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More parents seem to be making an effort in recent years to limit antibiotic exposure for their children. This is due to concerns about how this may impact long term health or contribute to increased susceptibility to deadly superbugs such as C-Diff. Treating strep throat without meds remains a glaring exception to this trend.
It seems that whenever a doctor diagnoses a child or even an adult with strep throat, there is no question that they require an immediate round of antibiotics. Even those who typically avoid meds and follow a more holistic lifestyle seem to fall into this trap.Â
Strep Throat Symptoms
There is no doubt that strep throat is a serious infection. It is a bacterial infection and involves severe inflammation of the throat and tonsils. Typical signs of strep throat include:
- Sudden, severe sore throat
- Fever higher than 101°F/ 38 °C
- Pain when swallowing
- Pale colored spots on the back of a bright red throat
Some people suffering from strep throat will also get swollen lymph glands in their neck. Others experience vomiting or a red skin rash.
How Long Does Strep Throat Last?
Strep throat will only last 3 to 7 days with or without treatment. Doctors usually treat strep throat with antibiotics even though they will not make you well any faster. Strep throat contagiousness will continue for 24 hours once antibiotics are started. With no treatment, strep throat continues to be contagious until symptoms resolve.
In response to the persistent overuse of antibiotics for strep throat, the journal Canadian Family Physician states:
… symptoms caused by a bacterial sore throat [strep] fail to clear much faster when treated with antibiotics than they would if left alone.
It is certainly easier and quicker to hand out prescriptions every time than to explain and reassure. Each time we do this, however, we reinforce patients’ fears.
Do family physicians have to declare a conflict of interest in answering these questions? If we were to lower ourselves to examining the vulgar subject of money, it is certainly in our financial interest to keep many patients scared enough to rush to our offices whenever they get sore throats.
In view of the large number of antibiotics prescribed for sore throats, perhaps it is time to review whether we should be using such treatment for strep throat infections at all.
Is Strep Throat Overmedicated?
Mmmm.
Sounds like the idea of not administering antibiotics for strep throat may not be as crazy as it first sounds. Are doctors overmedicating strep throat just like they overmedicate ear infections, colds and sinus/respiratory infections?
A round of antibiotics has the potential to cause permanent damage to the gut flora. This, in turn, has a lifelong impact on overall immunity to both chronic and acute illness. Skipping those antibiotic pills altogether may prove in the long run to be the smartest approach of all.
Do You Have to Get Antibiotics for Strep Throat?
In light of the fact that every round of antibiotics potentially damages the gut in a manner than can never be 100% repaired, I think questioning the automatic use of antibiotics for every single case of strep is worth consideration. While some people clearly need meds, they are not necessary for everyone even if the suggestion may seem ludicrous at first.
The complications of strep throat are, after all, extremely serious. However, they are also rare especially for a healthy person with no autoimmune issues. Scarlet fever, inflammation of the kidney, or rheumatic fever which could permanently damage the heart are all remote possibilities.
I dated a guy in high school who was deaf in one ear from Scarlet fever (who is ironically now a MD). I am in no way kidding myself about how serious complications from strep throat can be by questioning whether antibiotics are truly needed for this type of infection.
My Experience with Untreated Strep Throat
My serious doubts about the wisdom of using antibiotics for strep throat go back to my one and only experience with this infection the summer I turned 15.  Strep was by far the worst sore throat I’ve ever had and the pain when I swallowed was almost unbearable to endure.
My Father, a Family Physician, made the decision not to put me on any antibiotics and let me ride it out under my own power. My Dad wasn’t into herbs or anything so I didn’t have any alternative treatments administered either.
The infection lasted over a week … my memory remembers a full two weeks but it might have been a few days shy of that.
I lost several pounds during that illness as I could only endure swallowing liquids the entire time. I pretty much subsisted on vanilla milkshakes from the ice cream shop down the road for the duration of that awful infection and I still got well under my own power with no complications.
