If you’re youngish and healthy a short course of an oral steroid is very low risk and doesn’t require a PPI. And it’s indicated for severe throat pain.
1) not that young and 2) definitely not “severe throat pain.” Drip + mild sore throat that went a few too many days with discolored phlegm. Clearly bacterial infection, clearly needed antibiotics, but definitely not severe
Discolored phlegm doesn’t mean bacterial infection. Viral infections, and allergic sinusitis can cause it too.
Bacterial sinus infections are absurdly over treated [1]. It can take weeks to recover from a viral infection.
Not saying that you are a wuss, but my guess is, the doctor probably over-indexed on the throat pain, assumed you were a bit of wuss for calling the doctor for a sore throat, and decided to give you something to make you feel better quickly.
Either way unless you were 65+ a short course of oral steroids is very safe (and even then it’s only very mildly dangerous).
“Without antibiotics, rhinosinusitis resolved in 46% of patients after one week and in 64% of patients after 14 days.
Antibiotics can shorten time to resolution but in only five to 11 more people per 100 compared with placebo or no treatment.
Despite this, approximately 86% of U.S. ambulatory visits for acute rhinosinusitis result in oral antibiotic prescriptions.1 In Europe, antibiotic prescription rates for acute rhinosinusitis in primary care range from 72% to 92%”