Can you treat strep throat w/o antibiotics?

Grapefruit seed extract kills strep. Whenever I start to get a sore throat I gargle with 3 drops of GSE in 4 oz of water. It tastes pretty nasty! I've given it to DD (21 months) in OJ. Just a few drops in her sippy cup. The OJ does a good job at masking up the unpleasant taste.
http://www.nutriteam.com/index2.html#strep

Thanks mama2annabelle !!! I'll check it out!

i've treated my own strep by gargling a few drops of tea tree oil in warm water, but i was told by my ped that w/o antibiotics strep can go away but can lead to congenital heart disease (not sure if it's true, but too scary for me to avaoid antibiotics at all costs).

sorry your child is sick.

The swab came back. It's definately strep. I'm hoping he's not allergic to penicillan. I'm gonna do the GSE and give him the antibiotics. He's been sick for too long and I can't use the 'it's a virus, ab don't work' angle with DH. *Sigh* Why do they have to get sick anyway?

Thanks Mamas!

is no fun
I hope your wee bairn gets well soon!

Strep can cause heart disease if not treated. Here's a site that explains it. I would do the antibiotics, personally, even though I'm all for natural methods of healing in most cases.

as i posted in another thread, there are times when antibiotics are warranted. in my opinion, strep in a baby/child is one of those times. i had strep this winter, and never would have known it had my daughter not also become ill. we both had a culture and i was shocked to see mine was also positive! the doc explained that sometimes esp adults can get it mildly and it goes away on its own, which was the case with me. but my daughters and my son all had high fevers, extreme pain, and lethargy. i gave them anti b's without hesitation and was glad when they cleared up. they were too!