The interesting thing is that I seem to have developed an immunity to strep ever since. I’ve never had strep throat ever again in 35+ years. This is despite repeated exposures at close range. During college, I even had a roommate with strep and didn’t get sick. This despite eating pretty rotten cafeteria food and lots of sugary foods. This no doubt suppressed my immune function considerably.
Is it possible that allowing the body to fight off strep throat naturally on its own confers partial or total immunity?
I’ve often considered this possibility over the years. My personal belief is that yes, it is very much possible to develop an immunity to strep throat. Certainly, though, my anecdotal story does not in any way provide sufficient evidence.
I can say with certainty that if and when any of my children (or myself) ever came down with strep throat, hands down I would without question skip the antibiotics.
Why?
Developing Strep Throat Immunity (yes, it’s possible!)
The reason is that folks who take antibiotics for strep throat seem to get it over and over and over again. Sometimes they get strep throat again within mere days or weeks from the previous infection. Have you noticed this vicious cycle too?
Wouldn’t it be a far better and healthier approach to fight it off one time and be done with it possibly for the rest of your life?
My retired MD Dad is of the philosophy that if you give the body a crutch every time it gets ill, it will always expect and demand that crutch. This results in immunity getting weaker over time. I have witnessed the truth of this philosophy through observation. Those who have the tendency to over-medicate their illnesses whether it be with antibiotics or (gasp) even natural remedies can unwittingly experience a downside.
Attempting to squelch illness at the first sign of a sniffle, for example, is not a wise approach in my opinion even if nontoxic.
The immune system stays strong when it is allowed to fight and defeat an illness with no interference. Ideally, rest and nourishment only (including frequent mugs of homemade bone broth or soups made with it) should be provided.
Now, I do think that much consideration needs to be given to the health of the individual before forgoing the meds. A child with autoimmune issues who is not eating well in the first place probably should just take the antibiotics.
On the other hand, a robust healthy child with no autoimmune illness who is consuming an excellent diet has a superb chance of handling the infection well with no intervention.
My Daughter’s Experience with Untreated Strep Throat
Recently, my preteen daughter came down with strep. She is my youngest child, and this was the first time any of my three children had ever had strep throat.
Given that she is healthy with no underlying health issues, my husband and I decided to ride it out. We treated her with natural antibiotics only.
The result?
She recovered completely within 48 hours. In fact, the white spots on her throat disappeared in less than 12 hours once we started treatments. We used garlic, raw manuka honey, and turmeric several times a day.
It will be interesting to see if she ever gets strep throat again. My bet is that she won’t. She will likely develop partial or total lifelong immunity just like I did when I recovered at age 15 from untreated strep.
UPDATE
It’s been nearly four years including a very bad flu season with no recurrence of strep for my daughter. It’s looking good for her having developed natural immunity.
Have you recovered from strep throat with no antibiotics needed? Did you develop a strep throat immunity afterward? Please let us know your experience in the comments section.
References
Canadian Family Physician, Should we treat strep throat with antibiotics?
More Information
How to Repair Your Gut After Antibiotics
Why Antibiotics Today Could Threaten Your Life Tomorrow
Wow this makes perfect sense. I wish I had heard this information years ago before allowing my children to take antibiotics. Even though I go the natural route echinachea, colloidal silver etc I would def. have re-thought traditional treatments. I have gotten strep throat for years, sad more people don’t try this approach.
I do know that not everyone gets it that is exposed to it. We were out shopping for a new truck when my daughter started throwing up, that was her first symptom of strep throat. We had all shared a drink that day, including her twin brother. No one else got it that time. She got it later at least one more time.
