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If you’ve ever wondered why some people get strep throat over and over and over again, sometimes even just days after a strep infection was supposedly eradicated with antibiotics, here’s the likely answer as explained by old-time MDs who practiced medicine before the modern love affair with prescription drugs got its start.
Most people are far too quick to run and get a prescription for antibiotics and never give their immune system a chance to build any resistance whatsoever. Most never consider the use of home remedies for strep throat either.
Conventional doctors today do a great job of scaring people out of their minds about the possibility of rheumatic fever/heart damage from allowing the body to deal with a strep throat infection unmedicated. However, the truth is, the risk of complications from strep throat is very small for healthy people who have no issues with their immune system. Even WebMD used to state (before pharmaceutical industry pressure forced a change in language to only mention antibiotics) that strep throat will go away on its own with or without treatment in 3-7 days.
I’ve written before about the one and only case of strep throat I ever had. It occurred when I was 15 and I am ever so grateful my MD father loved me enough to let me fight through it and win without antibiotics. The result? I’ve never ever gotten strep throat again despite repeated exposures. One exposure was in very close quarters – a college roommate had strep throat and I still didn’t contract it! What’s even more interesting is that none of my children have ever had strep either despite multiple exposures from friends and classmates.
I obviously built up a strong resistance to strep throat at a young age and have been blessed with never having to suffer with it again by allowing my body to fight through it naturally. It’s also quite possible I passed on my immunity to my children via breastfeeding, although that is obviously just an educated guess on my part.
The article I wrote on my personal strep throat story has invited both ridicule and applause over the past couple of years. Some folks have angrily emailed me saying I am crazy and putting people’s lives in danger by suggesting that forgoing meds for strep is the best way to go if one is in good health.
For others, the article triggered an “aha moment” with more than just a few deciding once and for all to stare down the strep throat demon and win!
One such inspiring story crossed my inbox recently and the strep throat victim was none other than professional singer Martin DeBourge!
Here’s what Martin had to say:
As a singer, getting strep throat every single year is not only frustrating, but vocally debilitating! So when it hit again this year, and I felt it coming on, I decided a new course of action was in order.
I spent a day researching. The one article that really rang true for me was on your website about whether antibiotics for strep are really necessary. You talked about how you “muscled through it” when you had strep throat as a teenager, and how your body may have even built an immunity against it.
That sounded great to me! But, I am well aware of the massive pain strep throat can cause. Just swallowing fluid is excruciating, let alone solid foods. So I needed a sort of “healthy second opinion”.
I called fellow friend and vocalist David Katz in New York. I knew he was an herbalist, but most importantly, he would understand my plight as a singer needing to do what’s best for my pipes. He runs a website and has an herbal product line JUST for singers, so I knew he was the right guy.
He ALSO encouraged me to steer clear of the antibiotics and gave me a few suggestions to “get through it”.
I braced myself for at least 10 days of bed ridden fever, throat swelling and sickness. Like I said, I’ve been through this numerous times before, so I knew what I was in for. I didn’t clear my singing schedule though, hoping for the best.
To my amazement, the strep “spots” started clearing within a couple days. I had my voice back in 36 hours! I was floored… and convinced.
Martin kept a daily log of his strep throat home remedies adventure outlined below. Hopefully, it will inspire more than just a few others to take the leap themselves.
Effective Strep Throat Home Remedies
Martin’s holistic strep throat treatment consisted of the following ingredients which he consumed at a rate of ½ teaspoon every 30 minutes to an hour.
- Use a mortar & pestle to mash up 3 cloves of fresh garlic (sources). If the raw garlic is too hot for you or you’re concerned about the odor potential, use homemade pickled garlic instead. Do not use commercial pickled garlic as it has no therapeutic value.
- Mix in half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper (sources).
- Mix in raw honey (manuka honey is the most potent. Be wary what brand you buy as most manuka honey is fake. Get UMF certified 15+) to taste which has healing properties of its own (sources).
Martin also gargled with raw apple cider vinegar diluted with some water 3x per day (sources). Although Martin didn’t use it, adding small cups of bone broth to the regimen would have helped speed healing as well.
Note that some people like to gargle with colloidal silver, which also works well. However, note that this remedy will kill the good bacteria in your throat area as well as the bad, potentially contributing to more problems down the road from unbalanced mouth, throat, and sinuses flora.
Below is Martin’s daily journal logging his progress to a cure.
