If it starts as a sore throat and progresses to where every muscle and joint in your body begins to ache, you can strongly suspect a strep infection. And if so, antibiotics are strongly advised.
Hello,
It wasn't strep. Let me back up and give some background.
The day after Thanksgiving, I developed a sore throat. It progressed quickly and I went to the ER on Sunday.
I had a throat swab/culture and both were negative.
I was prescribed antibiotics and Z-Pack. I was initially concerned about the swelling and requested the steroids as a measure against that.
About a week after the steroids and antibiotic were finished, it began coming back, though not nearly as badly.
I called my doctor and turns out they couldn't get me in until after the holidays. This is when I decided to experiment. I know from water purification that I'm not iodine sensitive, and I'd wanted to try this for a while.
After I gargled last night, I awoke this morning to something missing. There was no pain -- which was the first time in a couple weeks.
Eight hours later, as I type this, I feel a
slight amount of pain coming back, just enough to notice it -- or it could be my imagination. It's that slight, and my throat is no longer red. I've lived my 38 years with nasal drainage, and so there's always a little irritation if I don't take allergy meds, which I try to stay away from using the theory that the less stuff I take, the better. I need to get more local honey as it helps about as well. I digress.
I'm not using any more iodine/iodide than is required to purify a day's worth of water in any 24 hour period. If it continues to come back, tonight I'll gargle again tonight. The gargling is reaching places swabbing won't reach.
I also plan to do a medical follow-up with my doctor whether this experiment is completely successful or not.
(I should note here that I'm in the process of switching doctors. This doctor has been excellent, but after he and his practice sold out to American Health Network, everything started really going downhill from the administrative side. They stopped returning calls and tried charging me full amounts instead of running it through my insurance. This has continued for over 6 months and I won't work with people who are this incompetent. I hope a letter to my now-former doctor will be taken to heart, because he is a good doctor. American Health Network is not doing him any favors, at all, and I'm not the only one to experience this.
At any rate, this experiment will let the new doc know what kind of person I am!
)
Regards,
Josh
