Strep, Strep, strep...ugh

Do you have a dog? When I was little, our dog was a strep carrier (he had it but it didn't affect him) and it took almost a year of the whole family just passing it back and forth before our doctor asked about our dog. We had him tested at the vet and sure enough, the stupid dog just kept passing it around the family. He was treated, we were treated and I didn't catch it again for three years!

I know you're in a different state, but our pedi said strep has been bad this year. They've hardly seen any flu, but strep just keeps making the rounds. My family has had 2 rounds of it so far. Not sure why someone recommended you get a flu shot next year, since it won't stop you from getting strep throat. Sorry you can't shake it though, and hope you're able to figure out what's going on.

This happened to us one year, it was awful. My oldest even had it when I brought my middle child home from the hospital. I had it several times, it was the worst. I don't know what caused it but after fighting strep non-stop I decided just for general health purposes to get us flu shots this year as I was bringing home baby three. (We also had several bouts of the flu, and sometimes strep and flu at the same time, nice...) I can tell you that this year for the first time in the 4.5 yrs I have had children we have had no flu and no strep and no ear infections! I mean, it's crazy, but it made a big difference not getting the flu and getting our resistance so low. Well, that is my theory. But really, last year I was joking around that I needed to have a cot at the Dr's office and I knew every girl that worked there by name! This year I have only had to go for the regular check up stuff and it has been wonderful. So hang in there and maybe when everyone is well or next year consider a flu shot. Wish you the best, feel better!!

I am a mother of seven children, ages 9 to 23. We have had our fair share of illnesses over the years, especially strep. I am not a doctor, however it is expensive to continually go to the doctor so I look to more natural remedies to combat illnesses. Grapefruit seed extract (NOT grape seed extract) is a method that we have used many times, do your own research and see the benefits that it holds. I have used the capsule form and liquid; the liquid is very bitter versus the capsules. Any health food/nutrition store should carry this. I have looked at GNC stores and they don't carry it. Plenty of vitamin C ofcourse is helpful too. I wish you and your family better health and hope this helps.

If it's strep throat... gargle w/ saltwater a few times a dat (strep is halophobic).

Similarly... increase the salt content of your foods (to make your entire body less hospitable) and fat content (for your immune system) for a few weeks. Yep. This is officially your notice to eat french fries every day :)

I became a strep carrier after getting strep 11 times in one year. I'm absolutely a carrier Over 80% of healthcare workers are strep or staph carriers... BUT I also get strep from time to time. I'm so used to it I know exactly when to stomp on it with salt, and if that doesn't work (rare) and I start feeling sick (minor symtoms start about 48 hours before major onset)... I can pop on down to the docs in notime flat.

One thing my doctor said when I was getting repeated strep infections.... I asked him about buying a new toothbrush.. when do you buy it? He said don't bother buying a new toothbrush, just disinfect it with Listerine.... (I used the original Listerine..... they say it kills the germs that cause bad breath)....

That really helped!

Good luck... hope you find the source of it.

Also, here is an article that might help....

http://ent.about.com/od/entdisorderssu/a/recurring_strep.htm

I had to have my tonsils removed when I was around 21 years old because I was getting it so frequently. Starting when I was 16, I would get it a few times a year. Then when I turned 19 I started getting it every 6 weeks to 3 months. All year long. I think that went on for 18 months or so. You can imagine I was frustrated.

I went to an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist who was also my Allergist) who determined that I had Strept lodged in the my tonsils and that they needed to be removed. It wasn't even that the antibiotics weren't working or weren't strong enough. They couldn't work because the strept just became part of my tonsils, basically.

A friend of mine kept cycling through because her antibiotic was never quite strong enough until she went in for antibiotic injections.

See an ENT.

My daughter had her tonsils removed when she was 7 years old. She had had multiple ear infections, ear tubes three times, and her adenoids removed before she finally had her tonsils out. We went with removing them because she had suffered from a systemic strep infection three times (you know it's bad when green stuff comes out the bottom. Yeah.).

Anyway, the Pediatric ENT knew her tonsils were big, but he had no idea just how HUGE they were until he went in and took them out. That wasn't the worse of it, though, and that wasn't the reason why he walked out of the post-exam room to see us looking as white as a ghost. No, the lab took our daughter's tonsils and opened them to do a pathology report, like they always do. Her tonsils were COMPLETELY full of strep. Remind you--she had been given a CLEAN BILL of health before she went into surgery. The strep didn't show up on any of the lab tests! AND, with all the antibiotics the doctors had pumped into her body the first 7 years of her life, the strep had migrated to her tonsils and the antibiotics apparently couldn't/didn't touch it there.

She is now 11 years old and hasn't had strep, a cold, flu, or an ear infection since we had her tonsils removed five years ago. Apparently, her body just couldn't reject the strep virus. Maybe there's someone in your family who is "harboring" the virus and so when it breaks out for him/her, then it runs the gamut through the entire family, since all of you have been weakened, thus making it easier for the virus to "invade" your immune system.

You can counteract this by making sure your body and your immune system is the strongest it can be. Eat organic, do away with fast food, processed, prepackaged food, junk food, and limit sugar (including pop). Give your body high quality supplements like a daily multivitamin, Vit D3 (it's winter; everyone is deficient or low in this at this time of the year), and a multi-mushroom complex (mushrooms are very, very good for the immune system). Start researching and look for any supplement that will confers/help strengthen the immune system.

Our family (me, my husband, our 11 years old) has been taking high quality supplements, eating organic, and drinking reverse-osmosis water for the past four years; we don't get sick anymore.Strengthening the immune system will go a long ways toward warding off any type of cold, virus, or bacteria.

It may not be that you are getting it multiple times but possibly it isn't getting completely cleared up. You may be treating it but it is lingering and the symptoms resurface and you think it's a reoccurance but really it was never gone. Happens to me and my kids almost EVERY time (I never got it as a kid but have had it many times as an adult and have always needed a 2nd or 3rd round of antibotics...my kids have the same problem). Sounds like maybe everyone should start an antibotic now together so everyone is cleared up at once. It may be that as one is getting over it, another is being reinfected.

Please know that scheduling surgery will not cure your strep problem. Strep is a bacteria and you can get it even after having your tonsils out. What you can't get then would be tonsilitis. Having your tonsils out will reduce your chances of getting strep (less to get infected and less to harbor the lingering bacteria) but you absolutely can get it again...I have had two nephews that have proven me right on this. The one's mom argued with me about it before her son had the surgery, a month or so later when he had strep AGAIN she asked the doctor and he told her the same thing as I told her.

Be sure that you boil the toothbrushes after the 2nd day of antibotics starting. Then switch to a new one after it is done. Be sure that you are completely sterilizing the cup they use in the bathroom (and aren't drinking after each other) and be sure to clean the babies toys well.

I just want to say I know your pain. A few years ago I spent an entire winter with strep. Just when I thought the new antibiotics were clearing it up, here it came again. Every 2 weeks or so. It was horrible. Eventually I got through it but now I am so scared of it that I get myself or my kids tested for strep with just about every sore throat. One thing that seemed to help some was gurgling mouthwash. It at least postponed the infection some until I could get the next round of antibiotics. Good luck and God bless!