It seems like some people are prone to strep throat while others seldom get it. Unfortunately for me, I seem to get it anytime I’m exposed to it. As a child, I used to get strep every spring. Now as an adult, I’ve had it several times over the past 10 years.
As I browsed through my Facebook posts this week, it seemed like everyone I know in my town had at least one family member dealing with it…and of course I was, too!
I first came down with strep throat about a month ago. I started with a sore throat on a Monday night. By Tuesday morning it was extremely painful and I knew it was strep, but I dealt with it. On Wednesday, it was so painful I couldn’t bear to swallow or even talk. It felt like razor blades in my throat. I finally decided to go to urgent care and get antibiotics.
I took the antibiotics for the entire 10-day course, and I was feeling great. A few days later, I felt it starting to come back slowly. Finally by Sunday afternoon, it hurt to swallow and even to talk. I couldn’t go to urgent care because they were closed for the day.
I decided I would go in the morning, but in the meantime I would look up some natural remedies to help soothe my throat. To my surprise, they worked! By Monday morning, my throat felt so much better that I decided not to go to the doctor, but to continue with the natural remedies. By Wednesday, my sore throat was completely gone! I was shocked because I had tried using natural remedies before, and they didn’t work. This is what I used:
- Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar. Mix 1 cup water with 1 Tablespoon Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (with the Mother). Gargle with that a few times, and then sip the rest of it. I did this twice a day for 3 days.
- Manuka Honey with Cayenne Pepper. Take 1 Tablespoon of Manuka Honey and sprinkle a dash of cayenne pepper on top. This is what I used because I had Manuka honey on hand. Manuka honey is very expensive (about $35-$40 for 17oz.), so if you don’t have any on hand, try with local raw honey. It is much more accessible and costs less. I took this once a day for 3 days.
- Vitamin C. To help boost my immune system. I took a 500mg tablet of Vitamin C once a day until my sore throat was completely gone (3 days.)
- Echinacea. I took one Echinacea capsule each day to boost my immune system. Whenever I feel an illness coming on, I take Echinacea and usually I feel better by the next morning.
- Garlic. The first day of my severe sore throat, I ate a clove of raw garlic…but that was so strong! I could feel my throat burning as it went down. I decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to do that again, so I added a clove of garlic in the NutriBullet with my daily green smoothie and I couldn’t even taste the garlic that way!
- Eat REAL food. The entire time my throat was sore (3 days), I decided to help my body heal itself by feeding it only REAL foods. The coconut oil in the picture is not an extra treatment as I use coconut oil regularly in my cooking and baking. I simply included it because I love coconut oil and it is good for so many things and has many healing properties that it couldn’t hurt to include it in your diet, especially if you are not feeling well.
Please keep in mind that I am not a doctor…these are simply the remedies that worked for me personally. Everyone is different, so it may or may not work for you. I believe the Apple Cider Vinegar gargle is what helped me the most.
If you try these remedies and your symptoms do not improve within a day or two, please see a doctor. Strep can be very serious if left untreated.
Have you found any other natural remedies that successfully cured your strep? If so, please leave a comment below and let me know what worked for you.
