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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think this doctor's wrong about my baby?

89 replies

WhiteTrash · 09/12/2011 12:30

I posted two days ago about my 6 month old babys bad health (currently bad chest and frequent waking) here

Hes been waking every 15 mins for 6 nights now, hes been chesty and ill with no improvement for 7 days so I took him to the doctors this morning, I just wanted to check it wasnt an infection anywhere.

She listened to his chest which is clear, its just a nasty cough. But said he has infections in his ears and a viral throat infection as well. He has green and clear running from his nose and a temp thats being kept down by calpol and nurofen.

She refused to give me antibiotics, said they wouldnt help. Now, I know they wont help a virus, but they may well help infected ears and given the he my baby has been through recently (see link) surely it would be better to not let him ride it out?

At one point she said she didnt want to give antibiotics for 'the good of the community' I couldnt give a sparkly christmas shit about the community, I care about my baby who hasnt been well in months (one thing or the other).

Is she right? AIBU to think shes a nob whos prolonging my babys suffering?

OP posts:
hedwig2001 · 09/12/2011 13:20

I feel for you. My DS had pus coming from his ears and they really had to be leant on to give antibiotics. The latest research seems to discourage antibiotics for ear infections.
This website is one GPs use for prescribing advice. www.cks.nhs.uk/clinical_topics/by_clinical_specialty/ear_nose_and_throat
Hope it helps. Especially hope your little one feels better soon.

Mabelface · 09/12/2011 13:23

Tis Bronchiolitis season, and it's a nasty viral infection. Causes temperature, sore throat, congested airways with overproduction of mucous and can be quite serious in prem or small babies. All 4 of my children had it. If your baby has stopped feeding, or is dipping in at the base of the neck or around the ribs when he breathes, take him to A&E.

lisad123 · 09/12/2011 13:23

Trust yourself. When dd2 was younger we were told three times that she had a viral infection and sent home. She had pneumonia! I asked if it was pneumonia and it wasn't. Had to spend a week on IV antibiotics and oxygen Sad

MildlyNarkyPuffin · 09/12/2011 13:24

Different doctor. Don't say what the other GP said or openly criticise them - that will back them into a corner. Just say it's getting worse and you're very worried that it will get worse over the weekend and you don't know how you''l be able to get him to a doctor then. Mention that your other half will be away with the car.

You should get a script for antibiotics to use 'if it gets worse over the weekend.'

MissMollyCoddle · 09/12/2011 13:26

I always feel guilty questioning a doctors' diagnosis or treatment, I think you are just taught to trust them. But that being said, we have had several situations where we haven't been at all happy with the what a doctor has said and sought a second opinion (the most recent being this week).

I know they are qualified and that they train for a long time and are professionals but they aren't infallible, no one is!
My SIL is a GP, though not in the UK, and she is the first to tell me to trust my instinct and seek a second opinion if you feel its needed.

RecursiveMoon · 09/12/2011 13:37

I'm not sure if anyone else has said, but apparently one of the NICE guidelines says that antibiotics should be prescribed for ear infections in children that haven't cleared up after 3 days. That's what our GP said recently - he even gave us a prescription to get if DS wasn't well in a day or two.

Pursang · 09/12/2011 13:39

Had the same thing with DS. Ill for weeks and weeks with various things, repeated trips to the doctors and same answers as you got. Eventually saw a doctor that was concerned enough to refer him to hospital. Turns out he had throat infection, ear infection and bronchiolitis. One lot of antibiotics later - one healthy little chap. I know it's not good to give anti bis for every cough & sniffle, but I swear if he'd had them earlier he wouldn't have ended up in hospital.

PrincessScrumpy · 09/12/2011 13:54

I can see both sides. I suffered from tonsillitus and would be given antibiotics but a week after I stopped taking them it would come back. One time mum decided (I was 14) to keep me off school for a week until it cleared up without the pills - after that I now rarely get it and when I do it is not nearly so bad.

However I was 14 and could understand that I was going to feel worse to feel better. If it's an ear infection I would want antibiotics for my dc and would get a second opinion. Don't worry about annoying your gp - she won't care. A lot of medicine is based on opinions and interpretations of studies.

SantaDesperatelySeeksSedatives · 09/12/2011 13:56

I would definately get a second opinion! Surely if you rely on calpol etc to keep his temperture down for more than a few days and he needs something else? Prolonged paracetomol and Ibofrofen use isn't good for anyone, let alone a baby. Hope your DS gets better soon.

LadyClariceCannockMonty · 09/12/2011 14:01

If antibiotics are used when they're not needed/not going to be effective, bacteria mutate in response to them and new, antibiotic-resistant strains are created, which obviously impacts on everyone. That's likely what she meant by 'the community', and while she could have explained better, YABU to not give a shit about the community, because it includes you and your family. As well as everyone else in the world, of course.

MissMollyCoddle · 09/12/2011 14:12

LadyClarice I think most people understand why antibiotics shouldn't be handed out willy-nilly, but that is no reason not to go back for a second opinion if the little boy is suffering day after day and the parents aren't happy with their care so far.

slavetofilofax · 09/12/2011 14:13

You clearly need a second opinion, because you aren't happy with the diagnosis, but I agree that doctors should restrict their use of antibiotics. It is much better for the individual concerned, and everyone else, if something that could get better on it's own is allowed to get better on it's own.

