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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DH had a case where a 3-year-old kept coming in with strep. He kept prescribing antibiotics until he said they’d need to admit him because they just weren’t working. The mother then casually mentioned she’d never given him the antibiotic because she didn’t want him to get resistant to it.

Last night, 60 Minutes ran a story about the worldwide health crisis of "superbugs" becoming resistant to antibiotics. Why? Because doctors are over-prescribing anti-biotics, which are truly needed in only one-third of medical cases.

These young moms have a point.

-- An older mom[/quote]

No they don't. There is no problem with asking your Doctor why they are prescribing an antibiotic and understanding what it is that the Doctor is trying to accomplish. I do that all the time. I love my Doctor, and my sons Pediatrician. They both listen, explain what they are looking for, and give a list of options.

For example, I found a tick a few days after we had been back from camping. I have no idea who the tick was there, I had washed my hair twice since returning, brushed by hair, and the like. We did tick checks while we were out. I made an appointment with my Doctor because there was a chance that the tick had been there for more then 48 hours and Lyme is real. My Doctor listened to me and gave me a few options. 1) start on the antibiotic for lyme right away and do a blood test, wait on antibiotics and do the blood test, or wait to see if I developed flu like symptoms in the next few weeks and then do the blood test. I choose to wait on the test and not take the antibiotic. No flu symptoms since that time (it's been 6 months).

I guess it is easy to trust when she prescribes me an antibiotic because I know that she does not jump there right away. I know that when I have a negative reaction to a medicine, which has happened, that I can talk to her, she'll do some fast research, and we will change the plan.

But when a Doctor has a good reason for prescribing antibiotics, like Strep, you take the full amount so that you can get over the Strep. You don't decide to stop the antibiotics because you, or worse your kid, is feeling better. All that means is that you are going to get Strep again.

So all patients should be able to talk to their doctor and understand what the doctor is prescribing and why. But to stop a known effective treatment for a known illness because the news says to be careful with antibiotics is ignorant and dangerous.

For the record, I ask a ton of questions. when DS was a baby he had a high fever and we went to the ER. They wanted to do an x-ray to make sure he didn't have pneumonia. I asked why they were worried about that and they laid out the sequence of events we had given them (cough then high fever) and that could be a sign of pneumonia. Their explanation made sense so did the x-ray. No pneumonia but the flu. When we followed up with his Pediatrician the next day she asked if they did an x-ray for pneumonia and we said yes. She was happy because the progression of illness could have been problematic.

So ask questions but be prepared that the people with the advanced degrees have a good idea about what they are doing. They are not perfect, medicine might be a science but it is not as exact as we would all like it to be, but they do have more information about what works and doesn't work then we do. If your Doctor is always giving you antibiotics, look for a different Doctor. [/quote]

This. If I get mastitis, I know most cases are self-limiting within X days if patient has good rest and food. I cleared with my doctor that I could wait so long as fever decreased and I avoided antibiotics. Same with pneumonia — self-limiting if viral. I went in, had chat with doctor about risks and courses of action, chose not to get antibiotics and that was it. With a kid who can’t tell you how they feel I’d be more risk averse. But I find most good doctors are willing to talk about reasons for each course of treatment as well as limitations of what is scientifically known.[/quote]

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