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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
When I was little, I had strep ALL the time. I hated that giant q-tip down the throat! I think the last time I got it was around age…22? So over 27 years ago. Always had antibiotics.
And then I just never got it ever again. Not once.
And my son has NEVER had it. He just turned 18.
So by your logic, antibiotics made me resistant to strep. Which is nonsense. Which is what anecdotal stories are worth. Sorry.
I don’t normally leave comments about things- I felt I needed to in this case. Take your child into the doctor- don’t listen to a post on a blog. Doctor’s are professionals. Yes it costs money and yes it takes time but it beat the alternative.
I tried to ride out strep throat inadvertently when I was younger (less than 12). I don’t remember a lot about the strep throat, I just remember having it and that it hurt a lot. At the time my family didn’t know I had strep throat because I didn’t speak up. Without having my strep throat treated it did turn into RHEUMATIC FEVER. Rheumatic fever is serious because it causes your heart to swell. When your heart swells, the muscle loses elasticity and your valves become damaged.
My family found out I had strep throat when I came down with a condition known as SYDENHAM’S CHOREA. A condition caused by having not treated strep throat. At that point the doctor’s could treat the cause of my problems but it was too late and the damage had already been done to my body.
When I was 19 I had my first heart surgery to replace my mitral valve. I’m on blood thinners now for life. Just last year I suffered a severe case of Atrial Fib (I’m only 33). At that point the doctor’s have said that if it happens again I may need another surgery. The treatment for A-Fib is getting shocked. Granted they put you to sleep when they do it- but at this point I’m asking myself how much of a toll is this taking on me physically?
Now ask yourself- is it worth it to let your child “ride it out”? I know my answer already. If you doubt any of what I’ve just typed, google it. There’s a reason why Rheumatic Fever and Sydenham’s Chorea nearly don’t exist anymore- it’s because doctor’s can treat Strep Throat before anything bad happens. Just PLEASE do more research. I can’t beg enough.
thank you for this post, and I am sorry for what you went and what you are going through, thank you for your plee to all parents. You’ve blessed us with your trials, and I pray that I will bless other’s in my trials, and teach my children the same. God bless you.
Before penicillin became widely available after World War 2, rheumatic fever was the leading cause of valvular heart disease. The prevalence of both rheumatic fever – which requires a decade or more of daily penicillin and high-dose aspirin to treat – and valvular heart disease both plummeted after penicillin was used for strep throat. The reason it is used for these Group A Strep infections is NOT to shorten the course of the illness, but to prevent the potentially life altering complications of untreated infections.
The narrowest spectrum antibiotic available should always be used.
Do not use antibiotics for those cases of pharyngitis that are not strep positive. Do not use antibiotics for viral infections as they can provide NO benefit and always incur some risk.
Please do not value temporary changes in gut flora, which are FAR more dependent on diet than rational antibiotic use, over risk of debilitating and painful disease.
When you provide study data for eliminating risk of rheumatic fever in non antibiotic treatment of GAS infection I will be pleased to read them.
I recommend you below an other site about How to get rid of Strep Throat without Antibiotics and extremely helpful and well explain. – See more at:
http://www.liveyourlifenaturally.com/how-to-get-rid-of-strep-throat-without-antibiotics
My daughter (11) was just diagnosed with strep Monday and received a penicilin shot. I had had a headache the past few nights and after she went to the dr i looked at my throat, low and behold I had the white throat spots. While debating Urgent Care vs. CVS Minute Clinic I decided to look at options other than antibiotics… I read this article and several others and decided to ride it out,
My only medicines were ibuprophin when my temp got over 100, tumeric twice a day with milk and pepper. Salt water gargle. 2 cocnut oil pills a day.
Day 1: headache at night and morning
Day 2: headache at night and morning
Day 3: white spots on throat
Day 4: temp up to 102, achy
Day 5: temp held to 100 with ibuprophin, white spots on throat gone
Day 6: All good
Now we’ll see in the future if it comes back. Good luck. I feel like I saved $150 on dr and z-pak and and happy to know my body beat it on it’s own.
This is what I did.
