Jennifer
Member
Has anyone here had a child who constantly gets strep throat (ok, maybe not constantly, but regularly)and who would have to be on anti-biotics WAY too often if you didn't do something else? Has anyone ever treated strep throat without anti-biotics, using natural cures?
::sigh::
Jennifer
Laura.bora
Member
When I was a kid I had strp throat all the time. I was on this med and that med, and it would clear up, only to come back again a few weeks later. It wasn't until I was 22 and married that my new doctor, while going through my files asked if I had ever, to my knowledge, recieved a negative strep culture. I didn't think I had. I was feeling fine and dandy, so he swabbed me and I was positive! I was a carrier of strep all that time and no one ever caught on. And because my body was always busy fighting off the strep, I was always sick with this sickness and that sickness. Once they put me on a boatload of antibiotics and I was able to get a negative test, I was the healthiest I had ever been! So it might be a good idea to test her while she is feeling well, to see if she is a carrier.
We have gotten over strep with no antibiotics several times. The most important remedy I have used has been raw garlic, minced finely, and swallowed in a small amount of juice. We do this 2-3 times a day for 7-10 days. Also lemon water is drunk instead of plain water. This helps to alkalize the body, assisting in quicker healing. To draw toxins out of the body, we have done hot baths with Epsom salts, sea salt and baking soda, or apple cider vinegar. Bone broths also deliver concentrated minerals, enzymes, and nutrients to speed up healing. This is how our family gets over any illness, not just strep. Neither of my children has had an antibiotic in over 4 years!
I am not a doctor, so please use discernment when treating anything naturally.
Blessings,
Lindsey
Bookworm
Member
DO be careful with strep. I know repeated infections are a pain and I like to give natural methods a try sometimes myself, but I do not mess around with this bacteria. IF you do not manage to knock out the strep infection, there are risks of very serious complications that you do NOT want. I just mention this because I know of several people who HAVE contracted rheumatic fever and one glomerulonephritis because of untreated strep. These are relatively rare now, since we have antibiotics, but they DO still occur. I would consider consulting a doctor who is friendly to natural methods (I have an osteopath I like who is willing to try various things) but he does not play dice with strep and I'd really hate to run the risks myself. This is one nasty bug. I think God gave us antibiotics for just such diseases.
Jennifer
Member
Thanks for the advice. =) The thing is that my daughter (not the child who gets it frequently) was diagnosed with strep about 10 days ago now. She had a low fever and a queasy stomach and a sore throat for a couple hours before bed one night and then after that she was just tired and had a sore throat. I took her in a couple days later and it was strep. I gave her anti-biotics and she is doing great. However, my son who is 11 consistently gets strep. He had it for well over a month in the spring, and now again. It took three rounds of antibiotics to get rid of it. But he was not like her. He was actually really sick. So a few days ago he tells me he has a sore throat. I get this panicy feeling because I know how easy he has contracted it for years. He says it's a medium sore throat, but he feels absolutely fine otherwise. No fever. No anything else. So I waited a couple days because I myself had had a sore throat but I know mine was not strep, it was one of those go away after morning and evening types that comes with a cold virus. So I waited, and he then said it was just a mild sore throat. I don't know why I did it, but I took him to Fast Care just to be sure. He really wasn't bad enough for me to normally take in, but I guess it bothered me not knowing for sure. So I took him and the doc. said his throat didn't look too bad. She did the rapid strep and it came back negative. Then the next day it grew out positive so I got the dreaded phone call. Of course, he hardly had any sore throat at all by this time. He was running around playing and exercising and being completely normal. Yet the doctor said I should go ahead and treat him anyway. I have a really hard time thinking he needs an antibiotic when he is doing so well. Yet I'm scared, too. ::sigh:: So I just asked him what his throat feels like now and he said out of a zero to ten, zero being no pain, he said a one, and that he is just aware that it's there a little bit.
I guess what I want to know is if it was going to go to something nasty like scarlett fever or rheumatic fever, would he be worse than this first? Or is it something that harbors itself away like this and you don't know how bad it could really be. I guess I need to do some more research.
Uhg.
I am not trying to go against the question here, but if he is getting this often, you might seriously consider getting his tonsils out. My dd got strep once in July, and by January had had it 8 times, often getting complications of bronchitis and sinus/ear infections. That January she had all four at the same time. She kept getting strep so we had to get them out, took us months to get her well enough long enough to do it. It was a very scary time for us.
