Self diagnose/Self medicate

connundrum

Have you tried either of the above?

I ask only as I'm suffering with my 3rd chest infection this year, brought on by sinusitis. I know what antibiotics I'll be perscribed and I know how much it'll cost. The killer is that I've to pay a doctor €55 for telling me the above.

It gets a bit annoying after a while.

I know that there is a chance that the doctor might find something else, but I just wondered how many people self medicate?

CountingCrows

Crack open your chest with a scalpel and have a look with a mirror. Probably best to setup a webcam with one of your mates in case it goes wrong so they can call for help.

SheroN

Augmenton Duo.

Wazdakka

connundrum wrote: »

just wondered how many people self medicate?

As Frequently as I can afford

SV

All the time.
Rarely go to the doctor..

taidghbaby

i thought you needed a prescription to get anti-biotics!

LadyE

You can get them over the counter in spain..so get them when there.

I self medicate little things..would NEVER ever self medicate a child (unless its calpol or somehting like that).

enda1

You may not get the same anti-biotics again either. Aren't there certain situations where doctors give out different anti-biotics to prevent diseases becoming immune to them? So they are told or something that this month we use xx to cure this disease. Or something along those lines...

seamus

I haven't taken antibiotics in 24 years.

So I self-medicate. Uniflu and Nurofen. I've never had to take anything else.

javaboy

LadyE wrote: »

You can get them over the counter in spain..so get them when there.

True. And they are dirt cheap.

would NEVER ever self medicate a child (unless its calpol or somehting like that).

How could you self-medicate someone else?



I find an awful lot of people move from self-medication to avoid costs (e.g. where it's a recurring condition and they know exactly what the doctor will do) to full on self-diagnosis of new conditions. It's a slippery slope that leads to hypochondria imo. I know someone who constantly has a stock of anti-biotics and various medicines that you don't really need to have on hand. It's a bit scary. They even had up until very recently, some tablets that had been long since taken off the market for safety reasons.

gabigeist

Yep self-medication is the only way to go. It used to be that Doctors had a shelf of medical books (access to knowledge) that the hoi polloi didn't have. These days most people have google.

Doctors are still a necessary control though- if you can figure out how to bypass them, then you probably have enough sense to self-medicate. If you can't figure it out, then maybe you shouldn't prescribe yourself drugs. Works nicely!

thelordofcheese

connundrum wrote: »

Have you tried either of the above?

I ask only as I'm suffering with my 3rd chest infection this year, brought on by sinusitis. I know what antibiotics I'll be perscribed and I know how much it'll cost. The killer is that I've to pay a doctor €55 for telling me the above.

It gets a bit annoying after a while.

I know that there is a chance that the doctor might find something else, but I just wondered how many people self medicate?

Only idiots self medicate.

seamus

gabigeist wrote: »

These days most people have google.

I've found that an exceptionally large majority of the general public are severly lacking in any kind of troubleshooting or diagnosis skills across a wide range of disciplines, even with google and all its glory at their fingertips.

I have no idea why you think they'd be any better when it comes to biology. Even doctors sometimes get the diagnosis wrong after years of study and experience that we don't have.

I wouldn't advocate going to the doctor every time you just feel a bit under the weather, but when you're coughing up green stuff and your pulse is racing, simply taking some prescription drugs and going to sleep it off, isn't the best idea.

gabigeist

seamus wrote: »

Even doctors sometimes get the diagnosis wrong after years of study and experience that we don't have.

Sometimes? A doctor has proved helpful to me once. Wheras on four occasions that come to mind I've been misdiagnosed. The solution after the problem didn't clear was to bother my arshe to research a bit and self-diagnose.

I still think doctors are useful because if you can't fix it yourself, they may have a suggestion. It wouldn't be my first port-of-call though as they generally ask "what do you think is wrong with you?" and then repeat your answer back to you.

seamus

gabigeist wrote: »

It wouldn't be my first port-of-call though as they generally ask "what do you think is wrong with you?" and then repeat your answer back to you.

You're going to the wrong doctors then.

"What do you think is wrong with you" is the kind of question that you ask someone who's not physically ill.

My answer to that question would be, "My head hurts", or "My leg feels like it's about to fall off". Any doctor should see those kinds of things as triggers to begin the diagnosis.

brianthebard

Yes I've had so many chest infections at this stage that I know what they feel like, what I feel like when one is coming on, and what I have to talk to get rid of them. Takes maybe two weeks instead of one week on antibotics, but after taking meds I feel zonked for another week or two anyways. Your body is supposed to fight off sh!t like that, don't give it an excuse to get lazy.

Terry

Just drink until you feel better.

Zangetsu

I'm the same, had 3 pretty bad ones in the first few months of the year, all I did was stop smokin, doin droogs and going out on the weekends for about a month or 2, gave my body time to build the immune system back up. I suggest you do the same, I haven't been sick since...