1) buy 1 new toothbrush for everyone in your house to include those without symptoms-it is contagious.
2) Begin Taking Neem capsules (I took 2, 3 times that day)
3) get a bottle of Theraneem organix mouthwash. Yes-this one because it has Neem.
4) Get a cup you consider “non-valuable” and pour some of mouthwash into it.
5) dip toothbrush several times in the mouthwash-filled cup and scrub the you know what out of the throat area. Gargle with it too.
6)Repeat several times throughout that day. It should start to feel better after the initial sting.
This may not work for you as fast, but I felt better the day following the throat sting.
Don’t use Neem ALL the time though. The point is to suck it up sometimes and only use it for big ordeals like this where you might otherwise need an antibiotic.
Okay well I’m 13 and I just can’t stand strep tests or antibiotics. I really want to know more about if leaving strep untreated will make it go away anyway? My grandma had a saying, it was like, “It will go away 2 weeks with medicine and 14 days without”. Knowing that strep will go away by itself will make me feel more comfortable about not having to worry about the doctors and what they say. thanks
Don’t be such a wimp. There are things in life which incur great pain and things which are merely irritating. Having your tonsils swabbed and getting a shot of penicillin are annoyances that you needn’t allow your mind to turn into problems. Read more. Read up on the history of rheumatic fever. Learn the difference between wishful ignorance and clinical success.
Good health to you.
It’s not “being a wimp”
The strep test gives me horrible, endless panic attacks. It’s not always just “mildly irritating” you have no idea why this kid hates strep tests. I actually cannot endure them without being sedated. It’s not irritating, it’s a nightmare.
Although I respect your opinion and your experience, and am somewhat impressed at your fathers confidence in leaving your strep untreated, I think it only fair to point out that we all have different experiences that are guiding the decisions of others. I also had strep throat 3-5 ties as a minor. Back them my mother would wait 3 days to take me in, then it would take another day to get the results, then time to get the antibiotics and start administering. By then I was very sick, like you mentioned you were. After 2 days and the course was complete I was always better, with no complications. It was the same with my 3 siblings and my mother. My last case was when I was 19 and I am now 42. I have never gotten strep again. It is my opinion that it is not super common for adults to get strep anyway, although I know some do. My 18 year old son had strep once when he was 6, and has never had it again. My 11 year old has never had it. My 6 year old has it for the first time right now. I agree that abuse of antibiotics is very bad, but I think it is risky to advise people to let an illness as serious as strep throat go untreated. Again, I respect your opinion. I just wanted to post this so some mothers/fathers can see the other side and not feel guilty about giving antibiotics to cure strep throat. We all make choices, as with vaccines. I think people should weight the costs vs benefits. Thank you.
The reason garlic seems to work for many people is that Garlic contains a compound called Allicin. It is a form of an antibiotic and possibly have some antiviral activity. Garlic MUST be crushed for the Allin to convert to Allicin and be effective.
Almost all honey has antibiotic activity to some degree. Raw honey that has not been pasteurized has the most antibiotic activity.
Homeopathic remedies usually rely on the same modes of action as commercial drugs. The difference is that they may be natural in origin and that they may be a unique or complex compound that the infective strain has not been able to overcome. I can guarantee you that if they found out exactly how these compounds worked, synthetically duplicated them and used them like they do current antibiotics, these infective strains would mutate to become resistant. Remember it only takes a single copy of an infective organism that is resistant to reproduce and you have a drug resistant problem on your hands.
Antibiotics for Strep are more about protecting everyone else from getting it with the benefit that it usually stops complications in the person already infected. Before the age of antibiotics entire towns were quarantined when a few people has strep throat or rheumatic fever. These are highly contagious infections and preventing their spread is just as important today as it was in the past.
If you take a commercial antibiotic you should also be consuming large amounts of yogurt along with a good probiotic like Floragen-3. This will help to keep the good bacteria in your gut in place to prevent other bugs, like C-Diff., from being able to cause secondary infections. This also usually controls loose stool problems associated with antibiotic therapy.
Step is nothing to fool around with. If you have it, I would use both the garlic and honey along with antibiotics if the infection is not cleared within a day or two.