Possible strep and ana allergies to abx

[PGTlatte]

I think it's possible DH and I may have strep. We have both had raw sore throats for a few days without postnasal drainage or coughs going on.

I am anaphylactic to two antibiotic groups already, and had childhood allergic reactions to another major group. I developed two of these allergies (the anaphylactic ones) as an adult. I feel it is very risky for me to use antibiotics because of how quickly I develop dangerous allergic reactions to them.

If I have strep, I am concerned about the risk of proceeding without antibiotics...meaning the risk of more serious internal infections. But I am really afraid of antibiotics at this point.

In this case, how does the risk vs benefits table come out ? I'm not sure because I don't know what the risks of strep turning into something dangerous are. I know it is very dangerous for me to have anaphylactic reactions to antibiotics in the middle of a course of them. I am also concerned that if I keep developing allergies to them and having to eliminate more groups of them, someday I could have a truly dangerous infection and no safe antibiotic to fight it with.....

I would appreciate any information on how dangerous the possible strep might be without abx.

Thanks !

[SuburbanHippie]

I don't have an answer to your question, but there is a fabulous thread here about treating strep without abx.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...p#post14068288

[KMK_Mama]

I would go get tested for strep to see if that's even what it is. Do you have white spots on your tonsils?

(Most of the times I have had strep I have also had postnasal drainage)

[PGTlatte]

My tonsils are long gone (age 13). I have no fever...I have a very sore, raw area in a specific place down in my throat. I think it might be where there used to be a tonsil. My ear hurts too. Can strep inflame the part of your ear that connects to your throat ?

[AuroraPolaris]

I would also go to the doc to take the strep test. You say you don`t have a fever, and for what I could google yesterday this may indicate that your sore throat is caused by virus rather than a strep. bacterial infection.
The reason I googled it yesterday is because one of my 6-year olds complained about sore throat the day before yesterday, and in the morning he had high fever and very sore throat. He was positive for strep. He had the same about 7 weeks ago, so we guessed it was strep again.
We choose to let him have the antibiotics, he gets so sick, and have so much pain.
Me myself have some allergies for some types of antibiotics, but some i can have, fortunately. I don`t know anything of the risks if left untreated.

Hope you don`t have the strep. infection, and that you will get better soon.
Take the test.

[tanyalynn]

Given the decisions you've got, I wouldn't worry about whether it's strep, I'd make a list of things that will help your body deal with whatever you've got going on. We have had several threads on dealing with strep specifically, if it were me, I'd combine general sickness support things with things that help with sore throats specifically. Things that are topical--a friend uses turmeric (apparently it tastes/feels not-great but has worked very well for him), sipping on lemon/garlic/honey water (Aviva Romm's garlic lemonade recipe is what we use), things like that.

re: danger of strep, I haven't read much about adults, but in kids, apparently in the winter and spring, a LOT of kids have strep in their throats, IIRC one study said 1 in 5 asymptomatic kids had strep bacteria when swabbed. I think adults have this less, and actual infection can be more serious more often, but for _me_ I would feel it's well within the realm of home treatment.

I hope you feel better soon!

[PGTlatte]

update

Thank you all. They did a rapid strep test and it was negative. They said I definitely have an infection though, just not strep. I was offered an antibiotic that I can take but declined it because I would rather save it for times it's for sure necessary. The nurse practitioner I saw agreed that was a good plan with my allergy history and said that most throat and ear infections will get better on their own, just not as quickly as most people want them to. She does want me to come back if it gets worse, or is not much improved within a week.

I am adding some GSE drops to my salt water gargle solution and taking the capsules as well.