Maybe you are one of the small minority that gets a false-positive test result. If they are only using the rapid test and not doing an actual culture, the test could also be picking up dead strep bacteria (which could be why you don't have a sore throat). Mix that with the high likelihood that your initial strep infection caused a fibro flare, it would not be surprising if it all breaks down to the leftover effects of that same fibro flare you went into at the beginning (I hope that all made sense). I've experience similar situations more than I can count - once had to go through major stress testing and heart-catheterization just to find that a flare was causing heart attack like symptoms. One of the "lovely" things about fibro is that flares often mimic serious medical conditions/illnesses leaving one needing to experience a whole host of tests in order to determine whether it is the suspect condition or a fibro flareup.

@A MyFibroTeam Member it is a process. I'm still fighting to eat right and I think it will always be a struggle. I'm having a bad flare right now so it feels like nothing I do helps, but I have to remind myself of the facts when I'm feeling that way. I really hope you figure this all out and get some relief. Hopefully the ENT will have some answers for you. Hugs!

Mentioned Users

A MyFibro...

I have found that since I've had fibromyalgia, I do have more infections than before.

Hi Michele, Christmas of 2013 I was visiting my sister in Houston and came down with strep...and yes, without the symptoms of strep....I thought I had the flu and then the test came back positive for strep. Went back to my sister's in March of 2014 to stay for a few months, and came down with strep again in May (Memorial Day weekend)....I was like "what the heck".....I am 60 years old and hadn't had strep since 2005.

Now the reason I was spending so much time at my sister's house was due to my mother's progressing dementia. I drove from Orlando to Houston with a stop at my aunt's in New Orleans...I have noticed that fibro symptoms do not do well with mental stress and I am wondering if my immune system gets fragile and I pick up "bugs" more easily...

back home in Orlando, I've just been dealing with my fibro symptoms and sinus/allergy funk (which is always with the weather we are having this summer).

My primary doc once told me that sometimes you just catch stuff over and over and there's no rhyme or reason to why....just ride it out and take extra good care of yourself...eat healthy, hydrate and get some rest....

I once had a foot infection at the site of a prior small surgery 4 months after the successful surgery...the infection lasted a year under the care of a dermatologist and an infectious disease doctor...seriously, I was on antibiotics for a solid year. Almost a year to the date the infection started, I woke up and the infection had cleared up and has never come back....the dermatologist spent tons of time trying to figure out what was going on and took many samples for cultures....he even wanted me to come to his monthly meeting of dermatologist to be his "show and tell" tough case...

Just wanted you to know sometimes things just happen and we need to just ride them out and let time pass....not what you want to hear but it will be okay!

Curiouser and curiouser . . .
There is a very small minority (2%) of people complaining of symptoms indicative for mononucleosis and/or strep that when tested for both will throw a false-negative for mono while at the same time throwing a false-positive for strep. I fall into that lucky bunch apparently. Besides the throat culture that was ordered, my doc also had the lab run a titer test for the Epstein-Barr virus (cause of mono). My results for that came back positive for 3 of the 4 stages of infection, meaning I had an active infection at that time as well as previous undetected infections beginning who knows when. When I was a junior in high school, I was in the doctor's office about every 2-3 months with swollen glands and sore throat, but always tested negative for mono and strep. It only cleared up after I hit a fever of 104 and passing out while at school. Ended up in the hospital for a week (yay Spring Break) on IV antibiotics and constant lab tests to monitor a massive systemic strep infection. Never had another problem, outside of pollen allergies, until I came down with the case of strep leading into my fibro.

I've heard and read about others who were diagnosed with fibro and having odd strep infections too. I'm sure there's some kind of simple medical explanation, and I know the body goes through some hellacious changes with fibro, but still. . .