Guest guest Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 , I don't know which antibiotic is best for our kids but I do know that Zithromax is one of the strongest antibiotics and I think I've heard that it does quite a job of killing everything, including all the good bacteria. Whatever your child is prescribed, you should probably double up on the probiotics during the course of treatment plus an additional 10 days or so after stopping the antibiotics. Good luck. I hope your child feels better soon and won't need antibiotics. It always seems to start a vicious cycle of bacteria and yeast problems but I hope you won't have to go through this. Theresa > I have a feeling my kids have strep throat. > I am taking them to the ped. tomorrow for a throat culture. > > But I am scared to give them antibiotics because they were on so > many in the past for ear infections. > > I don't know what else to do though. > > Would it be ok to give them an antibiotic as long as I give them > probiotics? > > Also, is one antibiotic less harmful? > > They definitly won't be getting amoxicillin because it never worked > for them in the past. And my daughter is allergic to it. > > Please help, when I go to the doctor tomorrow I want to discuss > which antibiotic is best. Which ones should I definitly stay away > from? > > Thanks so much, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 Thanks Theresa, I hope they don't need antibiotics either, but I really thing they have strep. When I got home from work tonight I noticed the left side of my throat hurt and the gland is swollen. So I looked in the mirror at it and it has the white spots and is red. My boys have had zithromax before and it did work. I will recommend that to the doc. Thanks again, > > I have a feeling my kids have strep throat. > > I am taking them to the ped. tomorrow for a throat culture. > > > > But I am scared to give them antibiotics because they were on so > > many in the past for ear infections. > > > > I don't know what else to do though. > > > > Would it be ok to give them an antibiotic as long as I give them > > probiotics? > > > > Also, is one antibiotic less harmful? > > > > They definitly won't be getting amoxicillin because it never > worked > > for them in the past. And my daughter is allergic to it. > > > > Please help, when I go to the doctor tomorrow I want to discuss > > which antibiotic is best. Which ones should I definitly stay away > > from? > > > > Thanks so much, > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 30, 2004 Report Share Posted April 30, 2004 I'm writing this because you said you'd like to avoid antibiotics. It won't help this time because I'm writing this long after you posted. But for the future.... and those other mom's who'd like to stop giving antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. Here's a long post on what to do. Skip it if you aren't interested. If you child has had lots of antibiotics in the past, he/she probably doesn't have a very strong immune system. This is not your fault - it is the fault of modern medicine that you trusted to help you raise a healthy child. Unfortunately, modern medicine is a business focused on making money from our instant results world.... So they treat the parent's anxiety and not the child. (If your child has viral issues or metal toxicity those may be stressing the immune system as well but the following still applies.) When a child is born the immune system starts to develop and over time it gets stronger and stronger. But if the child has antibiotics, the immune system doesn't learn to fight and never gets much stronger. At any point in time, you can start working to develop the immune system, so this problem isn't unfixable. But you will have to learn what supports to give and allow your child to be sick without doing antibiotics. Sometimes an antibiotic may be necessary if your child's immune system is very weak. So one of the first things you have to do is understand when an antibiotic will help and when it won't help at all. (Doctor's commonly prescribe them for ALL colds that might be strep but most of the time they are unnecessary. Why? Well because the doctor doesn't want to admit that there's nothing he can do and time will heal the problem. Half his income would go out the door if you stopped coming every time your kid got sick.) So the next time you think your kids are getting sick don't go to the doctor at the very beginning (see below for when you should go quickly). If you give them antibiotics you are setting the stage for a succession of sore throats since the immune system never learns how to fight and every germ ends up in a cold. Everyone gets into a panic about strep because they don't get true information from the doctor so here's a long quote from a book to help everyone understand when to see the doctor and when to ride it out. From the book, " How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of your Doctor " By Dr Mendelsohn MD. " First, you should be aware that sore throats, most of the time, are caused by viruses for which Modern Medicine has no cure. The only legitimate treatments a doctor can prescribe will not cure the sore throat. They will simply relieve the symptoms somewhat..... Second, you should know that taking a culture to determine the presence of " strep " is a waste of your money and the doctor's time. It will not prove that your child does or does not have a strep infection. That question can be answered by a examination so simple that informed parents can do it themselves. (see below) Third, the changes that your child will experience rheumatic fever, even if he had a strep infection, are extremely remote. During a quarter of a century in a pediatric practice that had more than 10,000 patient contacts a year, I only saw one case of rheumatic fever. In real life, the threat of rheumatic fever does not exist in most populations. The disease is rarely seen except among malnourished children living in crowded conditions associated with desperate poverty. " There's a page in the middle that I won't quote. HIs basic point is the same as I said above about waiting and antibiotics not doing any good except if the infection is bacterial. But he goes on to say: " Here's how to