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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
One thing that many people do NOT do is take all their antibiotic medication as they were told to do. People start feeling better and stop taking them which leaves them much more vulnerable to be re-infected with bacteria that may still be present. I too went a week with strep when I was 16 but my sickness wasn’t going away so I finally went to the doctor and was given antibiotics, haven’t had strep in over 10 years. Medicine is a wonderful thing when used in the correct way.
Wouldn’t it be better/more responsible to recommend that people visit their doctor for a strep test a week after contracting strep, even if their symptoms are gone after natural treatment? That way they can be sure that it is truly gone and avoid the scary possibility of developing rheumatic fever. I had a young, healthy friend in great shape (she was a runner) who ignored the symptoms of strep (sore throat), then woke up weeks later with debilitating pain and swelling in her joints. Now she must take a lifelong course of antibiotics to prevent the fatal possibility of the bug infecting her heart. Not worth not taking the strep test.
A “test of cure” makes some sense, but group A Strep. (GAS) infections don’t work that way. The likelihood that, even with treatment, you can retain dormant colonies of GAS is very high. Some studies have shown upwards of 25% of people being “colonized” by this strain of the organism when randomly sampled. You can give your child a course of amoxicillin for GAS and swab his throat again in 6 months and find GAS again – even though they appear well, and are. This means you are being exposed to GAS far more often than you realize and it’s really not as contagious as we think. There are HOST factors affecting this as well, primarily the microflora in your own throat which can inhibit the growth of GAS. Every time you take an antibiotic, you ALSO kill off many different species of these organisms (and others all over your body). It’s slowly dawning on us in the medical community that antibiotics, while they are still life-savers, as they are WIDELY overused we are creating more problems than we are solving, specifically CA-MRSA (an iatrogenic illness, brought about by repeated antibiotic exposures in high-risk groups), C. difficile colitis, mood disorders and acne to name a few. As we learn about the human body’s “microbiome” specifically gut-flora, we are learning about the “gut” connection to brain health/mood disorders, acne, heart disease, diabetes, and more. It’s better NOT to take antibiotics if they can be avoided, and to take the correct one, the one tailored to the kind of infectious organism you have and for the shortest possible duration. I fight daily with patients who DEMAND a “broad spectrum antibiotic” for 12 to 24 hours of CLEARLY viral syndrome symptoms. I don’t do it. I won’t do it. I know many doctors who do and don’t think twice about it. For that, I practice in shame and perpetual embarrassment.
Wow…I really commend you for your honesty in your post…I wish I could find a Doctor like you. It seems to me that many Doctors are only interested in treating the symptoms and not curing the illness. As a child and teenager I got strep throat over and over again and my parents took me to the Doctor and I took antibiotics every time. So, one would think that I would have been cured but the cycle just continued. I think many parents just want to do the best thing for their children and are uneducated about the harmful affects of some medication and are also uneducated about the amazing human body and how it is able to heal itself when given the proper nourishment. In today’s time many people are looking for quick and easy solutions and it is encouraging to know that there are Doctors out there such as yourself whom at the risk of being ridiculed by patients and other doctors decided to take a stand for what is right no matter what it may cost them….You are definitely my HERO!!!
The thing that scares me is that I have a friend who was a perfectly healthy runner who got strep throat and it got much worse b/c she hadn’t done anything about it. her sore throat went away, but then weeks later she would wake up with debilitating pain and swelling in her joints. Now she requires lifelong antibiotic treatment to prevent the infection from showing up in her heart and become fatal to her. Wouldn’t it be better/more responsible to include in your recommendations that people take a follow up trip to the doctor after the 1st week of symptoms, even if they go away to make sure they’ve stamped out strep completely?
I have been diagnosed with strep throat about 5 times in the last 7 years and am currently fighting it again. For the first 3 infections I immediately took antibiotics no questions asked. However, for the 4th infections I attempted to ride it out since that infection was not as severe as past strains I have caught. That is something to take note to there are different strains of strep and some are more severe. I have guttate psoriasis so I knew doing so would inevitably lead to an outbreak but I took my chances thinking if I let my body fight off the strep then I too would grow an immunity. WELL here I am again with another strep infection because I only gained immunity to that one strain. That’s what people can’t seem to understand, sure you may fight it off but there are tons of others strains you may or may not catch. This particular strain has been the most painful by far I have ever been stricken with. I have been on antibiotic for 48 hours and am still experiencing pain and swelling.
I think it makes a difference if strep is fought off naturally from the very beginning with no antibiotics ever used for it. If antibiotics have been historically used over and over, it may take a few tries of fighting it off to develop a natural immunity.
