My mother did not really let us have antibiotics when we were kids. To her credit I believe it was because she disagreed with doctors just prescribing them without confirming beforehand that the problem was bacterial. Beyond that, I am not aware of any of her reasoning.
As such, if I had them it was rare. I do not remember having any but that does not mean I wasn’t on any.
Last week I did too much and I knew I would get sick. By that I mean that I knew I had at least 75% chance of getting sick. I know my body. I was running on fumes and felt it shutting down. I THOUGHT I would catch a cold…not STREP throat!?!
I do not remember ever having Strep Throat. In my adult mind it was this thing I have always HEARD about that was VERY painful.
Anyway, it is &#?*{$! painful.
I have only ever ONCE gone to the doctor for the flu, or a cold, or a sore throat. It was a very long time ago after a flu that did not seem to go away and my lungs and breathing continued to be affected. My doctor gave me a powerful steroid inhaler.
I have never actually understood why people regularly go to the doctor for colds, flues and sore throats. The last place I want to be when I am feeling ill is sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, waiting to be told that I do in fact have a cold, flu or sore throat. But then again, I also think that people should stay at home when they are sick and not spread their infections around and people do not seem to go for that either.
This time around, in the middle of the night of my third night in a row of no sleep with excruciating pain while forcing myself to swallow water, I realized once again…you know your body and this is not going to resolve on its own and got myself to medical care.
The treating doctor looked in my mouth and said, “Oh yeah, that is strep throat”.
Anyway, I am grateful today to the inventors of antibiotics Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain. I have always had a profound respect for the power of bacteria. Today, more so than ever. I have taken the third dose of antibiotics today and the pain is going away.
Swallowing water without pain is a good thing.
Elina Grace Edwin
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