12/16/2018
Strep is something I was taught not to mess with. Horrible things can happen when you let it go...rheumatic fever, Scarlet fever, kidney inflammation. And that is true, but what if you can kill it without antibiotics? Nip it before it gets a hold and spreads to everyone in the house? We used to get strep throat a few times a year. I even had it as an adult twice before trying this effective remedy. The first time I tried this drink (our kids know it as the "warm drink"), a live in guest had strep, tested positive for it in the Dr office and was taking antibiotics for it. The inevitable happened and suddenly I had a super sore throat. It was after clinic hours, so I decided to try this recipe I had found online: 1 cup warm water, 1 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbsp honey since I had to wait for the Dr office to open. I was skeptical!! BUT so surprised to have immediate relief, enough that I could sleep! I kept sipping on the drink the next day and felt better. I decided to make an appointment just to be sure. The nurse practitioner voiced surprise at my negative strep test results. "Keep doing whatever it is you're doing!" She told me and come see her if my sore throat didn't go away. But it did, completely. A couple of our kids got a sore throat; I immediately gave them a warm drink and they improved. We haven't had a single case of strep throat in our house since!! Hints: you don't need to drink the entire cup of warm liquid. A few sips at a time can do the trick. You can drink it cool (although warm water allows honey to mix in and feels amazing on your raw throat!!). You can gargle with a mixture of warm water, apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt if you can't drink it-you will taste the ACV still, but not have to swallow 😁. So that we don't risk an untreated strep infection, we follow this rule: begin ACV treatment immediately for sore throat, if sore throat still present with no improvement on day 3 (or iffy in any way), get strep test at the Dr office. We would do antibiotics if needed, but we have never needed to; even though we've been exposed to strep. I feel completely comfortable handling potential strep infections this way. I love being able to help my kids feel better immediately because these things start after clinic hours/on weekends 98% of the time! So the next time you get a sore throat, try this out! Let me know about your experience!! 6+ years and no strep throat infections...0!!! In a household of 8 people!
