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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
My child had strep every other month for a couple of years. I just let it run it’s course, and did not treat it with antibiotics.. However, doing that did not prevent him from getting it again and again. I just want to share another perspective of someone who chose the same route as your dad – but with different results.
Also, the testimony you share of the man who used natural remedies….strep goes away on its own within about 7-10 days. I may be reading it wrong, but it seems like it took him about 7 days to heal. That leads to me to ask l, “did the natural remedies cure him – or simply time?” I use natural remedies for my children all the time – so I’m not negating them. I just think strep may be more complex than this post suggests.
I think even after strep “goes away on its own” people can still habor it. As a child I had it often and eventually had my tonsils removed. The doctors waited until I was healthy and the strep was gone before operating, yet even when they took them out my tonsils looked so bad they said they looked like something cancerous. Same with my sister. I notice my husband use to get it often as well…never treated it but it would just come and go and get worse when tired and ran down. It seems people have different susceptibilities to it. They’ve also learned strep can hide in a biofilm so that may be why some people get it often or don’t totally get rid of it.
Most people have strep in their throat just like most people have e. coli in their gut (in small amounts that the immune system keeps in check).
Because of so many intestinal infections(diverticulitis) and too many doses of antibiotics over the years (a necessary evil, unfortunately, due to the severity of infections) I developed a strain of multi drug resistant e.coli. Now I have a bad case of strep. Are antibiotics gonna work on me this time or will I become more antibiotic resistant with each treated infection?
I have never seen a doctor for ailments. I still get strep throat. I had it at 13yrs for 8 months off and on. If I touch anyone, I get sick. I’d love any immune system. Antibiotics just make bugs worse over time. My 5 yr old is dealing with it now. I can’t treat her naturally. She wouldn’t eat garlic. Sigh* we are so tired of being sick and tired.
my daughter has had strep maybe 6 times in the last 4 months. The doctor tried some type of stronger antibiotic saying she might be a carrier. She tested negative a week after she finished the antibiotic but then a week later she was having the same symptoms and positive again. the doctor has recommended a tonsillectomy however after reading about it I am very leery. If this was your child what would you do? Thanks!
I had a doctor recommend a tonsillectomy for one of my children about 10 years ago. I smiled politely and left. Never went back. Child is now 16 and still has his tonsils!
My 19 month old woke up with strep this morning. I am sure its strep, as my 14 year got it and gave it to my 5 year old and now to him. My concern is that he is too young to try to treat it naturally.. since he woke up he has completely turned down drinking any liquids. My 5 year old however beat it in 4 days. Shes a tough trooper though! She drank what we call “ACV tea” all day and had a spoonful of raw minced garlic, cayenne, and manuka honey every 3 hours- on top of colloidal silver spray. During that time she made 5 dollars, and a glass of chocolate milk off of me haha. However, I cant bribe the baby to eat the nasty stuff. He usually loves ACV tea, but like I said, he is turning down all liquids. Opinions? If he won’t drink anything by this evening I am going to have to take him to urgent care.
If it were my child, I would try the colloidal silver spray. Don’t hesitate to have him seen though … that is very young to be dealing with strep!
For the people that state how dangerous it is to not treat strep: we are treating it. It’s just a different way to treat it.
Honey is an awesome antibacterial (so good it is recommended to be used as Neosporin), garlic is an antimicrobial, anti bacterial and antifungal with so many more benefits it’s crazy and ACV has too many benefits to list.
These ingredients have been used for thousands of years and have worked. The only difference now is big pharmaceutical companies convince us and our doctors that we need their product.
I haven’t any medicine, not even taken pain killers, in over 3 years and the only reason I’ve been to the doctor since was a grade 2 ankle sprain and even for that im using natural remedies and im healing a lot faster than what the doctor said. I drink ginger tea which is anti-inflammatory and has the same pain relief properties as Tylenol (also ice and keep elevated)
In addition, for people that get strep very often, I read that dogs can carry the bacteria that causes strep even if they don’t have symptoms so if you had it once and your dog licked your face or something they could now have it and be giving it to you all over again. In that case I would take it to the vet and start it on antibacterials. I don’t like to use natural antibacterial remedies on my pets (unless it’s just topical) because the effects might not be the same and my dog is prone to food allergies.
I had strep four times in six months. The first three times I used antibiotics until I was like screw this, it just keeps coming back. I used natural treatments including the ones listed above and I got rid of it and haven’t had it in 2.5 years. I used garlic, honey, cayenne, ACV, lemon, On Guard (by DoTerra) or Thieves (by Young Living) essential oil blends – I literally dropped them straight on my tongue. Not sure if that’s recommended… really just any healthy things I could get my hands on! Ate healthy. No/low sugar intake. Now I’ve discovered FIRE CIDER. I recommend taking a shot daily for prevention and taking it several times a day for treatment. Look it up and buy some!! Large doses of Viramin C is great. Dark leafy greens.
My six year old boy had strep throat in the past 4 months, I resorted to the use antibiotics but now want to turn to natural treatment. Please, help me with the relevant and effective natural remedies that will completely cure him.
Am writing from Ghana, Africa.
I have used colloidal silver spray for strep throat for years. When the first symptoms of strep appear I just start spraying colloidal silver under my tongue and in my throat and repeat every waking hour. With this method I usually can beat strep in under 48 hours. This method has also prevented my children from having to see the doctor and take antibiotics for 10+ years.
You are lucky you didnt end up with rheumatic fever. That is why they give antibiotics. Yes, strep goes away on its own typically but can also become rheumatic fever. The antibiotics prevent it. I am not an antibiotics person. I see functional med docs and typically use EO and natural remedies to heal most things. But I DO NOT mess around with strep. My MIL ended up with rheumatic fever as a teen, after not treating strep, and spent 6 months in bed and had heart damage and horrible health problems her entire life as a result. She has been in and out of the hospital and surgeries, all bc of untreated strep.