Do you think you would be dead without antibiotics?

[everythingeverything1981]

I'm pretty sure I would. Or be alive with one leg.

Yes pneumonia age 40 and in hospital with nasty infection after birth of dc3.

No. I've never had them, ever.

DH - yes, appendicitis
Me - possibly, had pneumonia after flu in my 20s

Not antibiotics specifically, but definitely without modern medical care as I was ill after having enormous DD and hospitalized for several days.

100 years ago I’d have probably bled out and/or developed an infection, and died. Honestly, what our ancestors went through.

Would a csection infection kill you? Potentially I guess.

My child definitely would be which is such a hideous thought.

Interestingly, clean water and vaccines have saved more lives than antibiotics.

Definitely, pneumonia and multiple serious chest infections

Possibly. I've had pneumonia a couple of times, several bouts of quinsy before having my tonsils removed at the age of 37.

I've also had a serious break to my right arm where my radius and ulna bones splintered and came right out through the skin. Antibiotics were essential.

Yes and DD

I don't think so. I had one course of banana tasing antibiotics when I was 8yo. Neither of my children have had antibiotics either and they're in their teens now.

Possibly, I was bitten by dog as a child and my arm was all swollen and leaking pus for ages. It was grim.

My DD was given antibiotics as a newborn for suspected sepsis but ultimately the tests were returned negative so she shouldn’t have had them. Her health was very adversely affected by them and now she has a long list of life threatening allergies as well as the increased risk of autoimmune disease, bowel cancer and other horrible things.

Antibiotics are amazing but I think they are dispensed too easily especially for newborn babies who are seen as extremely vulnerable so given them for all sorts of tenuous reasons with no care of the future suffering they cause.

Yes, double pneumonia when I was 3 months old. In hospital for 2 weeks and nearly died as it was.

If that hadn’t killed me, the further bout of pneumonia in my 20s, which also landed me in hospital, probably would have. I wasn’t 100% for about 6 months after that one.

Yes.

cellulitis, 2 c sections, eye surgery. Loads of reasons

Yep
Meningitis twice
and Quinsy.

Not sure if the Quinsy would have killed me but was on an antibiotic drip for three days and felt fucking horrendous.

They’ve saved me from the most unbearable toothache. I’d have never mentally survived.

I had childbirth fever.

Yes probably y from mastitis which was verging on sepsis. Never felt so cold in my life but my temperature was close to 40 at the point I was admitted and given Iv antibiotics.
I definitely wouldn't be here without asthma steroids on several occasions as a toddler though

@Sorkh I remember the banana-flavored medicine too! I suppose I must’ve needed antibiotics as a child then.

@mindutopia Yes, we tend to forget just how many children died in the past, a quick Google tells me that in 1900, approx. 20% of children died before their fifth birthday. 😕

Yes, I had really bad cellulitis and GP told me that before antibiotics people often lost their legs.

Yes I remember it being disgusting! I think they did dole out antibiotics a bit over what was needed in the past though!

But yes, clean water, antibiotics and vaccines have saved so many infant lives.

Yes, I had sepsis and was on a drip for over a week before my temperature broke.

My 12 year old has scarlet fever after having strep throat has been poorly for weeks and that’s with antibiotics. So scary to think what he would have been like without

God yes me too after a mosquito bite got infected. I didn’t get told that though!

No but one of my children would be after an infected insect bite when they were two. They refused to take antibiotics and had to have it incised under general anaesthetic. They had started to go a bit limp and off colour by that stage.

100% one of my menopausal UTIs would have developed and finished me off although I would probably have survived to that point.

DH would be dead, appendicitis/infected small bowel (assuming he'd survived the wars he took part in).

DD would probably be dead too - born with a jaw defect that left her very vulnerable to infections.

DS might have survived; probably would have thrived as mildly autistic so very focussed and happy with a quiet solitary life. Would probably have made a good hermit.