hello, i am worried because i have a really bad sore throat right now and i have had strep throat quite a few times. now, i ve gotten good at knowing when i have it and when i don t but i went to the doctors this time and my culture came back normal. so, it s not strep and i m just wondering what it could be? because i ve been googling my symptoms and things like herpes and throat lesions have been popping up. i m fairly young, i m 18 and i haven t really been involved in a physical relationship. however, i do have these red, vein-looking things on the back of my throat and a bump on the inside of my bottom lip which someone said looked like a cold sore , which i ve never had. i also have a hard time swallowing and i feel like there s something stuck on the side of my throat and phlegm keeps coming up. the only relief i get is while i m drinking a cold drink. my throat is extremely dry, i don t believe my glands are swollen, i don t have a fever and that seems to rule out pharyngitis . i don t know what to think about all this and i don t have money to go back to the doctors again to get checked unless i know what treatment i need, so i d really appreciate your feedback. thank you.