Using Home Remedies for Strep Throat: A Daily Journal
10/6 – Sunday afternoon – felt “something” in throat. Still sang well at rehearsal.
10/7 – Monday morning – “something” became more prominent and I began the research into what I felt was inevitably the strep bacteria attacking my throat.
10/7 – Monday early afternoon – visit to doctor for regular checkup and asking about an unrelated pulled muscle. He checked my throat (routinely) and said nothing. It didn’t matter if he had, I would have just went through the motions of accepting an antibiotic prescription, but not taking it – I had already made up my mind to do something “different”.
10/7 – Monday afternoon – found information on The Healthy Home Economist about beating strep with no meds. Followed up with a phone call to David Aaron Katz. Became convinced that I will muscle through it with home remedies. As per David’s suggestion, I started by sucking/chewing on cloves of garlic – 5 of them before the day was out!
10/7 – Monday evening – attempted to sing. Did not go well, highs were very strained.
10/8 – Tuesday morning – throat uncomfortableness, but quick mirror check didn’t seem to reveal anything overly red. Driving son to school is when I looked in rear view mirror and noticed two white spots. Strep confirmed.
10/8 – Tuesday later morning – started a cycle of garlic chewing with a mixture of raw honey & cayenne pepper every half hour (concoction detailed below). First two administers I experienced upset stomach, but became very tired and slept most afternoon.
10/8 – Tuesday afternoon – continued garlic/honey/cayenne mixture every half hour during awake times.
10/8 – Tuesday early evening. Headaches persisted, but still had an appetite. Gargled with ACV – that was a bit painful.
10/8 – Tuesday evening. Continued with mixture until I went to sleep. Noticed a third spot very far back and lower behind the tongue. May have always been there, but this is the first I noticed.
10/9 – Wednesday early morning – Awoke with a sore throat, a bit difficult to swallow. Gargled and drank 16 fl oz water with 2 tbs of ACV & Raw Honey. Checked throat under light, saw the same three spots.
10/9 – Wednesday afternoon – no stomach issues, and the sore throat lessened considerably throughout the day. Still uncomfortable, but I can definitely eat.
10/9 – Wednesday early evening – third spot undetected, second one lessening. First one still prominent, but definitely all good signs. Also, I noticed I am not all that drained and exhausted – which I attributed to the garlic intake.
10/10 – Thursday early morning – woke up with slightly less of a sore throat. Gargled and drank 16oz water with ACV & Honey. Throat under light still shows the one stubborn spot, hard to tell, but it could be a tiny bit less in size.
10/11 – Thursday afternoon – Was told by my wife that she can’t bear with my garlic breath another day… no worries, that third spot is definitely reduced in size. I decided that come morning, I will just do Apple Cider Vinegar. Besides, I had a karaoke gig this night and needed to not smell like garlic for the customers.
10/12 – Friday Morning – Spot free. Wow. Not a single spot, throat back to normal. I decided to slowly warm up the voice as I had a singing engagement to prepare for on Saturday.
10/13 – Saturday evening – voice 100%. Throat clean as a whistle. In all my years (year after year) getting strep throat, I have NEVER bounced back this quick – not to mention getting through it without antibiotics.
10/15 – UPDATE: I made a facebook post about this a few days ago, simply saying that I kicked strep to the curb without the use of antibiotics. I have over 1400 followers on my profile, so I certainly expected varying comments. One particular comment jumped out at me… “make sure you really got rid of it, it typically comes back within a couple days if you didn’t eradicate it”.
Well……… it’s not back!
Congratulations Martin on the amazing success of your strep throat remedy! Please keep us updated on your progress, but my bet is that you won’t ever be taking antibiotics for strep throat again, and you may very well never even have it again!
Have you always wondered how to get rid of strep throat without meds? Have you ever muscled through it under your own power using one or more strep throat home remedies? If so, what remedies did you use and have you experienced immunity to strep throat since? Please chime in with the strep throat cures which worked for you below.
Want to connect with Martin? These links below will point you in the right direction:
(youtube) www.youtube.com/martindebourge
(bio) www.15hifi.com/site/martindebourge
More Information
Remedy for Sore Throat (fast acting)
How to Repair Your Gut After Antibiotics
Why Antibiotics Today Could Threaten Your Life Tomorrow
Best Natural Antibiotics and How to Use Them
Fever Blisters Home Remedy
I am all for natural cures, but if you have strep throat symptoms for more than 3 days go to the doctor and take the antibiotics! Untreated strep throat can lead to rheumatic fever, which can lead to painful inflamed joints, rash, and heart valve damage. It can also cause damage to your kidneys.
