Antibiotic resistance

[WomanIsTaken]

I've been ill for the whole half-term holiday with sinusitis, and it's just not going away. So painful, aaargh! My neighbour said I could have some antibiotics she's got at home from a course she didn't finish.
My friend suggested lying to my GP, and saying I've had it for 10+ days so I can get antibiotics, even if it is viral, in which case they won't work. But just in case. That, or just refusing to leave the consulting room until GP prescribes antibiotics.
AIBU to really worry about people's cavalier attitude to antibiotics as we face the medical apocalypse heralded by antibiotic resistance?
When I mentioned antibiotic resistance to my neighbour, she said "Oh, I hardly ever use them, so won't have developed resistance." She's a smart, educated woman, but clearly not understanding that antibiotic resistance isn't a personal thing, but to do with microorganisms becoming resistant to being treated by antibiotics through over-use or irresponsible use.

Try asking about conjunctivitis on here. Droves of people saying just go and buy antibiotic drops from a chemist. Conjunctivitis rarely needs antibiotics but off people trot. It's going to have grave repercussions.

Never take someone else's drugs. What if you had an anaphylactic reaction? She isn't smart and she is not educated.
You are 100%right to be concerned about drug resistance.

The pain would be from pressure or from inflammation. Take OTC meds to decrease both. If you cough out coloured crap you should see your doctor.

...from a course she didn't finish...is how resistance develops.

I have to stop typing as your friend is a moron and I might say worse...

People are idiots when it comes to antibiotics.
Strongly believe everyone should be made to learn about the various mechanisms by which they work.
And the basic difference between bacteria and viruses!!

Yes! This is an absolute pet hate of mine. My mother sounds very much like your friend in that she is often at the GP 'demanding' antibiotics if she so much as sneezes and is almost proud of herself for getting them and showing the GP who is boss or something

I have a pharmaceutical background and know a reasonable amount about antibiotics. I once explained, in a fair amount of detail, to a friend (who felt better halfway through a course of antibiotics) why it was so important to finish them, bacteria could still be lingering, resistance/immunity can transfer etc. She just shrugged and threw them in the bin as she 'doesn't take tablets unless I absolutely need them'. YOU DO ABSOLUTELY NEED THEM! Jesus wept.

We'll pay the price in the future, I'm sure of it.

I know, it is so worrying. I remember Antibiotic Resistance Awareness Week a couple of years ago, and there were daily dramas on R4 extrapolating on nightmarish scenarios likely to play out in the health service and in people's lived as bugs become increasingly resistant. Terrifying. And so easy to avoid.
A colleague, whose husband comes from a country where broad spectrum antibiotics are available over the counter from the chemists, will stock up for the year when visiting his parents, to self-administer when her family are ill to save a trip to her GP. She says the chemist tells her which are for ear infections, tonsillitis, chest infections etc, so she 'knows' which ones to use.

I think people on the whole really don’t understand antibiotic resistance isn’t a personal thing and major public education is necessary