Oh my the thread that will not die .
For those who do not understand . Strep is a bacterial infection . There are many types . Strep A is the one that commonly causes the nasty side effects . Only certain strains of strep a cause Rheumatic Fever kidney disease etc.
The side effects are rare but are bad if you get them . Having had Rheumatic Fever I can say it is a bad time.
The heart damage is an auto immune rx based on my body’s attempt to fight the bug. My infection had no symptoms as can happen .
It was miserable and left damage . If you can penicillin is not expensive and the trip to a clinic or Dr can save lots of misery in the end and money if you are the unlucky one .
It is rare but the risk for such an easy prevention is simply not worth the cost in the end .
I am now hyper vigilant about strep bcs reinfection could do further damage.
Strep is no joke please if you have a confirmed case treat it .
I agree! I can’t believe anyone would even refuse antibiotics for their children with a strep infection. I’m pretty sure that’s child neglect! I would never risk my kids’ lives by withholding proper medical treatment. Strep can be extremely dangerous and is wayyy too risky to be messing around with and experimenting with.
I tried “riding it out” once… I went literally 3 weeks not being able to swallow and losing my voice on a daily basis because I did not have insurance and I could not afford to go to the doctor. I “rode it out” until I couldn’t walk and ended up in the hospital with a severe case of strep and a kidney infection from where it had started traveling to other parts of my body. That’s how people get sepsis. You might want to do a little research on bacterial infections and how they can spread to other body systems before you suggest that people stop taking antibiotics. However, these antibiotics should be taken correctly so as not to cause a resistant strain of strep. To protect yourself from these “superbugs”, wash your hands! And take your medicine correctly.
I believe she did state that there are people who should go to the Dr and take meds for this as people can be more susceptible to infection than others. Sepsis is always started from some other bug I had sepsis from a cat bite on the nose. It was immediate sepsis from feline saliva. It can happen with no underlying cause beforehand. I have also seen it with e-coli illnesses.
As for some people being able to get past it without complication it has some merit. I haven’t had strep since I was 12. They attempted to check for lesions and my throat had swelled shut almost. I could barely breath. It lasted 2 weeks straight. Possible a few days longer as our city trip from rural Alaska was longer than 2 weeks for my brothers surgery. He wanted to run a camera through my nose to look at things because it was the worst case he had ever seen in his entire career. The camera couldn’t fit it was soo bad. He wanted to give me a shot and I refused and told my mother I would have a fit and run. It was the same shot I had 2x prior for a brain infection. I could walk for 7 days after it had hurt soo bad. She said ok and declined. My fever was high and he gave me oral antibiotics to take in high doses. The pills were too big and I couldn’t swallow them. I could hardly swallow liquid Tylenol or water. Everything hurt soo bad. Even breathing. Worst feeling ever. He also prescribed a dose of lidocaine to gargle so I could attempt My meds. It only worked so I could manage drinks.
By the time I could eat food and drink again without crying it had been over a week. By then my brother was in surgery for something else so my mother didn’t pay attention to whether or Not I took my meds. Since I was eating again I chose not to take them and lied about it. By the time we got home I was fine. I had been getting strep about 4x a year for 7 years before that and was sick of it. I haven’t ever had strep again after that awful experience. It has been over 20 years since then. I have had flu, head colds sore throats and chronic bronchitis after but not once was there strep after that horrible episode. Granted I have had several strange infections after that my doctors have no idea what are as well. Ironically my sore throats after the incident were always a bronchial infection after strep. My first bout with bronchitis started in the next interval my strep cycle would have been. Lasted just as long and Dr’s sent me home with antibiotics as well. For the next 10 years it arose every year during December. My last episode with bronchitis also was during a time I stopped antibiotic therapy for it. The last one was viral so antibiotics were pointless to my Dr. So I rode it out missed an entire week of work and afterwards never got it again.
There are many things your body can overcome if you take the efforts to fight it properly. If antibiotics just quell symptoms and the same illness returns regularly I’m a fan of riding it out. Another one of those I rode out was the flu. Verified influenza that was highly contagious. I also was incidently pregnant during onset of illness. Kept nothing down for weeks and developed severe hyperemesis during pregnancy. Meds in pill form didn’t stay down and swallowing was instant puking. My daughter and I both have not experienced the flu since.
