To take antibiotics

[Bucketandspades]

I’ve had “a cold” since the beginning of March really, it went away beginning of April, but the cough hasn’t. The past couple of days, the cough has gotten worse and I’m coughing up some phlegm (sorry TMI). I’m not sleeping and I’m knackered because of it. I don’t have any other symptoms, so no runny nose, no high temp or sore throat/head.

I went to the chemist explained symptoms and how long I had them for, he advised me to go to the doctor. Phoned doctor, explained to receptionist my symptoms and what chemist told me, to be told I can’t see a doctor for 3 weeks!!!! It’s not an emergency so can’t get an emergency appointment.

I have antibiotics at home which were prescribed incase of an ear infection whilst in holiday (as not covered by insurance for my ear problem), didn’t need them whilst on holiday and I’m wondering if I should use them. Thing is, I don’t know if I do have a chest infection or not, sometimes I sound wheezy, sometimes I don’t. I wake up coughing, choking and struggling for breath during the night.

I don’t want to just take them for the sake of it though but I really don’t think I can wait 3 weeks to see doctor and and I can’t get passed the receptionist.

Do you have a walk-in centre nearby that you can go to?

Or telephone 111 "if you have an urgent medical problem and are not sure what to do".

It doesn't sound good that you struggle for breath so I do think you need to see a doctor.

We don’t have a walk in centre where I am. At the moment it’s not an urgent medical problem, it’s just this stupid cough and me not getting a proper rest.

DH is telling em to just take them and it won’t do me any harm but I’m not so sure, you hear all about how you shouldn’t just take antibiotics willy nilly. It’s not as if I take antibiotics often, it’s been years since I’ve needed them.

Re: the doctor, most have ”non-emergency” and ”emergency” appointments now, which is really confusing for anyone with half a brain who associates an emergency with calling 999 for an ambulance. Actually, the ”emergency” ones are for people who urgently need to see a doctor (aka you, as you have been referred by a pharmacist) whereas the 3 week ones are for more routine stuff. So I recommend calling back early tomorrow and saying it is urgent/emergency and asking if there is a cancellation you can slot into.

I will phone back tomorrow to see if there is a cancellation, but when I phoned today, I told the receptionist the chemist told me to go to the doctor and I told her how long I had the cough for, she said it wasn’t an emergency and gave me the appointment for 3 weeks.

Hopefully I will get another receptionist tomorrow because the one I spoke to today wasn’t budging, infact, it was the practise manager I spoke to. I even asked if I could see a nurse because they can write prescriptions but I was told no!

Don't take the antibiotics. It may not do you good and could do you serious harm.

Not all antibiotics work on the same bugs. It's quite likely that this may be a different organism than the one that could have triggered the ear infection, and these antibiotics won't work. Not to mention this is a great way to trigger antibiotic resistance.

If you've had a cough for more than 6 weeks, you really should have a chest X-ray done.

Thanks agnurse. I’ve been awake most of the night coughing so I’m going to try to contact doctors again today to see if I can get an appointment. I’m not convinced I will get by the receptionists. Even when I explained yesterday about my symptoms she said in a sarky voice “you have a cough”......I was like yes I’ve had it since the beginning of March, it’s nearly the end of April!

Do not take the antibiotics! You don’t even know if you have a bacterial infection.

Antibiotics should be an absolute last resort and should be prescribed by a doctor.