So lucky you if the natural treatment worked. For the rest of us it’s not worth gambling on since untreated strep’s side effects can cause serious, life long damage.
Your fears of strep throat are overblown. Even the journal Canadian Family Physician admits that antibiotics for strep throat are not needed in the vast majority of cases and that doctors prescribing them like candy for this infection only serves to fan public fears and harm patients unnecessarily. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1949249/
“…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.”
I’m really glad to have read this. I’m suffering from my first case of strep in almost 8 years and am trying to get through it without antibiotics this time. It’s refreshing to hear another voice besides Western medicine whispering in my ear. I’m currently taking oregano extract, avoiding sugar, gargling with lemon juice and sea salt, and taking a bunch of Standard Process supplements. This is Day One, so I hope it resolves!
I have had strep many times in the past 5-10 years, one year I had it 5 times in a row. I have tried some of the remedies but I find most of them make my stomach too sick. If I don’t take antibiotics within the first day or two of noticing symptoms I get to the point where I can’t move at all due to lack of energy and how swollen my neck gets. Being a student this obviously isn’t practical.
I was wondering if anyone else had these problems and had any suggestions? My stomach is sensitive to new things which makes natural remedies hard. I would love to build up an immunity to strep throat since it is the main cause of my sickness through most of my life
I have gotten strep four times in the last four years! I currently have it but the time before was only one month ago. The first time I got strep I also had mono. I have taken antibiotics every time except this time. I am waiting for the doctors to tell me the test results even though I already know it is strep throat. The natural remedies are definitely worth a try!
I am an avid follower of natural remedies. But when I got Strep for the first time, I had 104 degree fevers for 4 days! At that point I opted for antibiotics. I got Rheumatoid arthritis for a few months, Gutate Psoriasis all over my body that lasted for months, and autoimmune issues as a result. Since then, I have had strep 3 times. 2 last year 6 months apart. Still recovering from the Psoriasis and have developed Hashimoto’s Disease.
I think it is unconscionable to state “that strep throat will go away on its own with or without treatment in 3-7 days.” Strep can lead to PANDAS as well. It can appear to be “cured” but can create many other side effects. I always suggest natural remedies first, but there are MANY cases where the risks and side effects a far too dangerous and create life long issues. Try home remedies, but seek immediate medical help if your symptoms don’t improve or if you experience other side effects of Strep!!!
Did you ever make the connection that your rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis were the result of use of antibiotics? Make sure your gut bacteria are in check. I’m not sure all your conditions are related to strep but rather autoimmune issue that have been implicated from antibiotic use.
I do agree with your original statement that if its real bad then take antibiotics, but sometime in waiting for a culture to come back, i’ve already felt better before i started a prescribed treatment. Sometime the body can do it on its own sometimes depending on the circumstances it cannot.
You say someone with an auto immune disease should probably use an antibiotic instead of using home remedy. I have MS and am wondering if you have any thought about this. I have not been into see the doctor yet. I know I have strep because I have the white spots and a sore throat for days.
I have MS also (and a strep infection lol) and much of the information I’ve read over the years has pointed to antibiotics as a possible cause/trigger for the onset of MS. That makes sense to me because autoimmune disorders are basically our immune system becoming confused about what its supposed to be doing. Why couldn’t that confusion have been caused by interference of antibiotics which basically did their job for them.
In addition, I know that at 43, I grew up where it was still okay to hand out antibiotics like candy. This was before they realized that we were destroying all the good bacteria too for things that it wouldn’t even help like the flu or colds. Doctors were under the impression that “it can’t hurt” so our parents could call and say “my child is sick” and have a prescription sitting at the pharmacy within the hour. No visit, nothing. Now, they know better but there are generations of us that are dealing with the fallout. So many autoimmune disorders…so many possible causes.
Personally, I don’t take any man made medications unless extremely necessary. I’m don’t condemn the use of antibiotics because there are definitely times when they are needed but I try all else first. My children hardly ever need antibiotics because I let them fight through illnesses whenever possible. I had a professor tell me once that our immune systems are designed to fight off any and every illness as long as our body can withstand the side affects of the bacteria/virus long enough. I would never risk my own life or that of my children and grand child but I won’t harm them under the guise of immediate relief either.
