Force myself to eat? Or wait for my appetite to come back?

Agree - definitely not back to work on Tues. You need to fully recover before asking anything more from your body.

I don't think you should go back to work on Tuesday if you feel so nauseous and exhausted. I think it may be the antibiotics that are making you feel sick.

Do you feel you can eat soup or fruits? It is important to build your strength up but perhaps heavy food is not the right thing at the moment.

Eat ice cream. It's got the carbs and fats to raise your energy levels and will ease the pain in your throat. Don't worry about the calories because you're not eating much of anything else so it's just going to use up your daily calorie allowance.

Thank you all so much.

I don't know if it is the antibiotics finally wading in and giving the infection a good kicking, but I feel SO much better this morning. I had half a can a soup last night, and although it was very uncomfortable to swallow, I wan't wincing and yelping. I also had some ice cream and jelly, which took me bad to childhood birthday parties, where it wasn't a party at all without ice cream and jelly

luckygirl - never again will I, when hearing that someone is off work with tonsillitis, roll my eyes and think "it's a sore throat for heaven's sake. It can't be that bad". I now know that it is NOT a sore throat, and yes, it really CAN be that bad! I have of course had tonsillitis before, but it has never been this bad previously.

tegan2 - I have been amazed at how much extra saliva I seem to have produced this week. I don't know if that's down to the illness, or the antibiotics or what, but doesn't it seem ironic that just when you don't want to swallow, your body forces you to do just that!

poshgran - what a brilliant tip about putting fingers in your ears when you swallow. It really does work. And I hope you can take your fingers out of your ears soon

Thank you for all your kind words and suggestions. All very much appreciated.

Have just seen your post Hurdy & the good suggestions for things to eat.
You may already know this trick to alleviate the pain of swallowing, which was suggested to me by a GP many years ago - when you actually swallow have your index fingers placed firmly in your ears. It has always worked for me.

Sadly, I'm having to use it at the moment too!

GD had tonsillitis last week and was really poorly, unable to eat and even found liquids hurt to swallow.
I would not fret about eating solids as long as you can take liquids. Soup is nourishing and jelly and ice cream melt in the mouth and are soothing.

Hope you are better soon Hurdy - these throats can be really debilitating. I would go along with the jelly idea and if you don't feel like ice cream have some double pouring cream. I agree with not going back to work till you are ready - you need a day of being 'normal' at home before you go back.

Try yoghurt? It should help your gut to cope with the antibiotics but is also a nice soothing thing to eat. Hope you feel better soon.

When that happened to me I discovered ice cold milk towards the end of the illness. I do remember not being able to sleep because of the pain when any saliva trickled down my throat [and, of course, the more you try not to produce saliva the more you seem to produce].

I think you should accept that you have been really ill. stay at home, no strolls in the park, let your body recover from this onslaught and drink as much as you can and don't eat anything if you don't want to. 2 eggs are enough to keep anyone alive for a week. You can't force a sick body to get better and an older body needs twice as long as a young one. Take another week off and get better properly.
You'll be ravenous in 2 or 3 weeks!

Melon?

It may be that you will not be well enough for work on Tuesday and should stay at home if you are not. You need to be eating properly before then.

Tonsillitis is a very nasty illness when an adult - it really knocks you out, and is not "just" a sore throat.

Jelly and ice cream? - really; it is easy to swallow and full of energy.

Hope you will be feeling good again soon.

Well done for the 12.5 loss but sorry you arent eating at present. How about something soft which wont affect your throat, like scrambled eggs. Fish? mashed potatoes with a bit of cheese ( yes i know cheese is a sw no no). Just ensure you drink enough. Actually you can get something called ensure which is a sort of meal in a drink.
Good luck and hope you feel better soon.

I remember having a strep throat years ago, I couldn't even swallow my own saliva, let alone eat, had to spit into a pot! When eventually I could, I drank Complan to build me up.
You have my sympathy, hope you will be on the mend soon.

When I can't eat I buy protein drinks x