Relative obsessed with the use of antibiotics?

[Idontknowwhatimdoing3736363]

Not sure why I’m posting this but I’m wondering if anyone else’s relatives are obsessed with antibiotics, particularly those of an age where maybe antibiotics were more regularly prescribed when they were kids.

anyway, they are in mid 50’s and think antibiotics are the answer to anything. Of course they have their purpose but they think everything needs them. I’ve tried to describe it numerous times, but they cannot seem to grasp the difference between a virus and a bacterial illnesses needing them. I’ve also tried to explain resistance which I find scary and how antibiotics aren’t great for your body if used all the time and not needed.

funnily enough they are quite often ill and I wonder if it’s a result of antibiotic over use over the years effecting their immune system.

they have been to the doctors with a cold/cough virus and demanded antibiotics and got verbally aggressive with the GP.

since Covid and a lot of things being diagnosed and prescribed over the phone they’ve exaggerated their symptoms to get them.

this is my parent. So I dread to think how many times I was prescribed antibiotics as a kid in the 90’s tbh. My nhs app thankfully doesn’t go back far enough as I changed area and GP which I’m grateful for - I am sure I was always in the doctors and prescribed something 😩thankfully their hypochondria hasn’t rubbed off on me.

I have a relatively mild illness this week, feel crap but I don’t need to see or speak to a doctor. I stupidly told relative I was feeling crap and she’s advised me to speak to GP and get antibiotics.

my son had a cold a while ago and felt a bit rough but according to my parent they needed antibiotics?!

I am struggling to bite my lip now. Of course antibiotics have their use but I feel this attitude is extreme?! Anyone else know anyone like this? Should I just give up explaining?

My attitude is the same as yours - antibiotics should be last resort. Drug resistance is a big problem. Last time I took antibiotics it ruined my digestive system! Honestly I don’t think you’ll win this argument. If they’re being abusive at a Gp they risk getting thrown out as a patient

Just don't tell them when you are slightly ill, like having a normal cold. Or if you have to tell them, just agree to what they say and just ignore their suggestion, if you think you don't need it.

Sadly there are lots of fucking stupid doctors with god complexes who think like this too and have done tons of damage to thousands of people

At least your parent isn't a doctor!

Send them a reputable medical link e.g. NHS www.nhs.uk/conditions/antibiotics/antibiotic-antimicrobial-resistance/#:~:text=The%20overuse%20of%20antibiotics%20in,Clostridium%20difficile%20(C.

And then leave well alone. (I've never posted a link before. Hope it worked. If not, I googled 'NHS overuse antibiotics'.

People like your relative are really worrying. There's going to be a massive problem with antimicrobial resistance, mainly due to poor prescribing and use of antibiotics.

I don’t tend to tell anyone but sometimes if I sound crappy it’s obvious. I think I’m run down more than actually ill with a virus this week tbh. Anyway, I’m generally not an argumentative person and bite my lip a lot to keep the peace but I struggle not to say oh FFS shut up about antibiotics all the time! It’s literally constant, they are ill a lot, then tell them to please do some googling and they will learn that yes they do have a use but overuse is scary. I’m all for antibiotics with the right purpose, just not when not actually needed.

I think it's because step a was going the rounds.. my son had it before Christmas and it has lots of awful complications including death, so yes they are being overly cautious and prescribing it. My son could've died if I'd left it. Which I would normally do.

I try and be careful with them and always finish the course but I've had at least 75 antibiotic courses

I have doctor relatives - in this case very good doctors so it’s fun at family dinners - not that we see them a lot we don’t live close by. The last time we seen him it was a debate on not being able to see a doctor anymore, I do get the annoyance on that one but my parent will also try get appointments for very minor ailments which doesn’t help the whole situation!

If needed they serve a purpose 💕 there’s many reasons why one would need regular antibiotics but in this case it’s just being uneducated and exaggerating symptoms to get them sometimes!

I probably had them numerous times as a child but thankfully only once or twice in adulthood!

It's really not an age thing. I'm 20years older than your parent, and I know the broad difference between bacterial and viral infections. I'm also aware that some common illnesses are evolving to become immune to antibiotics, because we've over used them.

