AIBU or is the doctor?

[Joulesismyfave]

I took my 4 year old to the GP this afternoon as he’s had a cough coming up 2 weeks. He was unwell to start with (last week) and was off school. He went back on Monday and was still snotty/coughing but fine in himself, he was in Tuesday and tomorrow too. However at pick up they told me his cough sounded very deep and chesty.

I kept him off today and got him an appointment. He’s extremely congested too, he can hardly breathe out of his nose. Nothing seems to be clearing it. Using a saline spray regularly and a cool mist humidifier at bedtime.

GP listened to his chest, checked temp, checked him for a rash, looked in his throat. Said it was a lingering viral infection and antibiotics won’t do anything.
I tried to say that in the current climate I’d feel more at ease if he had a prescription for antibiotics, but he said it may do more harm than good, which I don’t really understand. Surely prevention is better than just ignoring it.

x100 this.

@Dittosaw I wish. This is such a common conversation and happening across the country in GP surgeries, out of hours and A+E. I do understand - people are scared by the media and desperate to protect their childrens health but it’s dangerous in itself for all the reasons above.

@Balloonsandroses these absolute idiots are causing merry hell. Children who NEED antibiotics can’t get it because of fools demanding them from GPs when they shouldn’t be using them. And don’t even get me started on the wasted appointments just because little Johnny had a slight cough, it must be strep a?! The world has gone mad. Bloody media.

You don't use antibiotics 'just in case' OP.

This is such a scary attitude 😨

@Ackity i am so cross with the media. Looking for the child who is seriously ill with invasive group A strep (or anything else) is like looking for a needle in a haystack to start with. All the scaremongering driving demand sky high is just making that haystack even bigger and I suspect increasing the risk that the seriously ill kid will get missed / be waiting hours / days to be seen. Bloody media indeed.

Antibiotics mess up your gut microbiome. It is becoming more and more clear how important the gut microbiome is for our immune systems and other things. I would avoid giving antibiotics to your child unless they really need them. Coughs and snotty noses can easily go on for a good few weeks in children and are generally viral. I'd only want antibiotics for a cough if I thought it was something like pneumonia or whooping cough (pretty rare due to vaccinations). Hope he feels better soon. When DS was young he had so many coughs and colds but it does get better eventually. Dose him up with lots of vitamin C and make sure he is taking a vitamin D supplement to support his immune system.

YABVU

My feelings entirely

Menthol crystals in hot water are really helpful for congestion, and warm honey and lemon for a sore throat together with calpol for a temperature. Lots of cuddles on the sofa.

YABU

unless you’re a practicing doctor yourself that is, antibiotics won’t cure a lingering cold.

YABU, I agree with the tic tac suggestion.

The biggest risk to my DS’s life limiting, chronic disease is antibiotics becoming ineffective due to over use.

Antibiotic resistance is what I am sure the GP may have been referring to, where a course of antibiotics fail to work to combat illness. A lot of GP's are used to being cautious when prescribing amoxicillin and other antibiotics for this reason.

How else does a parent know if their child will fight the infection? Its pretty scary and I hope the government don't drag their feet over it.

I recently had that nasty cough/cold bug that's going about and was about 3 weeks before felt more normal. When I was totally congested and couldn't breath through nose at all it was towards end of illness and thankfully passed after few days. Steamy shower helped nose & cough load more gunk up & sleeping with a wedge pillow in a more upright position aided the coughing at night.

What on earth are all those links?

My son is always very congested, consider using a nose rinse. My boy could do it from 4 years old with a Neil Medd paediatric saline rinse bottle & solution. Used an hour before bedtime helps them sleep. There are other bottles but that's the one my ds like.

Sorry but GP was right.
As for that poor little sore nose, try Happinose. It's basically petroleum jelly but better, in a tube with added something to make breathing easier. I got some for the kids when they were little, and ended up using it myself whenever I get a cold. Paper tissues make my nose red raw, this stuff is the only thing that helps (and using the stupidly expensive balsam tissues).

My friend’s son has a confirmed case of strep a. 111 didn’t call back as promised, couldn’t get through to the GP surgery. Finally has a day later, prescribed antibiotics but they are out of stock. Now trying to get back through to GP for new ones.

this is why I don’t watch the news. I only know about strep a because all of my friends are panicking thanks to media scaremongering.

Well if he has a viral infection, antibiotics won't do anything. I know you're probably anxious about strep A because of the news, but the gp has thoroughly checked him and would be aware if that's what he has. Giving him antibiotics for a viral infection (rather than a bacterial one) might mean that antibiotics don't work when he really needs them.

I'm in hospital on iv antibiotics right now and it's horrendous. They've given me such bad diarrhoea that I also had to be prescribed morphine for the agonising spasms. I've not taken antibiotics much before but they are absolutely hammering my body. Really not something I want to take again in a hurry.

My son had a strep infection about 4 years ago. Gp recognised it immediately and gave him antibiotics. The gp does know what they are talking about so just continue doing what you are doing and he should start to improve soon.

Of course the Dr was right. Antibiotics won’t help a virus and two weeks isn’t long for a cough. They linger.

YABU. Antibiotics won’t do anything for a viral infection, and overuse of antibiotics is a serious problem worldwide leading to antibiotic resistance. It’s hard to see your child unwell but the doctor has checked him and isn’t too concerned.

As many folks have already stated, antibiotics don't do anything for viruses. The doctor is right.

I’ve always been really worried about sepsis and other bacterial infections. So this kind of anxiety is normal for me, not just the current media stories.

@Joulesismyfave can you reframe that anxiety a bit then and focus on giving antibiotics only when truly needed and hence avoiding antibiotic resistance (which would make sepsis potentially untreatable)

Then seek some help, it’s not normal