6 ms·

Every time I've filled a script for antibiotics, they have been accompanied by very prominent written warnings that you must complete the full prescribed course

by caf 10y ago

Every time I've filled a script for antibiotics, they have been accompanied by very prominent written warnings that you must complete the full prescribed course. Often reiterated verbally by the pharmacist.

cloudjacker 10y ago
yeahhhh I thought it was just because although you feel better you could still be in part of the infection cycle, not because the remaining germs were probably now resistant.
mei0Iesh 10y ago
But they don't explain why, and warnings are overdone due to litigation fears, so people will often use their own judgment, and without understanding the concept behind why, they may choose unwisely. "Take all of the prescribed medication" : "They're just greedy and want to make me buy more" vs. "Take all or you'll breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cannot be treated and you will die and kill the human race" : "I better follow this prescription"
- caf 10y ago
  If you're the sort to believe it's just a conspiracy to make you buy unnecessary quantities of drugs, then why wouldn't you also presume that the story about antibiotic-resistant bacteria is also part of the conspiracy?
  - mrob 10y ago
    "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is a well known saying. It makes sense that it would apply to bacteria.
    - Kristine1975 10y ago
      >"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is a well known saying. It's from Friedrich Nietzsche's "Twilight of the Idols": "What does not kill me, makes me stronger."
      - TeMPOraL 10y ago
        I didn't know that, thanks. Also, most people don't know that either. Today it's just a saying, that's been repeated by people for decades.
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Because the scale isn't binary here - you don't have only a) people who blindly trust doctors, and b) people who are conspiracy nuts. Both of them are wrong, btw. Pharma companies are greedy and they do everything they can to make you spend more. Doctors are influenced by them, often very subtly. That is a fact, not a conspiracy. But the fact also is, that doctors save lives and most have noble intentions (despite the meat grinder medical career is). One needs to learn what information belongs more to "greedy companies" category, and what belongs to "life saving science" category. It's no surprise people get confused about this - and that's why you absolutely need to explain to them why they need to finish antibiotics treatments.
stephengillie 10y ago
But has the warning ever said why you should complete the course? I always assumed (until recently) this was to prevent reinfection, not resistance. Stern warnings with no information about possible consequences is heavily lambasted in movies, yet we repeat this behavior with medicine and expect different results. If you tell someone not to do something and don't tell them why not, and the consequences aren't otherwise clear, expect them to do what you said not to do.
- awqrre 10y ago
  I always assumed that it was to completely kill it and that resistance was a side effect of not killing it...
  - beambot 10y ago
    Yep, you're intelligent enough to make the correct assumption. Unfortunately, I presume many others are not and could really use a little extra education by the pharmacist dispensing meds -- so they also understand the why.
  - ddt_Osprey 10y ago
    Meanwhile, here's me over here, thinking throughout my youth that it was advice to prevent the painful, avoidable side effects withdrawal symptoms. Stepping down off a high dosage in halves is the exact same strategy used to ease people out of addiction. As a kid, I thought anti-biotics were this far-out medicine, so strong and hazardous that coming down off them was something you had to do carefully.
    - eru 10y ago
      A reasonable hypothesis for a kid. Though, if you ever take any antibiotics, they usually don't taper off the dose at the end, do they?
      - awqrre 10y ago
        Not the ones that I've encountered... they used the same dose at the same intervals for the whole period of time... maybe to keep a lethal level in your system the whole time.
holografix 10y ago
Oh my god the number of arguments I've had with family and friends, even my girlfriend over this. Why do people think they can stop antibiotics when they "start getting better"?!? It's not a virus ffs
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Probably because they have no clue how they work, and they don't have a good mental model of diseases and bacteria. Aka. they don't understand the "why". A bit of explaining would definitely help. I agree with the observation that telling people to do something without explaining why is stupid and will only lead to disappointment.
kbart 10y ago
"they have been accompanied by very prominent written warnings that you must complete the full prescribed course" I'm ashamed to admit that the big part of my adult life I didn't know the reason behind that, and always assumed that to be of a kind "you must eat your whole meal" constantly told by grandma. I'm sure I'm not the only one..