I have asthma and copd, so a cold quickly leads to a chest infection. I need antibiotics to work for me in order to stay alive. Amoxycyclene (sp?) No longer works for me, so I'm prescribed doxyclene (sp?), Which,though evil when taken, at least work. I dread the day that stops.

to reitterate, it's really not an age thing.

Wow how have you had so many if you don't mind me asking?

Hasn't it messed up your immune system?

It’s been going on a lot longer for my parent than the worry over Strep going on recently but yes I understand in more recent times this could be the case. My parent had been demanding antibiotics for as long as I can remember!

I'm about the same age as your parent and concern about antibiotic resistance has been an issue for at least 30 years, so I don't think it's really an age thing?

I have no idea how you deal with weirdly entrenched views like that other than to ignore or keep repeating that viruses aren't treated with antibiotics.

Thank you. You are probably right but it was my theory that it may have been their age because my parent will often say ‘oh well doctors were always happy to give out Antibiotics back in the 70’s’ or along those lines. Maybe my family are just hypochondriacs 😩

I think to some extent it is an age thing. I've listened to the ILs rant about how useless their new GP is - when asked for examples it turned out they had gone with a cold expecting antibiotics.

Being fair to the ILs, they had grown up with this, it's a big deal for them to understand a new normal.

I have a relative like this, they dont want to be told they shouldnt have antibiotics, I would never waste my time trying to teach them about antibiotic resistance.

They go to a doctor who gets to make medical decisions on behalf of their health - I just mutter weak consolations if they are denied ABs, I advise them to give it a couple of days. If they get prescribed it cest la vie - its not my job to police their meds.

At the end of the day its not the few boomers who get a cough who are leading the problems with antibiotic resistence, its a global issue. I wouldnt get into repeat arguments with them about recycling or alcohol intake either.

Have you tried the following every time they tell you to request antibiotics for something that doesn’t need it:

’Good lord, no, I really don’t need thrush, 6 months of gut issues and having to spend a fortune on probiotics, thanks very much. It’s self-limiting and viral and my immune system should be perfectly capable of dealing with it by itself.’

I also think it was because it was a lot easier to get an appointment many years ago compared to now! I remember my mum taking me to the doctors for every single ailment when I was a kid just for clarification sometimes, with things we would never get appointments for now!

My DM (in her 80s) and DSis (40s) are exactly like this. They get annoyed on my behalf if I have a cold/ flu/ bug and am not offered anti biotics by GP. I find it very odd but have tried explaining why anti biotics won't work but it just doesn't go in, so I just ignore it. Incidentally they speak to GP for every single tiny ailment they ever have.

I think it does rub off. My grandma can be similar but not as bad. She does tend to listen to a doctor whereas my parent will think they know better.

it’s not something I had thought much of until recent years. I’ve been fortunate enough to only need them once or twice in adulthood - although I can recall several times I had to didn’t that horrible banana stuff in childhood 😂 but over the last few years their insistence of Antibiotics is starting to grate on me. My own son had AB’s quite a few times as a toddler due to some ongoing chest related issues but we’ve been fortunate 9 year old dd has never had them! I’m not against their use or anything and I hope my post hasn’t come across that way! I am all for them for the right reasons!

@Idontknowwhatimdoing3736363 I think there was a time in the 70s and 80s where self help wasn't expected and you could go to the GP for anything and everything. Likely because many of the treatments that take up GPs time nowadays simply hadn't been invented.

I've had my DM moan at me that you can't see a GP face to face anymore - until I pointed out she'd seen her GP face to face last year and I knew because I was bloody well there. She went a bit shifty and spluttered out 'that was different'

Bloody hell I'm 60 and have maybe had antibiotics 5 times in my life. Twice for a cat bite from one of my feral. They mess up my guts everytime. I have to go on probiotics for months.

I would say you are very unusual to have only taken them once or twice as an adult (unless you are only 22). I have a chest infection at least once a year, sinus infections on occasion, and have also recently had an infected cat bite, and a deep scratch from gardening, both of which require ABs.

Absolutely - if they're needed I would take absolutely take them or encourage a family member to - but the belief that they're a magic cure-all is very odd!