To be annoyed with colleagues conversation

[SB1013]

The woman I sit next to at work started to lose her voice last week and immediately booked a GP appointment for that afternoon thinking she must have some sort of infection. Wasn't in pain or anything she'd just had a cold and her voice started to go. Anyway fast forward to today (she wasn't in yesterday) and she's explaining to another colleague that she'd been to the doctors and they had told her it's likely viral and she's not had it very long etc etc so to come back next week if it's still bad. Her voice has made a miraculous recovery and they were moaning that the way the Dr treated her was really bad and that it was hard to get appointments and she expected to be given something. AIBU to be really pissed off that people don't understand that antibiotics won't cure a fucking cold!!!!! She clearly didn't have any kind of infection and the fact that she's survived the weekend supports the doctors views...

[SB1013]

Sorry but people like this are the reason I can't get an appointment for 4 weeks

[BorisAndDoris]

She clearly wanted antibiotics. Everyone always bloody does and I can't understand why.
It's is not a magic cure all and overuse and incorrect use has produced a hell of a lot of antibiotic resistant and sometimes deadly bugs.
My MIL has a constant supply of antibiotics at home and starts to take them when she gets a cold saying it's "on her chest". When pushed, it's not actually affecting her chest but she can "feel it's going to".

And then later her doc gives her another just in case prescription for a home supply. Fucking irresponsible of him tbh.

[xmaspudpud]

I completely understand your annoyance! Not only has she wasted her time by going to the doctors, she has wasted the doctors time (which could have been better used with an actual poorly patient) and now she is wasting work time by talking about it!! It's a bloody cold, life goes on!

[BorisAndDoris]

Our local clinic is understaffed so they have implemented a new system. You phone up and a triage nurse calls back. You tell them what's up and they send you to the chemist to buy something over the counter, online to look for your own cure or they give you an appointment for you to see the doctor. It's very frustrating. You can be waiting hours for the call back. Yet pushy dears always get appointments.

[GrandmaSharksDentures]

I work in an urgent care centre as a nurse practitioner. Yesterday during my 10 hour shift, 30 people booked in and were diagnosed with "viral URTI" (a cold)

[motherlondon]

Not in the UK, but got in to see a doctor the other day really quickly.
When I said thanks for fitting me in so quickly he said that because it was bucketing down rain (unusual) they were quiet.
If you can cancel your appointment cos it's raining, how important was it?

[HotSauceCommittee]

Ahh, colleagues conversations! I just love them. I mostly keep my head down, but I do recall the time Madaliene McCann went missing and a colleague stated, “they shouldn’t have left her!”. I replied, “With the benefit of hindsight, I’m sure they see that too now and are wishing that they hadn’t”.
She didn’t speak to me much after that.

[RB68]

AND the fuckers sit in the waiting room snotting everywhere - really annoying

[SB1013]

So glad I'm not alone being pissed off with this! What do people think a doctor will do for them? I understand a little if it's a very elderly vulnerable person as they can deteriorate quickly but a generally healthy 30 year old will usually last the weekend with a sore throat

[ReflectentMonatomism]

And then later her doc gives her another just in case prescription for a home supply. Fucking irresponsible of him tbh.

There is the slight consolation that the people likely to be killed in the short term by the rise of antibiotic resistance are the people who are misusing them. They'll have a minor operation and be killed by their own bacterial load which they can't cope with post-operatively, and which won't be fixed with available anti-biotics.

But the willingness of doctors to prescribe anti-biotics needlessly is appalling. They claim that they're being bullied by patients to whom they can't say no, which also makes you less than surprised at the abuse of painkillers.

[LoadOfUtterBoswellocks]

Oh grr. It's like the people who go to A&E because they can't get in to see a GP, or call 999 if they've got a nasty cough. If you had to pay for the service directly you might treat it with a bit more respect!

[Tors33]

my mil is like that it really annoys me whenever my children are ill she wants me to take them to doctors for antibiotics even for viral infection I don't like pumping my children with drugs but she never understands and then I feel like a bad mother for not doing it

[LoadOfUtterBoswellocks]

It's not the patient that gets immune to the antibiotics, it's the bacteria. Which means that more "super" bacteria is around waiting to pounce on children and people with weakened immune systems in the near future. Drs know that and yet still give out antibiotics "just in case"!

[ReflectentMonatomism]

It's not the patient that gets immune to the antibiotics, it's the bacteria.

Sorry, I should have made that clear. But the point is that the people with the highest chance of hosting the resistant bacteria are the people who are deliberately breeding them by mis-used antibiotics. The rest of us are at risk too, of course.

Drs know that and yet still give out antibiotics "just in case"!