I just got back from the er, the Dr gave my daughter antibiotics. She’s had one dose and is supposed to take it for ten days. Can I skip antibiotics even though she’s had one dose? Also what about for the fever and pain. I’ve been doing bone broth for three days and it just got really painful for her. I did give her tylenol when she got the fever. I guess I should have let the fever fight it, now she has strep. What is the best book to now all this home treatment. Thank you
I think my 5-year-old may have Strep right now. I just looked in my favorite book “How to Raise a Healthy Child: In Spite of Your Doctor,” by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn. He was a pediatrician for over 30 years I think, and though this book is older, he has a common sense approach to medicine that seems to be lost today. Anyway, he said most cases of Strep are actually viruses and there is no treatment for them. He said that a lot of doctors will give an antibiotic right away, just in case it’s bacterial and to prevent rhuematic fever. He said if the antibiotic isn’t started right away, it will do no good against rhuematic fever, and besides, in his 25 years of practice at the place he worked the longest, he and the other doctors saw 10,000 kids a year (for 25 years!) and they only saw one case of rheumatic fever. He said today, it rarely occurs and mostly in impoverished areas where the nutrition isn’t good. He also said that the antibiotic does more harm than good because it prevents your body from making antibodies against the Strep infection and you will sore throat after sore throat if you take them….
Not treating strep can backfire. My children had untreatedstrep that turned into Scarlitina. Rheumatic fever is not to be taken lightly. I had two very sick kids, I can tell you. Because of antibiotics, they suffered no lasting heart damage.Yes, antibiotics are over prescribed. But it is not to be taken lightly that on ocassion, they can lessen the severity of an illness, and aleviate to negative impact on the body. Holistic medicine is a wonderful thing, but lets get real people, sometimes modern medicine is a good thing too. I have treated cold, flu, etc with great suces using medicinal herbs, just as my mother and grandmother did. The best cough syrup for my family is a homemade concoction. Natural remedies for burns and stings are common in my pantry. My conclusion: using natural remedies, and allowing the body to heal itself is all fine and good. But to villify all modern antibiotics that are used judiciously, is sticking ones head in the proverbial sand.
Some serious errors in logic here..
First, yes, letting your body fight something off itself will help build up a resistance to that something, but if you want to gamble on your body sorting out the problem prior to strep causing larger issues, that’s your choice.
But, you have never caught it again means very little, I was 24 before I ever had step at all, and despite it being hyped as being highly contagious, it doesn’t always spread that easily. Short of having actually been making out with someone who had strep, it’s entirely possible you just lucked into avoiding. But whatever, let’s say it was your immune system, it’s possible.
But, and this is the main point, your kids not having had strep has nothing to do with you. Your ‘immunity’ was developed through exposure, you weren’t born with it, it’s not part of your genetics and suggesting that it can be passed on has absolutely nothing to with how reproduction works.
awesome articles its very effective and helpful
Thanks for this article! You added some great insight. I really try to avoid antibiotics as I hate to create any imbalances in my digestive system, along with all the other risks you mentioned. It is interesting the idea of building an immunity. BUT I did want to mention that it is impossible that you passed this immunity on to your children. In the same way that if you dye your hair naturally brown hair red you won’t pass red hair to your children, a non-dna change can not be passed along. Just thought I’d add that long
Until I read this it hadn’t even occurred to me that since I quit running to the doctor for antibiotics when getting strep that I haven’t had it. I was extremely scared of getting it since my cousin, who was my same age, when we were in fifth grade, had it spread si that she started regressing–she couldn’t talk, write, read, and had to wear diapers. Her doctor then put her in penicillin until she turned twenty-one. Thankfully she fully recovered, but is now allergic to all antibiotics (if my memory serves me). In fact none of my kids ever got it again either. I gave them garlic and vitamin C and had them gargle with salt water at the first sign of any cold or scratchy throat. Strep is very distinctive and I had had a lot of experience with it, so I know we never got it again.
I have a question, are you a professional? You seem extremely comfortable giving advice about serious viruses. So, are you? Because that is a dangerous thing to do, when you don’t have the education nor experience to back up your claims.