by caf 10y ago

cloudjacker 10y ago

yeahhhh I thought it was just because although you feel better you could still be in part of the infection cycle, not because the remaining germs were probably now resistant.

mei0Iesh 10y ago

But they don't explain why, and warnings are overdone due to litigation fears, so people will often use their own judgment, and without understanding the concept behind why, they may choose unwisely. "Take all of the prescribed medication" : "They're just greedy and want to make me buy more" vs. "Take all or you'll breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cannot be treated and you will die and kill the human race" : "I better follow this prescription"

caf 10y ago
If you're the sort to believe it's just a conspiracy to make you buy unnecessary quantities of drugs, then why wouldn't you also presume that the story about antibiotic-resistant bacteria is also part of the conspiracy?
- mrob 10y ago
  "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is a well known saying. It makes sense that it would apply to bacteria.
  - Kristine1975 10y ago
    >"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is a well known saying. It's from Friedrich Nietzsche's "Twilight of the Idols": "What does not kill me, makes me stronger."
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      I didn't know that, thanks. Also, most people don't know that either. Today it's just a saying, that's been repeated by people for decades.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Because the scale isn't binary here - you don't have only a) people who blindly trust doctors, and b) people who are conspiracy nuts. Both of them are wrong, btw. Pharma companies are greedy and they do everything they can to make you spend more. Doctors are influenced by them, often very subtly. That is a fact, not a conspiracy. But the fact also is, that doctors save lives and most have noble intentions (despite the meat grinder medical career is). One needs to learn what information belongs more to "greedy companies" category, and what belongs to "life saving science" category. It's no surprise people get confused about this - and that's why you absolutely need to explain to them why they need to finish antibiotics treatments.

stephengillie 10y ago

But has the warning ever said why you should complete the course? I always assumed (until recently) this was to prevent reinfection, not resistance. Stern warnings with no information about possible consequences is heavily lambasted in movies, yet we repeat this behavior with medicine and expect different results. If you tell someone not to do something and don't tell them why not, and the consequences aren't otherwise clear, expect them to do what you said not to do.

awqrre 10y ago
I always assumed that it was to completely kill it and that resistance was a side effect of not killing it...
- beambot 10y ago
  Yep, you're intelligent enough to make the correct assumption. Unfortunately, I presume many others are not and could really use a little extra education by the pharmacist dispensing meds -- so they also understand the why.
- ddt_Osprey 10y ago
  Meanwhile, here's me over here, thinking throughout my youth that it was advice to prevent the painful, avoidable side effects withdrawal symptoms. Stepping down off a high dosage in halves is the exact same strategy used to ease people out of addiction. As a kid, I thought anti-biotics were this far-out medicine, so strong and hazardous that coming down off them was something you had to do carefully.
  - eru 10y ago
    A reasonable hypothesis for a kid. Though, if you ever take any antibiotics, they usually don't taper off the dose at the end, do they?
    - awqrre 10y ago
      Not the ones that I've encountered... they used the same dose at the same intervals for the whole period of time... maybe to keep a lethal level in your system the whole time.

holografix 10y ago

Oh my god the number of arguments I've had with family and friends, even my girlfriend over this. Why do people think they can stop antibiotics when they "start getting better"?!? It's not a virus ffs

TeMPOraL 10y ago
Probably because they have no clue how they work, and they don't have a good mental model of diseases and bacteria. Aka. they don't understand the "why". A bit of explaining would definitely help. I agree with the observation that telling people to do something without explaining why is stupid and will only lead to disappointment.

kbart 10y ago

"they have been accompanied by very prominent written warnings that you must complete the full prescribed course" I'm ashamed to admit that the big part of my adult life I didn't know the reason behind that, and always assumed that to be of a kind "you must eat your whole meal" constantly told by grandma. I'm sure I'm not the only one..