Strep throat - how long til better?

[skater]

DD has been on antibiotics for 24 hours and she seems to feel worse today than yesterday. This is our first real experience with this (DS had it with almost no symptoms), and I'm wondering how long people normally feel bad.

 

[pat fan]

If she's not feeling better by tomorrow (at least some better) I would call the Dr. She may need a stronger antibiotic or a different one. Push fluids, warm/room temp is easiest on the throat. If gingerale, let it go flat first, the bubbles can hurt. Tea is always good too.

My DS had strep all the time, it seemed like one winter he lived on antibiotics, so I understand her/your misery. So sorry for both of you.

 

[minniebeth]

It really depends on each individual and the severity. It is not unusual for my DD to feel worse even after a full dose of the antibiotics. It usually takes her 3 full days to start feeling better. I would say if she's not feeling better after 4 days, to give the dr. a call back. Make sure you finish all the antibiotic.
Strep throat is no fun! Hope everyone is feeling better soon!

 

[golfgal]

It usually took our kids a couple days to feel better-probably 3 days worth of meds-the day you get the meds and then a day or two after that.

 

[WL Fan]

Keep giving her tylenol or motrin too. That will help alot.

 

[shortbun]

Are you treating her symptoms? Ibuprofen, lots of cold things to drink, mandatory rest. The meds should start to make a little diffference tomorrow. Do not let a dose of ibuprofen go-keep it up diligently as it takes a full dose to catch up. Tylenol is NOT an anti-inflammatory, don't use it for this kind of pain.

 

[HsvTeacher]

When I get strep, I always have to get a steroid shot along with a prescription for antibiotics. Otherwise, it takes me a couple of weeks to get over it.

Hope your DD feels better soon!

 

[Tiger926]

A lot of strep around here, and the kids usually start to feel better within a few hours of antibiotics. Around here, Health Unit allows students back to school within 24 hours of strep meds, as they really do start working that quickly for most kids. All of my friends' kids and nieces are the same way too - start to feel better within hours of taking meds.

Healing hugs sent to your house, Tiger

 

[minkydog]

You need to give it 72 hours at least. Some kids feel better within 24 hours, but mine never did. My kids rarely were even fever-free until the third day. If she's not on the upswing after 3 days, see your doctor again. In the meantime, keep pushing the ibuprofen. It will help the sore throat better than pretty much anything else. Popsicles, juice, ice chips, pudding, yogurt--anything that's cold and soft. Lots and lots of fluids, don't worry about getting food into her. The fluids are much more important. She'll eat again when she feels less cruddy.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

Strep throat is something that absolutely knocked me down. Of course I let it drag on a little while before having it seen about. The details are a bit fuzzy, but I spent a couple days so sick feeling I just had to cry. After that the sore throat set in even worse and I could barely swallow anything. After getting antibiotics, it was probably 3 days before I felt good enough to get back to work. By then I wasn't 100 percent, but I could make it.

 

[wdwmom2]

The quickest I have ever felt better was in less than 12 hours. That was due to getting a big old shot of Pen VK in the derierre ! The longest, about 3 days.

Don't forget to replace your DD's toothbrush once she has been on the antibiotic for about 24 to 48 hours!

 

[TaraPA]

We're battling strep in this house on DS13 - had it 3 times since November & today guess what, his throat is sore again & he feels warm. The doctor said one more time & we'll discuss taking his tonsils out - I had never heard of doing that for strep - has anyone else? He's been on 3 different antibiotics - and sometimes he felt better within 12 hours of starting them (after a good night's sleep), this last time he still felt awful 24 hours after starting them.

On another note- did they actually test for strep? It's going around our school like crazy, so some of the docs aren't even testing for it, they're just treating as if it were strep. DH went to the doc with DS13 back in November & she treated them both as if they had strep, but didn't actually run the test. DS13 got better, DH got worse. I'd never seen the man so ill in 26 years. I sent him back, she tested for strep & it came back negative. He had the same symptoms - severe sore throat, aches & pains, lethargy, etc. They did some blood work & here DH had mono! So if she continues to get worse, make sure they did run the strep test to confirm that's what she has!

 

[AmericangirlinFrance]

I was diagnosed with strep a week ago exactly (last Saturday), so I've been on antibiotics since then - I really felt worse the following day, and although I have gradually felt better throughout the week, I'm still not at 100%. Of course, that may have had something to do with working all week and not staying home and resting!

