AIBU to not leave the GP without antibiotics

If @Turtlegurl888 has a quinsy, it will need to be drained. No amount of sending photos is going to help with that. A quinsy is an abscess near your tonsils

Absolutely this.

A GP is trained and experienced.

GP's do need to ''gatekeep'' antibiotics for the sake of us all.

If they believe it's bacterial, they probably will prescribe appropriate antibiotics.

Overprescription of them in the past, and people not taking them correctly

were/are part of the problem.

Eg not completing the course.

Bacteria are already becoming resistant to antibiotics..and that's frightening.

I was advised for a painful sinus infection to buy a Neil Med saline sinus washer, and the GP even showed me how to use one {By mime} -

I bought one, and it worked -cleared out loads of gross muck after a few days, the pain and 'smell' in my nose was gone.

have you been to the gp yet? At ours you can send them a photo of your throat coupled with a telephone appointment. It saves the face to face appts for people who don’t have that option, and prevents spreading of strep etc.

Not really. I sail offshore and it could mean death without self treatment. But you carry on in your little ideal world.

I sincerely hope, and do believe this government will improve things, but it will take time.

I agree entirely.

If my surgery were better funded, we would be able to employ more reception staff to improve phone waits. We would also be able to build an extension and employ more GPs and ANPs to provide more appointments. It would be great to be able to do this.

Instead, we have to make do with what we have, meaning stories like this are more common.

Yes - I have experienced exactly as you describe. Had recurrent mild ish- pretty bad tonsillitis my entire life- hundreds of bouts. Normally it goes away on its own but twice in my life it was way way worse than normal. I had to go to hospital on both occasions and I had to have antibiotics to clear it up and they worked.

antibiotics should not be overused but sometimes they are necessary

Most people would rather see a doctor, but getting through on the phone to a receptionist, let alone getting an appointment, is so difficult that they often have to seek treatment elsewhere.

The op reported that the pharmacist prescribed abx without even looking in her throat, so no examination! This was absolutely highly inappropriate given the symptoms the op has discussed. There have been 3 seperate red flags given from the patient in her history, any 1 of which necessitating careful consideration of diagnosis which needs an examination, this just hasn't occurred. So either an absence of training/knowledge on the error the pharmacist was making, or they just discounted her symptoms/thought she had health anxiety nonsense that didn't warrant any investigation but just through some tablets at her so she goes away.

If this was a quinsy for example (there are other worse conditions as well) the abx will have no effect and could well experience life threatening complications in the next day or 2. There has been no examination to consider or exclude these.

If you are having difficulty opening your mouth, feel swallowing is impaired, voice has changed you should be examined by a professional.

It's not that your individual body that gets used to them, it's that frequent use in the whole population can cause antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria to emerge. So although it's absolutely true that antibiotics shouldn't be used unless truly necessary, frequent use of antibiotics in one patient won't result in them being less effective in that individual. Doctors have to try to predict which bacterial infections are likely to resolve without antibiotics and which infections require antibiotics to prevent serious complications like sepsis from developing.

Do people realise, a viral infection can be just as bad and worse than a bacterial infection? There's no hard and fast rule that a temperate or white spots, or the general severity of the symptoms, indicates whether its viral or bacterial. Its simply that antibiotics won't work with a viral infection and over prescribing can contribute to resistance.

I think its reasonable to insist on a swab test to check if its bacterial. Not reasonable to insist on antibiotics based solely on the severity of symptoms.

That's not how they work

I've had over 75 courses and antibiotics still work absolutely fine for me

This is not how antibiotic resistance works. Good for you for being public-spirited. But you are still as likely as anyone to catch a resistant strain.

Sorry op but that's definitely in your head!

Antibiotics take at least 24hrs to start working, more often 48hrs. And that's to feel even slightly better.

If you feel better before then it's likely it was viral

Hope you feel better soon

Im so sorry OP its so frustrating that our NHS has been run down to the point where we can’t see a doctor (but still pay 20 or 40% tax 🤯)

This government has a big big job ahead of them.

I'm not sure if it's still the case but surgeries used to get paid to NOT issue antibiotics. If your usual GP refuses to give you any, wait til after hours and call 111 who will make you an appt for an on call GP local to you. They don't get the incentive so normally have no problem issuing a prescription for antibiotics. I used to do this before just switching surgeries.

ONLY take antibiotics if they are genuinely needed. The body gets used to them if taken too often and when you do have a serious problem they don't work. I never take anything like this but 2 years ago I was seriously ill and taken to hospital after collapsing with sepsis.

I then got pneumonia and a selection of other problems. The surgeons were definitely going to take off my right, and probably my left, leg. Happily they are still attached. I was in hospital for 3 months and it is only because my body wasn't used to antibiotics that I survived. I am vegan, so don't consume any food that has been routinely pumped full of the stuff.

The doctors told me I was a medical miracle and a lot of people don't even recover from one of the problems I had. They kept asking about resuscitation and last rights etc (I'm not religious) but I knew this was serious. My weight dropped to 6 1/2 stones (from around 11) and by rights I should be dead.

Antibiotics are great for the big stuff but if taken like sweets you become immune to their effects. Obviously you needed this medication but some people just demand antibiotics for the most innocuous reasons so that when they have a real illness they are no use.

Having a really painfully swollen throat is rubbish, and a bit scary, so I hope you are soon feeling a lot better, but look on the bright side and take this opportunity to eat loads of ice-cream.

Perhaps everyone should Google their local pharmacy to see what services they offer. The pharmacists have training and are are shadowed by GPs in common ailments like sore throat and they have swabs which GPs don't usually have. They are not given a tick list and told to get on with it and they advise if symptoms do not improve then to contact the GP.

They won't give antibiotics for sinusitis any more . When I had really bad sinusitis years ago I was prescribed antibiotics and felt so much better a few hours later .

Given the growing dangers from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, there have been many attempts to limit antibiotic prescribing in general practice. I did read an article once about how London GPs were getting fed up because people from some cultures expect to take away antibiotics from just about every visit to the doctor, they are used, in their home country, to having them handed out like sweets, especially for children. Refusal has led to angry shouting matches, people being ejected from surgeries, removed from patient lists, etc. Now it is becoming more common among UK native folk too.

In a survey of GPs, 55% reported pressure to prescribe antibiotics, 45% had prescribed antibiotics for a viral infection knowing that they would be ineffective, and 44% admitted that they had prescribed antibiotics in order to get a patient to leave the consulting room.

The online form I assume is the e consult form. I’ve done it twice and it’s always been really effective. Never ever ring now, in fact they actively discourage ringing.

Honestly, one thing I hate is GPs thinking they know it all yet pharmacists are often more qualified in some aspects of medicine and make better judgements

yet pharmacists are often more qualified in some aspects of medicine and make better judgements give me what I want when I'm feeling a bit rubbish. There I fixed it for you

I find it odd that “you know the doctor will say it’s viral”

When I’ve had tonsillitis as an adult I’ve been prescribed antibiotics because they checked and determined it was bacterial.

Dont demand anything that never goes well. Just be polite and assertive.