I self-diagnosed strep. Symptoms: I had a sore throat - It started Friday night and gradually got worse (and I could feel it in my ears) until Sunday (white spots appeared) and then continued to hurt until Wednesday (white spots gone but still lots of slime stuff). Now (Thursday) most of the pain is mostly gone but I my tonsils are so big I feel like I m swallowing them. I have had a stiff neck (I assume from swollen lymph nodes) since Saturday. I had a low-grade fever (88.0-99.9) on and off. On Sunday evening, Monday, and Tuesday I had absolutely no energy and a pounding headache that didn t let me do anything. Wednesday the headache was finally gone. Now today (Thursday) my right ear has so much pressure in it and it has a dull, sharp pain (different from the ear pain caused by my sore throat). That sounds conflicting but that s my best description. I didn t have a cough or runny nose. I also didn t go to the Dr because I read that my body can fight strep without an antibiotic. I had always heard all these scary stories about not testing strep. Then when I read that and that it could help my immune system to get stronger by not taking an antibiotic. Okay so my questions, is my ear ache normal at this stage in my strep (6 days after the starting of the strep and a day after the bad sore throat pain is mostly gone)? When will my tonsil swelling go down? They are huge and it feels like I constantly have something at the back of my throat that I can t swallow.