Can “superbugs” kill of course. So can basic bugs. We over medicate the world and more often than not create super bugs. Illnesses we can’t combat are our own fault. We can’t be afraid of being sick. We also need to recognize when We aren’t able to combat illness and take proper precautions to get better. If your ill. Then make sure you are 100% healthy at o set of infection PRIOR to deciding to fight it on your own. Any scratch, pimple, or accidental ingestion of undercooked food can cause immunosuppressive responses to illnesses. Lack of insurance is not an excuse for lack of treatment or a reason to decide to forgo any treatment. They have plenty of ways to pay Dr bills with grants and special programs when your ill.
I am far from healthy and still need to be treated for many problems. As for contracting specific diseases I don’t get many of the common ones anymore. Allowing an illness to run it’s course can be phenomenal for our health. All of these problems occurred prior to my pregnancies. As a result my children have NEVER contracted any of these. No influenza, bronchitis, strep throat, staph, mrsa, pink eye, pnemounia, chicken pox, measles, whooping cough. Plus several others. They have several allergies and have experienced several strange fevers that spiked incredibly high but none of the things you expect a child to get over the years of child hood. My son has had one series of shots at the age of 5 that made him violently ill as has my daughter at 2. I declined the next ones and they haven’t had flu or pnemounia ones. A total of 6 total opposed to the several they “need”. Many of which were dtap and mmr and whooping cough I declined. All children have been exposed several times a year to these diseases and illnesses and have never caught them. They were all exposed by the age of 1 years old about 4x a year with the sitter. My son is now 10 and was born prematur, next is my 6 yo, now my 9 month old. All incredibly healthy other than several allergies that also mimic illness. Any illness is minor sniffles from sinusitis, asthma, or food allergies. Only once did my daughter get sick enough to make Dr’s believe she had pink eye. Instead it’s a rare form of conjunctivitis that is genetic and mimics pink eye.
My children are lucky yes. I’m not overly a germaphobe and try to maintain a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, and proteins. Less sugars as babies and toddlers and more treats with healthy foods. We are what we eat and I believe everyone can lead a healthier life with better care of ourselves and limiting antibiotics that can harm our bodies fight off common things.
I also work with healthcare and know when to recognize an emergency as well as when illness has lasted too long needing medical treatment. Especially children. Dr’s are a blessing and I for sure need them to fight through my illnesses. I have battled death several times through childhood from the strange diseases. I’m immuno compromised. As well and know not to take for granted healthcare. There is most definitely merit to “riding out” many infections.
It is important to realize that strep can travel to other parts of the body. My mother-in-law recently almost lost her leg when strep throat traveled to a wound on her leg. She spent months living in a rehabilitation clinic to save the leg.
I would never recommend people not go to the dr of they think it’s strep either. I’ve had it once when I was 14ish, got treated with antibiotics, got better and ever since I can nurse anyone with it and not catch it. Children you def need to take to the dr. My child, 4, started puking one night and in less than 24 hours couldn’t even stand up and developed a sunburn. Not suspecting strep I took her to an immediate clinic thinking she was just dehydrated from puking, they sent us immediately to the ER. Come to find out she had scarlet fever. She never had a sore throat or a high fever of over 101. The dr told me had I waited much longer it would have been critical. All in less than 24hrs.
This was certainly an interesting read. From the ending of 2013 to the beginning of 2014 I’ve had Strep about 3-4 times. The last time I had strep throat was about 5 years ago when I was 16. So when I began feeling the piercing feeling in my throat I wasn’t immediately aware that I had strep. Until I had trouble swallowing and feeling feverish and looked up my symptoms I realized it was back. I took a trip to the doctors and got the shot and I was surprised it was to my arse because it was given to me on my arm the last time. My god was it painful. So within a few days I was back to normal. A month later the symptoms return, but I didn’t want to go all the way to the doctor when I knew I had strep again so I found some amoxicillin pills in my cousins house and I was better in no time. Then last week I was feeling fatigued with a sore throat. On Friday I realized it was strep and my mother warned me not to take anti biotics until I was diagnosed. But I hadn’t had time all weekend to go. But suddenly on Saturday I was feeling much better to my surprise. I just hope the strep isn’t lingering in my system. And after reading your story I just couldn’t imagine fighting out strep on my own. But id never do it again willingly due to all the complications that come from strep.