If you have a second opinion and they still say no antibiotics are needed, then you need to respect that they are right.

LadyClariceCannockMonty · 09/12/2011 14:14

I agree. But I didn't say the OP was BU about wanting a second opinion. The 'couldn't give a shit about the community' comment was what I was responding to.

NeuromanticisedVisionsofXmas · 09/12/2011 14:16

No-one said doctors always get it right, a lot of medicine is a guessing game anyway, so expecting them to be always right is your first mistake. But its and educated guessing game, and on balance a qualified doctor with years of experience is a lot more likely to be right than you (or me), with no medical training and zero experience.
Just basic logic really.

RecursiveMoon · 09/12/2011 14:16

Hmm, it's not correct to say that bacteria mutate in response to antibiotics - bacteria mutate all of the time, and a mutation that gives them a selective advantage, e.g. resistance to a particular antibiotic, may be selected for under particular conditions, e.g. in the presence of that antibiotic.

Lizcat · 09/12/2011 14:29

Wrote long explaination about why recursivemoon is correct on both fronts lost in musnet downtime. However, you need to talk to your GP about using nurofen as your previous thread states that your DS is taking steriods and the Nurofen datasheet lists concurrent use of corticosteriods as a direct contraindication to using nurofen. Please make this call today it could be fine, but they should not be used together unless specifically directed by a doctor.

BoulevardOfBrokenSleep · 09/12/2011 14:33

The whole antibiotic thing is very much a case of the dr's personal judgement as far as I can see. DS (14mo) has been ill with something similar for a couple of weeks, seen...ooh...6 different doctors now, each one has diagnosed something different from viral/bacterial, ear/throat/chest infection.

Because DS has strong family history of asthma, and has been hospitalised with viral wheeze before, our GP will give antibiotics at the first hint of his chest starting to sound infected. Others wouldn't.

Have they told you to watch out the skin under his ribs or around his neck being sucked in when he breathes?

LadyClariceCannockMonty · 09/12/2011 14:34

I lost my response to RecursiveMoon too! From a lay perspective, what that all boils down to is that doctors need to be careful about prescribing antibiotics. Which this doctor has been.

MissMollyCoddle · 09/12/2011 14:37

Neuro You are absolutely right, more often than not a doctor will have a much better idea than a non-medic, but again I think any good doctor worth their salt would tell a parent of a baby to listen to their instinct.

You go to the doctor, they tell you something, perhaps prescribe something, maybe not. You go away and hope things improve. If they don't and your instinct is telling you things aren't right you go back for another opinion.

From the OP I get the impression that had the GP been nicer, more polite and respectful to her that she would feel less angry. She'd still be concerned for her baby and would still want further care but probably would phrase things differently.

Sirzy · 09/12/2011 14:41

If your not happy then get a second opinion BUT at the same time be prepared to be told the same thing again. However, it does sound like your GP was very insensitive.

It is horrible when there is nothing that can be done medically to treat a baby, DS was in HDU with bronchiolitis yet other than the therapy to help him breath there was no treatment as such (antibiotics etc) just had to let it take its course and that is horrible but there is nothing you can do when it is a viral infection.

At the same time GPs do make mistakes, I was told that then 12 month old DS had a clear chest 12 hours later he was on oxygen and spent 8 days in hospital with pnumonia.

You just have to follow your instincts.

ohanotherone · 09/12/2011 14:41

My son has had loads of viral ear infections, the local GP's do not prescribe antibiotics for viruses only for bacterial infections. If we continue to use antibiotics inappropriately we will end up in the dark ages when children died of simple infections.

Moominsarescary · 09/12/2011 14:48

Is the baby still on the course of steroids you were talking about on the other thread?

Doctors don't like to prescribe too much medication to young baby's if it's not necessary. A doctor prescribed my baby with two 3 day courses of AB over a period of 10 days and now he will have to go for another hearing test in two weeks as it could have affected his hearing.

I'd go to another doctor for a second opinion though and say you think he's getting worse

BoulevardOfBrokenSleep · 09/12/2011 14:56

But I'm pretty sure you can't say by looking in an ear, say, whether an infection is viral or bacterial. Am I right?

So the doctor sees an infection, has two options;

  1. Treat as bacterial, prescribe a-b's, take the risk that it's a virus and you're over-prescribing; or
  2. Treat as a virus, do nothing, take the risk that it's bacterial and the patient might get worse or recover more slowly than if antibiotic'd.

Which option mostly depends which doctor you get IMO. I now know the prescribing habits of all four GPs at my surgery, thanks to my DCs' constant illnesses of this sort. Sigh.

ItsSnowDarling · 09/12/2011 15:03

There are two good articles here from the BBC, the first looks at the treatment of ear infections and the second at coughs and colds in general

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7902302.stm

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15772727

valiumredhead · 09/12/2011 15:06

I had a bad ear 'infection' recently, which wasn't treated with anti b's but with drops that were actually for eyes. Apparently there are 2 types of ear infections, one which needs anti b's and one which doesn't.

If it continues and your baby gets worse, then go back and see a different GP.