To second Bookworm: Be careful with it. It can go to a person's heart and other organs quickly and do very serious damage. My point of telling this is not to freak you out, but it can and does harbor itself away! Our ENT specialist said that the strep bacteria can linger in the tonsils and continue to grow, making the tonsils swell up (getting the adnoids as well) and a child can suffocate or choke to death if not treated...with each round of strep the tonsils are usually larger anyway since they try to out-build the infection. Since my dd's have come out, she hasn't had strep once. I'd rather have them out then worry constantly about her and be on the antibiotics so much. She devoloped allergic reactions to 2 of the 5 major antibiotic families during this time. It is serious stuff.
In the meantime, make sure he is getting some really good probiotics to help heal and replace the good bacteria that helps kill the yucky ones. I am not against natural remedies, but this is one bug I am very very cautious with.
Jennifer
Member
Thanks for your replies. I am feeling so tense about all of this. I am going to go ahead and pick up the antibiotic tomorrow. It's been a few days since it was perscribed and I feel awful that I waited in a way now. I didn't just let him set; I have been giving him very good probiotics, garlic, etc, but I did read some more about it and realize that yes, it can indeed harbor itself away and do heart damage without you even knowing it. I read one thing that said that it can be a very mild soar throat and cause major trouble. Yes, it's only about 3% of cases of untreated strep that go to rheumatic fever, but it's really weighting heavily on me now and I just need to get him going on something now. Uhg. I'll have to read about the tonsil thing.
erin.kate
Member
My 5-year-old daughter had strep 8 times last winter after contracting Epstein Barr earlier in the summer. We tried antibiotics repeatedly and many holistic remedies, and she saw six different specialists at some of the best hospitals in the US--she was so very sick. The strep did indeed settle in her tonsils and she not only lost her hearing for almost three months, but her throat was so tightly closed that she had emergency surgery to remove her tonsils the day after Easter this year. Rheumatic Fever is a valid worry and it is not as uncommon as most people think it is these days. Once she healed from the surgery she is 100% better. She was even diagnosed with Lupus at one point due to how incredibly sick she was from the constant strep infection ... as benign as strep can appear, it can be awfully dangerous. Just my mother hen two cents. :)
Jennifer
Member
Wow, erin.kate. How absolutely scarey that must have been for all of you. Thank-you for sharing that.
Dh is a pharmacist, and while we do mostly natural things here (I even make our own echinacea, salves, etc.) strep is one thing dh doesn't fool around with, especially if it is a recurring thing. We haven't had antibiotics in years, thankfully, but there's a time and place for them. Lots of probiotics as you're doing, broths, etc. as have been mentioned, but I'd try to get to the bottom of it, finding the root and digging it up.
Jennifer
Member
I went ahead and started him on his medicine. I will continue to do other really good things for him also. Thank you for all of your wisdom.
chocodog
Member
yes , It is very serious. I have almost died a couple of times. I use to get strep when I was about that age. My mom couldn't take me to the doctor. My grandmother thankfully knew I was sick and took me. Being very dehydrated from not being able to swallow the doctor told her if I wouldn't have seen him that day I would have been in the hospital or the morgue that very next day. I was to weak to even care what happened to me. I had streap probably 7 or 8 times another year so I was a carrier. I know it can be very dangerous. Whenever I loose weight it seems I am more suseptible to getting it. Last time I got it I was out of town and it hit me within a few hours. My friends were up all night listening to my breathing because they were afraid I was going to die before we got back home. It can come on all of a sudden and can be very deadly. My point is don't wait. If you see your child lathargic then you know get them to the doctor or hospital. It is serious even if it doesn't seem to be and they are talking to you. If they can't swallow water then they will be dehydrated. Remember if they are on antibiotics then they need to put the good flora back in their stomachs or they can continue to get it over and over because their immune system is low. Yogurt is a good idea when taking antibiotics. I also wash the door knobs and light switches and switch the to paper towels to keep from reinfestation. Even the bedding and pillows can reinfect. I use odoban it kills strep germs. Most cleaners don't. kill strep. this is what I do. hope it helps....:)
ibkim2
Member
To tag onto what chocodog said, also be sure to throw away the old toothbrush, so the strep doesn't come back from the toothbrush germs.
petitemom
Member
I didn't read all the posts but I decided to bring my son to a Naturopath when he started to get sick too many times, 3 strep and 2 other infections the same winter. i was concern that he would build resistance to the antibiotics.
She did treat him for Strep and it went away.
I think it it worth to find a good Naturopath, someone that can be recommended.
I clean toothbrushes w/hydrogen Peroxide or boiling water everyday when my kids are sick.
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