There is a research backed link between gut health and auto-immune diseases, and since antibiotics can damage the gut lining, they certainly can play a roll in the development of auto-immune disease. This article explains it very well: jillcarnahan.com/2014/07/07/leaky-gut-syndrome-linked-many-autoimmune-diseases/
I almost died from an untreated strep infection when I was in my late teens and living on my own. I had never had strep as a child so I though it was a cold with a bad sore throat and waited 2 weeks for it to go away. By the time I got to the ER my throat was almost closed and my fever was spiked.
Yeah. While I agree there are certain cases when antibiotics are not necessary, I don’t think her anecdotal evidence is enough and should not be thrown out there as proof.
I let strep throat go untreated when I was in high school because swallowing pills was terrible. Guess what? I just got it again. 10 years later.
My husband? Never gotten it a day in his life. But both his parents are very into treating things and so I doubt they suffered through any bouts of strep.
My guess is some people are just not going to get it. Regardless of parents or fighting it. Honestly, if you aren’t getting it, it’s more likely your tonsils aren’t doing their job. Perhaps by not taking antibiotics, you irreversibly damage your tonsils?
I don’t know. But antibiotics were created for a reason.
I have strep and I’m 17 and my mom won’t take me to the doctors or the ER
The point of this article is to point out Strep can be treated with something OTHER than an antibiotic; the writer is NOT suggesting, as many are saying in comments, that you should do nothing about your Strep. I have studied and am licensed in Laboratory Sciences, which includes microbiology. You don’t really need creds to understand this, though. There are other naturally occurring substances that have antibiotic properties – but you have to USE them! ACV, garlic, the recipe offered here, etc. That being said, you sound like you are personally in a tough situation. A person can have a terrible sore throat and not have Strep; the opposite is also true. You can also have Strep and not test positive at the doc’s office, so please understand many people have dealt with this and not all have the 2ndary effect of truly ‘untreated’ Strep. I hope you can find a way to ask for help and get it or come up with a solution on your own.
eat yogert
I think the general public these days rely too heavily on medication. Yes, sometimes medication can be helpful but I’m a firm believer in trying to make yourself well in a natural way first. I’ve cured stomach ulcers and UTI’s with natural remedies. Obviously if symptoms don’t improve over time or if they start to get worse then please go see a doctor. Our body is amazing and capable of many things but you have to let it. By dousing our bodies with antibiotics anytime we get sick we are a) not allowing our bodies to build up natural immunities by letting it work itself out and b) possibly (probably) contributing to the increase of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. I don’t think the author of this post is saying to never ever go to the doctor and accept medications, but rather to try holistic medicine first as it is gentler and safer for us.
As a side note: I’m currently traveling and believe that I got strep somehow. Haven’t been to the doctor but symptoms are spot on. I’ve been using over the counter pain and fever reducers as well as a tea tree oil gargle, herbal tea and lots of rest. My symptoms have started improving almost immediately. I’m also on hour 17 of a fast. I might get some heat for this, but it is actually a very common practice in Ayurvedic medicine. The idea is that our bodies spend so much energy in digesting food that when we take that away, it can re-focuses its energies on healing the part of us that is sick. Makes sense to me! Good luck all!
The problem with fasting is that your body needs energy to heal. If you don’t eat the right foods, your body cannot create energy out of nothing. Homemade chicken soup is so good for you and perfect for giving your body the energy it needs to heal.
The body has reserves to power all vital organs for many days without solid food. So it is not true that the body doesn’t get enough energy for healing during a fast. Of course it is important to stay in bed and move as little as possible during a fast, but with minimum activity throughout the day, a fast is a powerful way to help your body heal. Besides, many people by instinct are not hungry when they are sick. When I had my last strep throat I couldn’t imagine eating anything for the entire first day. No because of the pain in my throat but because my body simply didn’t ask for it. Listen to your body! Chicken soups are great for liquid, and electrolytes but have very little calories. (1 cup = 15cal), so you’d need 100 cups a day to fulfill your caloric needs if your theory about “food for energy” is correct. Highly doubt that would happen. I took antibiotics all my life whenever I had strep throat, twice a year. I think it definitely damaged me in some way. Had my tonsils removed a few months ago and now I’m trying to cope with things without antibiotics. I started taking high doses of iodine (25mg a day) more than a year ago and I haven’t been sick once. After running out of some secondary supplements I was supposed to take with my iodine, I stopped my iodine intake over the last two weeks. Since everyone around me was sick over the last weeks, my body couldn’t handle it anymore and now I’m sick too. However, I do not believe I have strep since I’m in no severe pain in my throat, just feel a bit under the weather. I regret having taken pain killers over the last day in hopes for being able to go to work, because lowering the body temperature artificially during sicknesses is also not good because fever is essential for fighting diseases. So I’ve been out for four days now with a mild cold. In the future I will refrain from taking any over the counter meds during sicknesses, and see if this makes things heal faster or more effectively. Cheers!
