alysia a replied: "Many herbal prescriptions have anti-biotic qualities or constituents, and can be less harsh on the stomach and immune system. As an Acupuncturist and doctor of Chinese Medicine, I will often prescribe an herbal formula for a patient (mainly in a tea decoction form as this is usually the stongest) based on their own unique presentation of symptoms, as well as incorporate specific acupuncture points that help the body kick out the illness. Patients should be dilligent about taking the herbs and following recommendations as well as staying in contact with their doctor to make sure the illness is not getting worse, as this could lead to more serious complications."

Jennifer V replied: "Different antibiotics are better at killing different bacteria. If you are not feeling noticably better 24 hours after taking an antibiotic, you should call your doc. Clindamycin is sometimes prescribed for people who are allergic to Ammoxicillin. Are you allergic? Have you broken out in hives from a previous dose of Amox? Also, if your doc didn't culture your throat, but went on "look" alone, you might not even have a bacterial infection, in which case any antibiotic at all is going to be ineffective. Talk to your doc. Hope you are feeling better soon. :) Many regular "cold viruses" (picornaviruses - including rhinoviruses - or coronaviruses) cause draining in the back of your throat that can irritate the delicate tissue. Even if your nose isn't stuffy or runny, you can still have the drainage in back. And because different cold viruses have different symptoms (and they frequently mutate, so can change symptoms) some even affect the throat specifically, causing inflamation, swelling (swollen tonsils, glands) and iritation. The throat will look like strep - red, swollen and possibly with white spots - and feel like strep - with extreme painfulness - but not actually *be* strep. If the sore throat is viral, no amount of antibiotics will help it - they are useful only to kill bacteria (like strep or staph), but not any viruses. I have had sore throats that I swore were strep, only to get both rapid and regular cultures back negative. But it's worth testing every time a sore throat produces a fever, because left untreated, strep can travel to other organs such as your kidneys, your heart (rhematic fever) or your skin (scarlett fever), which can be very serious and painful. Have your doc culture your throat. If it comes back negative, stop taking the antibiotics. If it doesn't clear up in 5-7 days (typical "cold" sore throat recovery time) you should have it looked at again to rule out other potential infections (like fungal, which are also painful and can cause white spots - but are also not properly treated with antibiotics) In the mean time, I find throat numbing sprays to be fairly effective, as is gargling with very salty water. You may find Ibuprofin to be a more effective pain reliever than Tylenol. Get well soon! :)"