strep = doctor?

[USAmma]

Hi all,

I think I have strep throat. In fact I'm pretty sure of it with the swollen glands, swollen tonsils with white patches, and now a fever. But as long as I take Ibuprofin I feel fine, if not a little weak. When I looked up strep on webmd it advised going to the dr and getting antibiotics otherwise it may lead to heart inflammation and other nasty things. I was fine with staying at home until I read this. Is strep really that serious? Should I go to the doctor or just ride it out? What would you do?

Thanks!

Darshani

[gauge14iv]

The rhuematic heart disease that can be caused by strep throat is long term, causes permanant damage and can shorten your life span SIGNIFICANTLY - the antibiotics they give to treat strep are definately the lesser of 2 evils! Please go get treatment!

Im not saying that homeopathic remedies are no good for this - I just don't know what they might be!

In addition to strep being quite contagious...

[Hera]

I would tend to agree. However, next time something like that happens for heavens sake don't take ibuprofren and suppress your natural immune responses! Go to bed, get someone else to take care of your family, take lots of echinacea and raw garlic, breathe lemon or thyme or eucalytus steams (watch your eyes!) Let yourself have a fever!

At this point, if you've been taking that stuff for more than, like, a day, go to the doctor.

[Holistic Momma]

From Dr. Saul's www.doctoryourself.com newsletter:

READERS ASK:
"IS THERE A NATURAL CURE FOR STREP THROAT?"
Strep throat (which is far more frequently "diagnosed" by pediatricians than lab tests confirm) is amenable to the vitamin C megadose protocol of Cathcart, Klenner and Cameron. I've posted their articles at
http://doctoryourself.com/titration.html and
http://doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html
It still somewhat mystifies me that their work is not better known, until I consider the huge dollar value of antibiotic sales. We're not even talking bib diseases here, for it is no longer uncommon for a fully-vaccinated child under one year of age to already have had 10 or more courses of expensive antibiotics. Many adults fare little better. Antibiotic overprescription is rampant quackery.

My children were raised (ovolacto) vegetarian, took their kiddie vitamins, had their kiddie vegetable juices, and simply did not need the kiddie doctor. We would have taken them if the need arose, but we first handled occasional illness the natural way. This includes very sore throats.


~ AND ~

from my homeopathy course that I'm taking:

Here's the link - the strep reference is about mid way down.
http://www.ihr.com/homeopat/infect.html

[Holistic Momma]

From Dr. Saul's www.doctoryourself.com newsletter:

READERS ASK:
"IS THERE A NATURAL CURE FOR STREP THROAT?"
Strep throat (which is far more frequently "diagnosed" by pediatricians than lab tests confirm) is amenable to the vitamin C megadose protocol of Cathcart, Klenner and Cameron. I've posted their articles at
http://doctoryourself.com/titration.html and
http://doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html
It still somewhat mystifies me that their work is not better known, until I consider the huge dollar value of antibiotic sales. We're not even talking bib diseases here, for it is no longer uncommon for a fully-vaccinated child under one year of age to already have had 10 or more courses of expensive antibiotics. Many adults fare little better. Antibiotic overprescription is rampant quackery.

My children were raised (ovolacto) vegetarian, took their kiddie vitamins, had their kiddie vegetable juices, and simply did not need the kiddie doctor. We would have taken them if the need arose, but we first handled occasional illness the natural way. This includes very sore throats.


~ AND ~

from my homeopathy course that I'm taking:

Here's the link - the strep reference is about mid way down.
http://www.ihr.com/homeopat/infect.html

By the way, that was EXCELLENT fever advice you received. I might PM you with some fever studies that I have.

[USAmma]

Okay, thanks! I'll have dh stay home tomorrow and I'll get to the doctor. Who says I don't still need a mom to tell me what's best sometimes? ;-)

Darshani

[USAmma]

update and antibiotics

Just wanted to give an update. I went to my osteopathic/homeopathic dr. today and he said it was a virus and alleriges combined. The fever broke yesterday and the throat is better. He said it was caused by nasal drip. My nose is almost completely closed and I have a horrible headache and neck ache. He said that all the mucous was being forced down my throat. I didn't even suspect allergies because my eyes were not watery and I was not sneezing. On top of this the virus is making my glands swollen still so I'm achy but on the mend.

He gave me some meds to open my nose. Said that Claritin (my usual meds that I took last year) is not working this year, and neither are allergy shots. I quit the shots for financial reasons last year. He put me on Allegra for 2 weeks, an antihistamine nose spray, and something else that's supposed to help me drain. He wants me to call him in 2 weeks.

We had an interesting talk about antibiotics and how many of his patients just want prescriptions for them withouth realizing the real cause of their aliments. He was reading in a med. journal that by 2008 most antibiotics will not be effective against bacterial infections because they were so abused in the past. They are working hard to make some super drugs to kill off bacteria for people who really need it.

Abi had blood poisoning last year and it was scary. She got a shot of antibiotics and if that didn't work right away or if the red line on her leg got longer we were to take her to ER right away because it can be life-threatening. Imagine in a few years if she had gotten that she may not have been able to get over it so easily with a simple antibiotic shot. Scary stuff!

Darshani

[gauge14iv]

I was just reading an article yesterday about a daycare center in PA where like 40 kids got strep that was resistant to the usual antibiotics...

Technology is not keeping up with biology in this area - and that is very scary indeed - we could end up back where we were before antibiotics existed!

You were right to go to your provider instead of just asking for an Rx - the majority of docs I know will no longer call in antibiotic prescriptions. Unfortunately patients get mad about this...