I think it is normal for the antibiotics to take a few days to start working.

 

[TLSnell1981]

My DGS was diagnosed with strep this morning.Tomorrow is his birthday party, and the doctor said, he should be okay. He's already telling us, he feels better. Bless his heart, what an awful way to spend his 3rd birthday.
'

 

[skater]

Thanks for all the sympathy and advice! She is just going to bed and I had to talk her into the motrin (she didn't want to swallow anything else). I don't think I mentioned she's 16 . She has a nasty headache and I was worried she wouldn't be able to sleep without some pain relief.

We're going on a Mom/Daughter Disney trip two weeks from today, so I'm praying that no one else gets this - I really need to get out of this snow.

She does seem to be a tad perkier tonight, so I'm hopeful that sometime tomorrow (after the morning yuckiness), that she'll start to feel better.

Thanks also to the poster for the toothbrush advice - It would be awful for her to be re-infected right before our trip !

 

[shortbun]

Thanks for all the sympathy and advice! She is just going to bed and I had to talk her into the motrin (she didn't want to swallow anything else). I don't think I mentioned she's 16 . She has a nasty headache and I was worried she wouldn't be able to sleep without some pain relief.

We're going on a Mom/Daughter Disney trip two weeks from today, so I'm praying that no one else gets this - I really need to get out of this snow.

She does seem to be a tad perkier tonight, so I'm hopeful that sometime tomorrow (after the morning yuckiness), that she'll start to feel better.

Thanks also to the poster for the toothbrush advice - It would be awful for her to be re-infected right before our trip !

As an adult type person, she can take 800mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours for a while to keep the pain at bay. also, get the gel caps, they go down easier and they get into a body's system faster. Look, you HAVE to be agressive about this and everyone will be happier, faster. Also, lots of cold beverages as cold decreases inflammation.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Look, you HAVE to be agressive about this and everyone will be happier, faster. Also, lots of cold beverages as cold decreases inflammation.

 

[skater]

My DGS was diagnosed with strep this morning.Tomorrow is his birthday party, and the doctor said, he should be okay. He's already telling us, he feels better. Bless his heart, what an awful way to spend his 3rd birthday.
'

I hope he feels better in time for his party .

 

[skater]

As an adult type person, she can take 800mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours for a while to keep the pain at bay. also, get the gel caps, they go down easier and they get into a body's system faster. Look, you HAVE to be agressive about this and everyone will be happier, faster. Also, lots of cold beverages as cold decreases inflammation.

You're right! At least she's sleeping now (not with 800 mg of ibuprofen, but 600 mg). I have to say I've been surprised with how bad strep can be. In my ignorance and lack of experience, I thought it was just a real bad sore throat. I didn't know it could knock you down like this. And we even caught it right away (I googled her symptoms and figured it sounded like this). I even drove her to the doctor in falling snow (I NEVER drive in snow - even a little). I will have a lot more sympathy for people with strep now. Hopefully we'll be done with this in two weeks. Two weeks from today at this time, we should be sleeping or talking in our beds at AKL .

 

[pat fan]

I had to talk her into the motrin (she didn't want to swallow anything else).

As a PP said, gel caps are softer OR get tablets and crush them and put in a spoonful of applesauce or pudding and then it might be easier to swallow.
Also, you know you can swap Ibuprofen & Acetaminophen, right? Every two hours.
Ex: Ibuprofen at 12, Acetaminophen at 2, Ibuprofen at 4 and Acetaminophen at 6. Keeps you on top of the pain. They work differently so there is no overloading on drugs. Don't do it forever, but to get her through the night it's fine.

The doctor said one more time & we'll discuss taking his tonsils out

Yup. They told me the same thing with my DS. I guess that scared his tonsils into straightening out, because that was the last time he had strep!

The worst time was when we were visiting my DB in N.C. he started not feeling well in Va. (we were driving) and by the time we hit my DB's house, I knew it was Strep. we went to the ER there and they said he had Sarlet Fever, which is untreated Strep. Gets in the blood stream. I was like, No way! He's only had a fever for like 2 hours! and not felt well (just kind of icky) for maybe 8! Anyway, they gave him a big old shot in the butt and he felt fine the next day.