determine whether a sore throat is viral or bacterial. The onset of a viral infection is gradual, occurring over a period of one or two days. The first indication of an impending viral sore throat is usually a vague tingling sensation around the soft palate. Within a day or two a sore throat develops, often accompanied by a runny nose, mild fever, coughing and swollen neck glands. Only if the symptoms persist for more than a week or if respiratory difficulty emerges is there any need to take your child to a doctor. A bacterial infection emerges swiftly and within a few hours - rather than days - produces a high fever, swollen lymph glands in the area below the jaw and extreme pain in the throat. It may or may not be accompanied by a runny nose, coughing or other cold symptoms. " Now that you know when to rush to the doctor, here are some things you should have on hand when your child next shows signs of a cold with or without a sore throat. 1. An immune system boosting formula - probably a nice tasting syrup like sambucol. Unfortunately I don't know the US brand names, but any HFS should be able to give you something. It should contain elderberry and echinacea along with some other herbs. Give this at the recommended dose for one week out of every month for 3 months. This is called a tonic dose and will start to build the immune system. Thereafter, give if to everyone in the house if any member shows signs of a cold. Continue until all members are over the cold/flu. Give the tonic does every 6 months for at least a week. These formulas are full of vitamins and minerals and should be well tolerated as they don't have fillers, additives... (If your child doesn't tolerate phenol you might need something else - elderberry might be phenolic??) 2. Get some sort of sore throat soothing formula. You don't have to buy it now, just become familiar with what you will use. I use licorice root but some people are scared of herbs. You can even buy an OTC remedy from the pharmacy. You just want to sooth the sore throat. The point here is to avoid the antibiotics. Onions and honey are also good for sore throats. Cut onions in a steel or glass bowl, cover with honey, put over low heat (put the bowl over a pan of simmering water) for a few hours. Strain and bottle. I add licorice root to the honey and onion as well. (The herbal remedies are designed to address the symptoms and cause, the pharmaceutical generally only remove the symptoms so you can guess which one I'd use.) 3. If your kids are prone to mucous and runny noses get a homeopathic remedy from the HFS that helps reduce it. Or get something from the pharmacy. I use something called Flemex which is a pharmaceutical. And I've got some homeopathic pills as well. The point is to stop the cold from getting into the lungs which leads to a secondary infection (bronchitis, pneumonia....). Apple cider vinegar (good quality made from whole apples) with honey also helps break up mucous. I do not know if apple cider vinegar tablets will work. I really doubt they are as effective. For an adult, cayenne pepper (1/8 to 1 tsp powder in hot water) or cayenne tincture do a lot for a stuffy nose and congestion but don't use it on your kids unless they like spicy food. 4. If you are willing to use herbs, get some catnip and red raspberry leaves. Red raspberry is full of vitamins and minerals, contains pectin..... If you drink a couple of cups of RR tea when you feel a cold coming on, you may well avert it. (I'd also recommend that you eat only healthy foods for a few days - no sugar, coffee, processed foods or heavy foods like meat. Let the body focus on healing and fighting the infection not digestion.) I'm sure you can buy RR tablets but I don't know if they are as strong. Probably varies from company to company. I give this or catnip/peppermint tea to my kids when they are sick. (Catnip is more for fevers.) I don't think that it is necessary to use herbs or homeopathy if it worries you. I've almost never taken my first son to the doctor (1 check-up with a paediatrician at 7 months turned me off them for life. At 2 1/2 I took him to normal doctor who prescribe antibiotics for a slight fever due to an infected mouth wound. The young pharmacist wouldn't advise me on what to use. Just in case, she said. I was sceptical and fortunately I returned to the pharmacy and found an older pharmacist who saved me from the antibiotic and gave me a topical antibacterial instead.) At that time (5 years ago) I knew nothing about natural medicine but just using OTC and the advice of a good pharmacist my kids never needed antibiotics. Find a good HFS and/or a good pharmacist - one who doesn't believe that antibiotics are good for everything. These people taught me that a child who is not seriously ill does not need to see the doctor. Seriously ill is defined as a child that will not even drink or is very listless. Then you should run to the doctor. Also diarrhea and vomiting is a serious problem as dehydration can become life threatening. A good anti-nausea remedy and some charcoal will solve this problem though. Now I even treat serious illnesses myself like bronchitis but that's only because I've studied herbal medicine. I'd really recommend the book I quoted from as a good starting point. I wrote a long discussion of fever treatments on another board recently. Hope this is helpful. Abby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 30, 2004 Report Share Posted April 30, 2004 In a message dated 4/30/2004 2:45:57 PM Eastern Standard Time, Ajwilson@... writes: Apple cider vinegar (good quality made from whole apples) with honey also helps break up mucous. I do not know if apple cider vinegar tablets will work. I really doubt they are as effective. For an adult, cayenne pepper (1/8 to 1 tsp powder in hot water) or cayenne tincture do a lot for a stuffy nose and congestion but don't use it on your kids unless they like spicy food Abby, Thanks for some great info. I wanted to add that a few years back I had a really bad cough. I made a concoction of apple cider vinegar, honey and cayenne. I lost the " recipe " but I can tell you it really helped heal me quickly. Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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