While I do not like administering antibiotics, the ”rare” complications are life changing or even deadly ( when the heart is infected) and are not all that rare ( when you make a statement it would be nice to have some scientific statistics to back your claim of rarity). There are also age groups at higher risk of complications and some age groups that doctors don’t treat unless they feel it necessary. Your quote isn’t exactly inclusive as Webmd does go on to explain that antibiotics serve to protect other household members ( in some cases weaker members should be considered)from contagion as well as the spread to vital organs. Doctors do not make any money when prescribing antibiotics in Canada and in most countries including the US. They do in most cases have more than an anecdotal story ending well to support their decisions , like scientific studies and countless prior cases. Are they wrong sometimes? sure. Are they corrupt sometimes?quite likely. Do most doctors care for the well being of their patients?absolutely. As in every profession, some are better at what they do then others, and some care more than others. But there is no general conspiracy , nor do the doctors go out late at night to hold secret meetings to find ways of getting people more sick. They are , for the most , quite intelligent people that have a background pertaining to medical issues. Geesh, folks need to travel more, to get a glimpse of what life is like when folks don’t have access to medical care. With that note, I am off to give my daughter some fire cider for her strep before going to make sure with her doctor that she is strong enough to wait out the antibiotics.
Brigitte, I respect your opinion. I’m not sure which post your post was replying to, and I haven’t read the article in a while, but I don’t remember the author suggesting that doctors are prescribing antibiotics to make money or as part of some conspiracy. And, while some of them may be intelligent, others may not. Spending 8 or 10 years in school does not make an intelligent person. It makes a person informed in what the university teaches. People make the mistake of assuming that universities are unbiased and pass on the cutting edge information available in the objective field of science. Science is not as objective as you may think. What is researched and studied, how those studies are conducted, how that research is interpreted, which interpretations are published in studies, and what is taught at universities are all determined by men and women who work in the field of “science.” But, they are human beings with preconceived notions and it is human nature for them to make the above decisions in a way that supports what they already believe. There is constantly new information coming in and new opinions being formed, and a lot of the people, even scientists, are vested in looking at info. that supports their current belief system. It’s why there is so much controversy when new scientists question the current scientific paradigm. Unless you have a very open mind, you want to keep believing what you already believe. Scientists are people too, and they also want to believe what they already believe. Maybe even more, because their egos maybe more wrapped up in NOT admitting they were wrong. And, as far as doctors go, just like most people, I believe most of them want to do what’s right. However, if the information they learned in med school, after years of hard work and money spent, is just plain incorrect, they may not be very anxious to see that. Also, as fairly busy people, they may not have the time to do the research to keep up with the most recent data and may just read someone else’s interpretation of the studies going on. Often they DO get info about drugs from the very drug reps that are selling those drugs. It’s foolish to not question your doctor’s opinion because he/she is a doctor.
@chemfreemom I wouldn’t call it a ‘conspiracy’ although many people might look at it that way.
You said “Often they (MD’s) DO get info about drugs from the very drug reps that are selling those drugs.”
Are you also aware that the drug companies give the MD’s *financial incentives* to prescribe their drug, over other drugs in the same class? The more a MD writes a RX for a certain med, the more they get paid by that pharmaceutical company.
No that don’t. That is HIGHLY illegal and anyone found taking money in that fashion would lose their medical license, among other things.
And, a quick search of drugs that have been withdrawn or medical treatments that we no longer use over the last even 25 years, will show that the scientists who have our ear and the ear of the doctors get it wrong quite regularly. I’m sure they mean well at the time, but sometimes they’re just wrong. If you don’t question things and remain open to new info. and trust your intuition, you could be one of the many people who are killed or injured by well-meaning doctors offering drugs or treatments they truly believe in. Each person has to decide what is the right path for them and their families. Personally, I support the author’s belief that a strong immune system is the best defense you have. My 7-year-old son has never been on an antibiotic and I haven’t been on one in probably 20 years. We seldom get sick and if we do, it lasts a day or two. I’ve never had a flu shot and haven’t had the flu in 30 years. You might read “How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor” by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn. He was in practice for over 30 years at the time he wrote his book and for most diseases, including strep, he did not use antibiotics or drugs of any kind. (Of course, this was before the drug companies took over, spending a fortune to push their drugs and influence doctors) In his 30 years, he stated that he never once saw a case of Rheumatic Fever due to Strep in his own or his colleagues patients. It’s not that it doesn’t happen, but I believe it’s rare and choose to take my chances with our immune system. I keep an eye on my son, and if it ever got really bad, I might consider an antibiotic, but it’s never been necessary. Everyone should make their own decisions, but look at all sides of the issue first. Don’t ever just trust someone else’s opinion because they have an MD after their name.
I rode it out once and got a sever case of psoriasis that took 8 months to get over. It was about 100.00 a month for pills for that. Dumb move for not taking all the antibiotics given me. I just took them till I felt better.