Home Remedies

I am such an unlikely nurse. I haven’t had a checkup in 8-10 years. That’s not counting the cursory exam I had to get into nursing school – you know the type - like a sports or camp physical for a school kid. So I have had this horrible sore throat since Thursday and yesterday (Saturday) I drug myself out of the house at 5:15 PM and went to the walk-in clinic that closes at 6 PM. I wanted to rule out strep. Well they did the strep test and it was negative, but they gave me a prescription for an antibiotic anyhow. And a steroid and a nasal spray for my nonexistent allergies. So I went home with these three prescriptions, determined not to take them, and looked up home Remedies on the internet. Last night, every time I woke up, which was often, I gargled with water infused with cayenne pepper. This morning I read a little farther down the page and have been making this concoction of water, lemon juice, honey and cayenne and slowly sipping it. I have done this five times. My throat feels a little better but it still looks just as red and raw. We’ll see how I feel in the morning. I don't want to take an antibiotic if it’s really a viral infection. On the plus side, I have lost a few - that is three - pounds.