I have strep, no discomfort -- would you take penicillin?

[sibilant]

Got sick on Friday -- one day of fever, three days of excruciating sore throat, now just very mild symptoms.

Went to the doctor on Tuesday after the weekend. Last night -- Thursday -- finally found out that I tested positive for Strep. So today -- Friday -- is the first day I can take the penicillin that the doctor has prescribed.

I'm not that sick anymore, and of course I dislike taking antibiotics. But I do still feel unwell, have swollen & tender tonsils, and am tired more easily. But I don't seem to be passing this to anyone in my family or at school, which is the most important thing for me at this point. But I've stopped doing all food prep at home to prevent contagion, so I don't know how much longer my husband can take it. Etc., etc.

So what would you do? I have to say that this doesn't seem to be a particularly important decision -- clear benefits either way (if I take, I may feel better sooner & can help my husband with the house more & can, say, got to a baby shower this weekend with more confidence; if I don't take I don't have to worry about food management and yeast infections or live with the unpleasant idea of it all). But I'm curious what you'd do!

[alegna]

If I already felt better and no fever, I probably wouldn't take them. Might fill it to have on hand in case I felt worse though.

-Angela

[BethSLP]

My understanding is that strep is contagious for weeks after symptoms go away. Its highly contagious to boot. it also can carry some pretty heinous complications (rheumatic fever, attacking organs, etc). I'd take the abx. Strep is one thing I think they are absolutely indicated for. Esp. if you don't plan on quarantining yourself for a few weeks to prevent sharing it. We just had strep at my house, and I'd be pretty pissed if I knew someone was actively going around with strep and exposing me. I haven't been that miserable in a long time.

XOXO
B

[NinaD]

The incubation period for strep throat is about 5 days so you still could pass it along...

[Violet2]

The antibiotics for strep aren't to make you feel better, but to protect your brain and heart.

I would take them.

http://www.ucsfchildrenshospital.org...heart_disease/

"The symptoms of rheumatic heart disease vary and damage to the heart often is not readily noticeable. When symptoms do appear, they may depend on the extent and location of the heart damage.

Typically, symptoms of rheumatic fever appear about two weeks after the onset of an untreated strep throat infection"
V

[Ravenlunatic]

without question, if you have strep take the Penicillin

[tanyalynn]

I wouldn't. Strep is highly contagious, but it's around a whole lot in asymptomatic people.

Up to 20% of asymptomatic school-age kids in the winter/spring have strep in their throats.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/228936-overview

They've got the citation, the list their studies at the bottom.

[BethSLP]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

I wouldn't. Strep is highly contagious, but it's around a whole lot in asymptomatic people.

Up to 20% of asymptomatic school-age kids in the winter/spring have strep in their throats.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/228936-overview

They've got the citation, the list their studies at the bottom.

Wait, what? Just because some people have it and don't know it doesn't mean its not worth treating. OP's strep was not asymptomatic (she had 3 days of hellacious sore throat). Further, did you look at that whole article (and the lovely accompanying photographs?). There are a lot of ugly paths strep can lead you down. To me, taking antiobiotics just makes good sense in the case of strep. I'm VERY conservative when it comes to antibiotics (as well as vaccines, my kids are unvaxed). But to me, this isn't a matter of comparing the risks of a vaccine to the very remote risks of getting a disease like diphtheria for example. OP HAS strep and strep is not only highly contagious, but also can lead to all kinds of complications. On so many levels, I think the antibiotics are non-negotiable. The sore throat is never the concern with strep. Its all the other nasty things that can go down.

I got strep from a little boy at a superbowl party. Literally EVERY person at that party got sick. 8 or 10 adults, 6 kids (one age 2 months). Almost all ended up on antibiotics with either strep, upper respiratory infections, or pneumonia.

While I agree antibiotics are not to be overused or abused, in this case they are very clearly medically indicated.

XOXO
B

[tanyalynn]

But it's not just some people, it's 1 in 5 school kids. That's a lot. And yeah, the complications can be bad, but if that many kids have strep bacteria without symptoms, then it does seem reasonable that some people will have symptoms and then get better on their own. It sounds like that's what the OP thinks is happening to her and she's the one on the scene. With that much strep around, I don't think there's a moral imperative to take antibiotics to reduce strep in the community because the data I've read says it won't make a dent.

If my kids somehow contracted, say, measles, then I would feel a moral imperative to keep them away from others because we would be noticeably increasing the circulation of measles in the community. It just doesn't look like we can make that impact with strep.

