Amoxicillin is safe enough to take for adults, but ONLY if you finish the entire bottle of antibiotics (yes, even if you start feeling better). The only thing you've likely to notice is that your "friendly bacteria" die off too, but some yummy yogurt eaten daily, a few hours after taking your antibiotic pill, will replenish the friendly bacteria while not replenishing the strep bacteria. If you're dead set on risking all the possible complications of strep throat by refusing to take antibiotics, including: tonsillitis; peritonsillar abscess; Sinus infections; Ear infections (a friend of mine lost his hearing in one ear from one of those); scarlet fever; glomerulonephritis (a form of kidney failure, requiring dialysis and/or kidney transplants); rheumatic fever (rheumatic fever forms inflammatory deposits in your joints (causing permanent involuntary movements), skin (disfiguring you), and muscles, including your heart where the nodules can kill you; PANDAS Syndrome, a neurological disorder which can cause OCD-symptoms and involuntary movements); and death. NOTE: Just in case you look up strep throat on the Internet and discover that "in the USA strep throat complications are rare", bear in mind that this is entirely because most U.S. Citizens take antibiotics to clear up strep throat without complications. In countries where antibiotics aren't readily available, strep throat routinely results in the above complications. If all of the above actually scares you less than a tested antibiotic medication, then do the following: 1) People who take antibiotics become non-contagious in about two days. Since you aren't taking antibiotics, you will need to remain away from human beings (those you don't hate) for about eight to ten days (possibly up to three weeks if you develop any of the complications). Make sure your employer knows you will be taking off this much time, so they can arrange replacements while you are away. Some schools may want you to keep your children home during this period as your children will easily catch Streptococcal pharyngitis from you (and pass it on to other children at school) while you are refusing to take antibiotics. 2) Drink plenty of water and get plenty of rest. Most people don't get enough water and don't get enough rest, so drinking water and resting will give your body a slightly better chance of surviving the illness without modern medicine. 3) You should take a painkiller for the intense body, throat, and head pain you will be feeling over the next eight to ten days, pain which may be enough to disrupt sleep. Willow bark is where aspirin originally came from, but aspirin is not recommended for strep throat infections and as such you should avoid concoctions including willow bark. As there aren't any other natural painkillers (other than ethyl alcohol which will help destroy your immune system and make the infection worse), you will probably be unable to do anything about your pain, since you've already said you are "terrified" of taking medications. So I'd get ready for about eight to ten days of intense pain you will be unable to do anything about. And on that note, which terrifies you more: a tested medication like amoxicillin which will clear up your symptoms within a couple days, or untreated strep throat which will take up to ten days to get over, will be intensely painful without a pain medication, and may disable and/or kill you if left untreated?

Untreated, strep throat can sometimes lead to rheumatic fever. Kidney complications are among the other possibilities.

In the case of strep... If not killed via antibiotics... It can travel all around your body and lodge itself in the strangest places and cause worse conditions. You can even get it in your heart and brain, even your vagina! Don't mess with strep... Take your meds having to do that, is far worse than it traveling through your blood stream left unchecked to take up residence somewhere you really dont want it to be.

Yes, used to get it every year but I always took the meds. It's a nasty infect and there's no other way of wipping it out

Please take your medicine. Strep is a very virulent infection and can harm others as well as put you in the hospital if you don't.

Sometimes it is best to just face your fears and do what you know you have to do. I do not like taking medication either. I was once prescribed a medication that caused me to have heart palpitations, which promptly launched a panic attack. That scared me from taking any kind of drugs for a while, even non-prescription. But I have taken other medication since and had no repeat. I know it is still possible but prescription drugs go through testing to determine their safety. And while there may occasionally be unpleasant side-effects, they are very rarely dangerous when the directions are followed.

Ok this hurts a lot but works. Use peroxide in your ears until all the bubbling has stopped this will take a long time that burns out the infection in your ears. Then take three shots of some 70% of more alcohol THIS WILL HURT A LOT, anyway that should clear you up.

Strep is a pretty bad thing to have if it gets out of control. If you are not allergic to it (as I am), amoxicillin is one of the oldest and safest antibiotics. I really would advise that you take the meds and FINISH THE COURSE. (It is bad for you and everybody else if you don't finish).

TAKE THE MEDS!!!! I went through a 10 year period where I got strep throat every friggin year, without fail. I tried to 'wait it out' once and ended up afraid for my life. songofjoy is 100% correct about the rheumatic fever, too.

strep throat can be very very dangerous. mine got so bad that my tonsils swelled up to the point where I could barely breathe, and I had to get an emergency tonsillectomy. then you have to be on MORE medicine. so please, take the amoxicillin, that stuff is pretty tame.

I'm looking at these answers and seeing all these horror stories and whatnot, but I really think its important to evaluate how serious your case of strep is before freaking out about the idea of not taking antibiotics. The reason I say this is because I've had both severe and not so severe cases of strep throughout my life. I actually just recently got over one of the milder cases and I didn't need any antibiotics. Symptoms lasted about 4 days (i got tested for strep on the second day and got results back on the third) and I got re-tested 5 days later just to make sure it was completely gone (which it was). So really, it's not this insane horror story some are making it out to be. It depends on the situation. I would ask for your doctor's personal opinion because he is the only one that can evaluate how serious your individual case is and tell you the risks of not taking antibiotics.