4 ms·

> With me it started with a positive hydrogen breathe test at a naturalpath. Naturopaths are quacks though. You shouldn't be able to get any prescriptions base

> With me it started with a positive hydrogen breathe test at a naturalpath. Naturopaths are quacks though. You shouldn't be able to get any prescriptions based on their recommendations.

wolco 7y ago
They can't at least where I am. And my experience with was more about getting that appointment fee so treatment is spread over many appointments. Still a better experience compared to doctors. Anything internal seems to be an area they don't understand yet. Perhaps in time things will get better. After the experience I strongly believe anyone should be able to buy medicine without a prescription. There are good and bad things that could come from that but I believe freedom of choice should be more available in this area.
- madaxe_again 7y ago
  > I strongly believe anyone should be able to buy medicine without a prescription. While I can’t disagree that doing so is mightily convenient, it’s a really terrible idea, due to antibiotic resistance. Now, if people could be trusted to only purchase antibiotics when they actually need them, and to complete their courses of them, this would be fine - but you can’t trust people. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Russia over the years. Hangover? Antibiotics. Head cold? Antibiotics. Tired? Antibiotics. The myriad incredibly inappropriate things people use antibiotics for is phenomenal. And you’re talking about how a witch doctor told you you had quantum demon breath and so you need antibiotics. I’m sorry, but this is absolutely part of the problem, and underscores why antibiotics must be regulated.
  - mlang23 7y ago
    To blame the patient is a little bit shortsighted. In my experience, well established doctors do prescribe too much antibiotics as well. I used to have a doctor who basically gave me antibiotics for everything I went to see him. After a while, my general health started to deteriorate. Once I understood the pattern, I started to throw away his prescriptions and did also get better.
  - hamilyon2 7y ago
    I spent quite a bit of time in Russia and my experience is opposite. Everyone ever talks about how careful you should be using antibiotics. Not too little. Not too much. The exact prescribed amount for prescribed duration.
  - wolco 7y ago
    I think the story of how we are becoming of how we are becoming resistance is a false narrative. Doctors giving antibiotics to freely is an issue but the fact that they are allowed to use antibiotics in our animal feed is probably more likely the cause why this problem exists and whole classes of antibiotics are not prescribed anymore. If this is your first time ever using antibiotics penicillin should work.. but they need to jump to amoxicillin. I know why they add it in our animal feed and I see the benefits but it also creates these issues.
  - snagglegaggle 7y ago
    The problem with this is many developing countries overprescribe antibiotics or have them available without prescription. In developed countries you see antibiotics used en masse for livestock breeding. Both of these things dwarf any usage in people in developed countries. (You also see things like betablockers available OTC in places like India, and there was recently a research article on HN about how much this improves quality of life and quality of care.) It is kind of a tragedy of the commons, but the real solution is not to let people in the US die from easily treatable diseases. After all, what is the point of effective antibiotics if you never use them anyway? The real solution is probably to develop enough treatment options so that they can be cycled or used in conjunction.
spacemanmatt 7y ago
My last M.D. was a quack, too. He made a wrong call (not griping, I understand differential diagnosis) on my stomach infection, wrote a prescription, then went on vacation. Meanwhile, I did not know this, nor did I know my labs came back with my pathogen identified. I went back to the office only to overhear all that through a closed exam room door. Oh, and they let me make that appointment same-day, knowing he was on vacation. That doctor is so very fired, and I made sure every patient there knew what happened to me on the way out. I have never been so angry about mistreatment.

> With me it started with a positive hydrogen breathe test at a naturalpath. Naturopaths are quacks though. You shouldn't be able to get any prescriptions based on their recommendations.

wolco 7y ago

They can't at least where I am. And my experience with was more about getting that appointment fee so treatment is spread over many appointments. Still a better experience compared to doctors. Anything internal seems to be an area they don't understand yet. Perhaps in time things will get better. After the experience I strongly believe anyone should be able to buy medicine without a prescription. There are good and bad things that could come from that but I believe freedom of choice should be more available in this area.

madaxe_again 7y ago
> I strongly believe anyone should be able to buy medicine without a prescription. While I can’t disagree that doing so is mightily convenient, it’s a really terrible idea, due to antibiotic resistance. Now, if people could be trusted to only purchase antibiotics when they actually need them, and to complete their courses of them, this would be fine - but you can’t trust people. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Russia over the years. Hangover? Antibiotics. Head cold? Antibiotics. Tired? Antibiotics. The myriad incredibly inappropriate things people use antibiotics for is phenomenal. And you’re talking about how a witch doctor told you you had quantum demon breath and so you need antibiotics. I’m sorry, but this is absolutely part of the problem, and underscores why antibiotics must be regulated.
- mlang23 7y ago
  To blame the patient is a little bit shortsighted. In my experience, well established doctors do prescribe too much antibiotics as well. I used to have a doctor who basically gave me antibiotics for everything I went to see him. After a while, my general health started to deteriorate. Once I understood the pattern, I started to throw away his prescriptions and did also get better.
- hamilyon2 7y ago
  I spent quite a bit of time in Russia and my experience is opposite. Everyone ever talks about how careful you should be using antibiotics. Not too little. Not too much. The exact prescribed amount for prescribed duration.
- wolco 7y ago
  I think the story of how we are becoming of how we are becoming resistance is a false narrative. Doctors giving antibiotics to freely is an issue but the fact that they are allowed to use antibiotics in our animal feed is probably more likely the cause why this problem exists and whole classes of antibiotics are not prescribed anymore. If this is your first time ever using antibiotics penicillin should work.. but they need to jump to amoxicillin. I know why they add it in our animal feed and I see the benefits but it also creates these issues.
- snagglegaggle 7y ago
  The problem with this is many developing countries overprescribe antibiotics or have them available without prescription. In developed countries you see antibiotics used en masse for livestock breeding. Both of these things dwarf any usage in people in developed countries. (You also see things like betablockers available OTC in places like India, and there was recently a research article on HN about how much this improves quality of life and quality of care.) It is kind of a tragedy of the commons, but the real solution is not to let people in the US die from easily treatable diseases. After all, what is the point of effective antibiotics if you never use them anyway? The real solution is probably to develop enough treatment options so that they can be cycled or used in conjunction.

spacemanmatt 7y ago

My last M.D. was a quack, too. He made a wrong call (not griping, I understand differential diagnosis) on my stomach infection, wrote a prescription, then went on vacation. Meanwhile, I did not know this, nor did I know my labs came back with my pathogen identified. I went back to the office only to overhear all that through a closed exam room door. Oh, and they let me make that appointment same-day, knowing he was on vacation. That doctor is so very fired, and I made sure every patient there knew what happened to me on the way out. I have never been so angry about mistreatment.