[Kailey's mom]

I'd take them, no question in my mind. Strep can have severe complications.

[Sharlla]

Nope. If I've ever had strep I wouldn't know it.

[alegna]

Pre-antibiotics (not so very long ago) *most* people with strep were just fine. Can it have nasty complications? Yep. So can a lot of other things.

I'm with Tanya here.

Further symptoms or not improving quickly I'd take them. On the track to better and no fever, I wouldn't.

I'm sure I've had strep a number of times and not been diagnosed I've not had antibiotics in around 20 years.

-Angela

[zinemama]

Yes, I would. In fact, I'm taking it for strep right now.

[sibilant]

OP update

Thanks for all the responses -- was interesting to see a real split in opinion (especially one not too acrimonious)!

To update, I started taking the penicillin yesterday. For what it's worth, it has helped the tonsil swelling and throat tenderness in less than a day.

I think I could have easily gone the other way: it had been a week already and no one I had come in contact with had gotten sick -- not my careless, cuddly toddler, not my sickly husband. Oh, and I can't really muster enough energy to be concerned about relatively rare complications. Not with everything else I'm doing suboptimally at the moment.

But the main reason I'm returning to write about this is that I learned (from my pharmacist) that penicillin might be pretty great as far as antibiotics go -- supposedly it does not cause yeast infections or digestion problems.

I hadn't ever given much thought to particular antibiotics as I try to avoid the things altogether, so for me this is remarkable if true!

Thanks again!

[Penny4Them]

For those interested, here is a really interesting article on Holistic Pediatric Association Web site about Strep and complications. Seems rheumatic fever isn't around as much these days:
http://www.hpakids.org/holistic-heal...ics-for-Strep?

[Purple*Lotus]

Originally Posted by BethSLP

My understanding is that strep is contagious for weeks after symptoms go away. Its highly contagious to boot. it also can carry some pretty heinous complications (rheumatic fever, attacking organs, etc). I'd take the abx. Strep is one thing I think they are absolutely indicated for. Esp. if you don't plan on quarantining yourself for a few weeks to prevent sharing it. We just had strep at my house, and I'd be pretty pissed if I knew someone was actively going around with strep and exposing me. I haven't been that miserable in a long time.

XOXO
B

I agree, I would take the ABX for strep and deal with the yeast infection issues. I would take a probiotic for that. Strep is the only thing I wont self treat *out of the illnesses that I have personally had). I am okay to do it for an ear infection or something like that. But I don't mess with strep.

I hope you feel better soon

[coh5108]

Originally Posted by sibilant

Thanks for all the responses -- was interesting to see a real split in opinion (especially one not too acrimonious)!

To update, I started taking the penicillin yesterday. For what it's worth, it has helped the tonsil swelling and throat tenderness in less than a day.

I think I could have easily gone the other way: it had been a week already and no one I had come in contact with had gotten sick -- not my careless, cuddly toddler, not my sickly husband. Oh, and I can't really muster enough energy to be concerned about relatively rare complications. Not with everything else I'm doing suboptimally at the moment.

But the main reason I'm returning to write about this is that I learned (from my pharmacist) that penicillin might be pretty great as far as antibiotics go -- supposedly it does not cause yeast infections or digestion problems.
I hadn't ever given much thought to particular antibiotics as I try to avoid the things altogether, so for me this is remarkable if true!

Thanks again!

um your pharmacist is wrong. Penicillin kills beneficial gut flora just as all antibiotcis do. Yeast, which normally lives in the gut/vagina and is kept in check by that beneficial bacteria (which gets killed off) is left to grow unchecked...this is where candida and yeast infections come into the picture. I have personally gotten a yeast infection during a course of penicillin. ....And ANY medicine has the potential to cause gastrointestinal problems.

[Kailey's mom]

Originally Posted by Penny4Them

For those interested, here is a really interesting article on Holistic Pediatric Association Web site about Strep and complications. Seems rheumatic fever isn't around as much these days:
http://www.hpakids.org/holistic-heal...ics-for-Strep?

from the article: However, the incidence of rheumatic fever has decreased dramatically since the time when thousands of people died every year from that extremely infectious and painful disease. In the late 1940s, 200,000 people per year developed rheumatic fever. The numbers began declining prior to the availability of antibiotics and ARF has nearly disappeared since the 1970s

my dd had scarlet fever, and my grandmother almost died due to rheumatic fever. In the case of strep throat, I'm glad that antibiotics exist!