and possibly red. So of course I was worried that it came back clear as I was hoping I'd find answers from having that test.  
Not long after I received a text to book an appointment (ENT) but unfortunately no availablites which I can understand due to the current situation so I had to leave a message for them to contact me, if I don't hear within a week I contact them. I had to contact them and they said due to covid I'll be waiting a while to be seen but I am on the list. I waited about 3 more weeks near 4 and contacted them for any updates and I was lucky enough to be booked in for a consultation call. 
I received the call and the gentleman asked what was wrong, I basically said what I've typed on here apart from the fact I have  orange spot at the back of my throat and a few under my tongue... I generally forgot to mention that which makes me worried I missed a vital bit of information. He doesn't recon I have allergies to my cat as I would be sneezing/ runny nose/ itchy eyes which makes me a bit concerned as to what it is now as I thought it could still be my cat.. however I'm pretty sure you don't have to have itchy eyes/runny nose and  constant sneezing to be allergic to something especially if it's air born like pet dander??? I  have little faith when he said that as I think he's going  to be the doctor who will examine me... but I can't hate when he's the expert in this situation.  Anyways he said he'd book me in for an examination within 2 months and I should receive a letter beforehand. I think if I remember him saying he's  prescribing  me with acid reflux tablets to see if that helps till my appointment... Even though I was prescribed that before but this time I'll keep taking it till the prescription ends.
So now we are at this stage.. I'm just worried if it is throat cancer and the effects it might be doing to me body right now left untreated for this long as by the time I get seen "hopefully within 2 months no later" it'll be about 10 months!  I keep overthinking that "I have cancer, I have cancer" as I shouldn't be having this problem for so long but at the same time I need to stop googling symptoms/imagines and comparing my symptoms to them as it's so unhealthy as it could be the complete opposite, I could have anything but!i think I'm stressing because if it wasn't for covid, I would of been seen and treated months ago however I am very grateful for the HNS and what they do for a living as I understand how difficult this year has been and the pressure that's why I've been as patient as I possibly can be! 

I'm only 24 years of age, never experienced this before but wanted to share my thoughts on here in the hopes I'm not the only one?