I make a similar concoction that might be a little easier on the stomach. I always eat before ingesting such powerful ingredients (soups, etc.) as the garlic may cause stomach irritation, especially on an empty stomach. I mix onion, cloves garlic, ginger root, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, and sliced whole lemon in a 4 qt. pot, and drink like a tea. Works like magic, but my throat is still achy. It’s day 5 now so it will take time, and the dry heat in my house doesn’t help. I’m going to incorporate some steam with oregano oil to keep the moisture barrier stable. Good luck everyone. Natural remedies are great, but all depends on the tolerance you built up. If you go to the doctor for a common cold, then do also go to your doctor for strep. Fight a common cold naturally then you can take it from there.
Can we sub Chili powder instead of cayenne? Is heat the goal, or cayenne has specific healing properties?
You’ll want to use cayenne pepper. It’s not so much about the heat, but that cayenne has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and pain relief properties (among others), which is why it’s good for sore throats. Chili powder can be a number of spices mixed together, and while it may contain cayenne, you’ll want to double check the other ingredients to make sure they’re not going to irritate your throat even more.
I can buy into letting the immune system build up defenses against strep. However, I don’t think this is advice that should be taken lightly and for everyone. I think if you’re going to go this route you should be aware that you may be putting yourself at risk. That’s cool that the author’s father was aware that this would work for their child…probably because he tried it on himself first and had firsthand knowledge of how his body works……but saying “my father loved me enough” to do this….BS…I’m calling that one out (big eye roll from me). I myself am INCREDIBLY susceptible to strep infections…so much so that it attacks my nervous system and I get paralyzed. It IS life threatening. My body has a severe autoimmune response to strep…and strep is a huge protagonist in many autoimmune disorders in general. It’s also not likely that people will actually KNOW that they have an impaired immune system to strep, because it’s the strep that causes the autoimmune disorder. To me, that’s too much guess work to be safe. I’d be cautious in suggesting this is right for anyone unless you’re also willing to accept any risks for yourself that may come with it. Doctors thought I had polio when I was little because I had to drag myself everywhere since strep got into my spine and my legs wouldn’t function….so I will gladly challenge the author in saying…My parents loved me enough to get me some damn antibiotics the next time I got strep. I’m sure if the author’s parents had gotten them antibiotics, they would have said the same thing “my parents loved me enough”, just to push an agenda. I’m am completely against overuse of antibiotics, but this is careless writing if taken to anything more than just an observation, not only in the way the author disregards that risks involved, probably from lack of experience, but uses careless writing techniques to promote an emotional response to further make a blanket statement. I can agree that it’s possible this solution worked for the author and kudos to them for that event and their finding, but I’m not surprised that people are writing in with ridicule. Strep is a really big problem for some people, and if you have no experience in those dangers yourself, you shouldn’t be advising others on it.
As with anything else you have to know your own body and accept your own risk. Nothing should ever be considered effective for everyone! I DO believe that everyone should see that there ARE other avenues they can pursue and not just be handed the one size fits all answer. Given your personal experience, you know what you should do when you believe you have strep. My guess is that most people do not find themselves in such an awful state from a bout of strep throat. I believe I’m accurate in assuming that if the author had begun losing function of bodily parts they would have went to seek professional attention….and quickly!! Eye rolls aside I believe in educating people and then letting them decide what is best for themselves, not dictating that my way or your way is the right one for them.
I think it is very impractical and irresponsible to tell people to wait it out when they are suffering. When you get strep as an adult it can be very serious and debilitating! I know from experience. All you want to do is sleep and get to the doctor as soon as you can! Who has time for these remedies when your suffering!??
I’d take suffering from strep symptoms for a few days than suffering from a weakened immune system (from antibiotic use) for a long time. Short term pain for long term gain. Definitely worth trying these natural remedies first! Our bodies are meant to heal themselves – any way we can facilitate that healing, is great. My daughter currently has strep and we are actively trying to beat it naturally. I know how important it is to build a healthy immune system at a young age. That’s the key to health!
The author also said healthy individuals with no issues with their immune system… maybe you should make sure you’ve read and understood what you’ve read before putting your 2 cents in.