Quite. The NHS should look at prescribing patterns and clamp down on doctors who are prescribing suspiciously large amounts. They do that with opioids, but the risk to our society of opioid abuse is far lower.

[cheesemongery]

There is the slight consolation that the people likely to be killed in the short term by the rise of antibiotic resistance are the people who are misusing them

Is that trued? Genuine question, not goading.

I thought that the viruses themselves were becoming resistant due to their exposure to needless antibiotics therefore it doesn't matter with regards to what the person may or may not have previously taken, it matters with regards to what that particular virus has been previously exposed to. Bacterial viruses that is.

[ReflectentMonatomism]

I thought that the viruses themselves were becoming resistant

Bacteria, not viruses.

I thought one of the most common ways in which people die post-operatively is bacteria which your immune system could cope with in their current location ended up in other places, but which you can't cope with after they've migrated, particularly when you are ill anyway.

I might be wrong: theorising about what happens as resistant bacteria rise is a painful topic. But anyway: people who keep antibiotics at home "just in case": just fucking stop doing it.

[PermanentlyFrizzyHairBall]

antibiotics are horrible take anyway. The two times I've had them I ended up with thrush and a funny tummy. No way would I want to take them for a viral bug they won't even help with.

[Angelicinnocent]

The GPs and out of hours service here have started doing a quick finger prick blood test here before giving antibiotics for anything like coughs and colds.

I'm not a HCP so not sure what it is they are checking for but if it's not in your system, then its viral and you don't get antibiotics.

It seems to stop a lot of people arguing about needing them cos they have run tests so double result.

[morethanafuckingbleeder]

There is the slight consolation that the people likely to be killed in the short term by the rise of antibiotic resistance are the people who are misusing them

I'm not sure that's true. Antibiotic resistance is caused partly by people misusing them, and partly by their (over)use in the farming industry, particularly in countries outside the EU. Even in the UK, where antibiotic use is relatively strictly regulated, animals account for 44% of antibiotics use - that includes both domestic and farming animals. So even if you and your GP are fastidious about your own antibiotics prescriptions, unless you're vegetarian (I'm not - and this post isn't intended to convince anyone else to be), you're probably consuming more antibiotics than you realise via the food chain anyway.

[Blooger]

This:
But the willingness of doctors to prescribe antibiotics needlessly is appalling. They claim that they're being bullied by patients to whom they can't say no, which also makes you less than surprised at the abuse of painkillers.

Exactly. I see 'alternative' practitioners more often than GPs as I respond better to homeopathy and natural therapies, and I can tell you that none of these practitioners would be irresponsible enough to prescribe an inappropriate treatment on the basis that the patient expected or asked for it.

[AllTakenSoRubbishUsername]

She's an idiot. I wouldn't take antibiotics unless it was absolutely necessary - save them for the serious stuff! And YANBU. She should not be tying up appointments, it's ignorant not to know that rest, hot water and lemon will be more helpful than a trip to the GP!! My Dad is seriously ill at the moment and every time he needs a really important appointment they always say they are fully booked up.

[cheesemongery]

Bacteria, not viruses

Yes, sorry, I was struggling for the right words, so said bacterial viruses at the end, but probably meant bacterial infection not viral infection - so meant infection. Talking myself through it now haha so yes infection not virus.

I delayed going to the GP with tonsillitis as had been told previously they wouldn't give antibiotics for it. I was being strong, yep probably just viral, give it a few days... Imagine me, grown woman in my 40's getting an appointment and just breaking down in tears then crying and trying to drool out the words I'm sorry I just feel so poorly. Was sent to hospital with quinsy!

[ReflectentMonatomism]

you're probably consuming more antibiotics than you realise via the food chain anyway.

I've read that, but I find it surprising. Antibiotics break down pretty quickly, so wouldn't the only concern be antibiotics consumed immediately prior to slaughter which then survive post-mortem?

How high is the concentration of antibiotics 24 hours after administration? How high is the concentration 24 hours post slaughter?

The bigger concern surely will be the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria in farmstock, which can then be transmitted to humans? AB resistant e-coli, for example.

[Eliza9917]

I hate taking antibiotics. I'd rather save them for if I really needed them. I.e lifesaving situations.

I just had a terrible fever & flu. I lost my voice, still have a bit of a nasty cough. I managed it with over the counter stuff, didn't bother going to the Dr's because there isn't much they can do anyway. A day off in bed did me more good.

[cheesemongery]

Also it's people not taking the entire course (as far as I'm aware) if you take them for a couple of days then feel better, the infection is not killed but is being allowed to fight the antibiotic and gain some resistance.

I'm not medically trained (no shit) but I do believe that that is one of the most common problems.