AIBU - prescribing antibiotics when not necessay

[southpacificgoat]

DS (4) woke up with a fever on Saturday morning. Got more and more lethargic during day, was sleeping lots, temperature going up. Completely refused to take paracetamol or ibuprofen. During night his fever went well over 40 C and he refused to drink, said his tummy hurt and eventually his ears. Sunday morning I got quite worried and rang 111 who advised us to go to A&E. DS was diagnosed with tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics. By the time we got seen, DS had made a remarkable recovery, drunk something and his temperature had dropped to below 38 C. I asked the doctor if antibiotics were really necessary and he said 'no, he will recover by himself. The difference is about one day. Without antibiotics it will take about 8 days, with it will take about 7 days. But most parents want them'. AIBU to think our healthcare professionals should be much more cautious in dishing out antibiotics or WIBU to refuse the antibiotics and let DS 'suffer an additional day? As it is, he is completely fine today. No fever so far, and is eating and drinking as normal. Had he been still really poorly by the time he was seen I might not have questioned antibiotics.

Same DS was prescribed antibiotics for a tooth infection (no symptoms) by dentist and when seen by specialist the consultant said she would never have prescribed antibiotics for it.

Also, post birth when my stitches came a bit loose the midwife said I should take antibiotics 'just in case' of an infection developing later. GP prescribed it, I took it and my BF baby promptly developed nappy thrush.

AIBU to think our healthcare professionals should be much more cautious in dishing out antibiotics or WIBU to refuse the antibiotics and let DS 'suffer an additional day?

I'm very cautious over antibiotics, I rarely prescribe them. But if a patient is unhappy about that and they complain to NHS England, I get no back-up or support from them and it will easily take 6-8 hours of my time dealing with the complaint.

Speaking as a doctor, one who is pretty adverse to giving out antibiotics, it depends on the parents. There are loads of patients every day that get antibiotics that they probably don’t need. If drs didn’t hand out the antibiotics then a small % would need antibiotics, necessitating a 2nd doctor visit, some might not bother coming back and get worse some might even develop sepsis then the doctor/hospital gets accused of missing sepsis. And some days when your waiting room is full, and you have yet another argumentative parent who wants antibiotics for a virus, it’s easier to give them than have an argument.

its really hard as a medical professional to get it right...everyday there are stories about dishing out ABs when not really needed and not giving them when they are needed...especially when you are dealing with young children who cant tell you whats actually wrong...also children are so up and down when they are ill....its a difficult call

I have been verbally & physically threatened for not prescribing antibiotics for perfectly well adults with a cold.

I don't think either of you were unreasonable. It depends upon individual circumstances. Ds with non verbal severe learning difficulties cannot cope with things like ear infections and becomes distressed to the point of his behaviour being unmanageable. If an antibiotic shortened that by one day we would give it to him. We have prescriptions on standby for the ailments he frequently gets.

I hate giving anti biotics to my children, in fact the two youngest have had them maybe twice and they are 12 and 13. The eldest is 20 and had them 3 times. I’ve not come across a doctor who will just give them out willy nilly but then we’ve hardly ever been. My youngest had them for scarlet fever and it was only on the 2nd visit they gave them as he wasn’t improving after a week and his temp was sky high.

HCP's are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

My 2.5 year old ended up on a lot of antibiotics he probably he didn't need until his tonsils got taken out but we kept finding if it was needing antibiotics and he didn't get them at the first sign of tonsiltis y he was ending up being blue lighted to hospital so it ended up being safer to give them him incase than to risk him ending up admitted again. Luckily his tonsils are gone so fingers crossed no more antibiotics

Our GPs literally refuse to prescribe them these days apart from severe infections. I'm diabetic too, and only once ever had to go back to beg for them and that was with a severe chest infection. I ended up with a month on them, steroids and an inhaler. Everything else, I've shaken off.

My Dd gets urine infections which often don't show on initial testing but do eventually when symptoms are raging and she's screaming blue murder. I'd rather not put her through that.

I read something recently about the lab testing for utis not being as accurate as they thought so people who had infections weren't being treated.

I also had afriend recently who had an ear infection to which she was told there was no infection but thrn it turned really nasty.

I agree about not prescribing unnecessarily but, at the same time, it seems pointless going backwards and having people really unwell from things that are treatable