How to fight an infection without prescription antibiotics

In my experience, a course or two of antibiotics is one of the more common triggers of IBS. More than half of my clients share this root cause.

While antibiotics are lifesavers sometimes, they are often over prescribed. Not only does this cause a spike in digestive issues, but also a rise in treatment-resistant bacteria. If the infection is serious or life threatening, antibiotics may be required. But when antibiotics are not needed, they are an unnecessary risk.

While it is tempting to try to speed up healing with pharmaceutical assistance, the price may be way too high for some people, in terms of resulting digestive issues. Antibiotics may shorten suffering by a few days, but the long term side effects are not worth the risk.

I had a recent experience with a mild infection which I addressed successfully without antibiotics.

If the infection is minor, you body is designed to deal with it. It can heal itself without the help of medications. In our society we are trained to pop pills for any ill, often forgetting that we have everything we need inside of us to heal.

My antibiotic-free solution

I recently had a gum infection that caused massive amounts of sharp, stabbing pain in my inner left ear and left side of my head.

It was in so much pain that using antibiotics was tempting, but I knew better.

Natural healing is about supporting your immune system to do its job. I was able to clear most of the infection in just 6 days, naturally. It took longer for my body to fight it off completely, but the painful symptoms went away in 5 to 6 days.

To be transparent, the pain was so bad on day 3 and 4 that I caved in and took an NSAID pain reliever (Ibuprofen) to get me through the worst of it.

NSAIDs can stress the gut lining, so they are not great for you, but the pain relief helped me hold out on antibiotics, so it was worth it. In most cases, the gut will heal from the effects of the NSAIDs  if there’s no additional inflammation or pathogens present.

Here’s how I did it

I used the following supplements to support my immune system and help it fight.

Megasporbiotic– This is my favorite probiotic. It has strong immune boosting benefits and is safe for those with SIBO. It’s also an antibacterial agent because the live probiotics actually kill pathogenic strains of bacteria. I took 2 a day to give my immune system the boost it needed. Megasporbiotic is available on my site here.

Biocidin– This is a natural, and gentle antimicrobial that I use to fight off flus and colds before they hit. Taking a natural antimicrobial takes the load off my immune system, by killing extra bacteria and other pathogens. Biocidin is available here.

Oil pulling and salt water swishing and gargling– Oil pulling is an ancient practice from Ayurveda (Eastern Medicine) that consists of using coconut oil as a mouth wash. Coconut oil is antiparasitic, antibacterial, and antifungal, killing microbes in the mouth.

It may not have accessed the microbes under my tooth, but I felt better after swishing with coconut oil for 15 minutes. My mouth felt cleaner and the pain lessened. By removing excess pathogens in my mouth, it lightened my immune system’s load, allowing to concentrate its energy on the infection at hand. 

I also used a salt water gargle. Half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water. I swished it in my mouth and gargled until the glass water was gone. Just like the coconut oil, salt water kills bacteria, and the act of gargling stimulates the vagus nerve, which is instrumental in calming the nervous system and speeding healing.

Adaptogens- Adaptogens are antioxidants that help support the immune system and stress response. These are herbs, vitamins and minerals that give the immune system the building block it needs to regenerate itself to fight. These are the adapotgens I used.

Fish oil and Tumeric– These two supplements support the immune system by balancing the inflammatory process. I use this brand of tumeric because it is easily absorbed and this brand of fish oil because it’s clean and burpless. 

CBD oil– This is what I used for pain management and immune support. It helped me hold out from taking pain meds every single day. Because the CBD oil dulled the pain naturally for the first 2 days, I only took 2 ibuprofen the whole time I suffered. While you want your body to be inflamed when it is fighting off an infection, using anti-inflammatories like CBD oil, Tumeric and fish oil, helps take the edge off too much inflammation and the symptoms that result. CBD oil is made from hemp, non psychoactive and good for stress and anxiety relief. 

Self care and mindset

Self care is an important part of immune support. I tried to get plenty of sleep and rest, I avoided alcohol and sugar, upped my green veggie consumption, and chewed on the other side of my mouth.

I also did intermittent fasting, which means only eating during an 8 hour window. I chose  9 am to 5 pm. Abstaining from food for 16 hours, diverts the massive energy your body devotes to digestion and instead invests it into fighting infection.

Having faith in my immune system and it’s ability to fight off infection really was important. Without that, I would have gone into panic mode and ran to the doctor’s office for pharmaceutical assistance.

While I’m not a doctor and can’t tell you when it is or isn’t crucial to use antibiotics, I can point out that they are not always needed as often as most doctors prescribe them (out of laziness, ignorance or not having a better plan). 

I hope this article helps you think twice before taking a course of antibiotics and encourages you to do your research about whether or not it is absolutely necessary. Don’t take antibiotics from a place of fear or panic.

In most cases all you need is time, self care, immune support and the belief that your body can handle minor infections on its own.