[StillBored]

This is actually what irritates me and keeps me away from doctors. Its seems to be 99% seat of the pants guess work, and in my case the doctors seem to have a pretty poor batting average. I get that antibiotics are over-prescribed, but do I really need to have the same test run again for the 3rd time to see if I'm lying about the antibiotic not doing a darn thing?

I get that treatment is frequently trial and error when it comes to medications, but the doctor/patient/pharmacist loop is BS, particularly for minor/frequent issues.

Take for example that I seem to run myself into poison ivy a couple times a year while mountain biking. Do I really need to fight to see a doctor/nurse/whatever just to have the same prescription I've gotten the last couple years straight? Or for that matter, maybe I should experiment more with stronger allergy medications to avoid the nasty withdraw I seem to get from prednisone.

Worse, what irritates me, is like the GP, it seems a lot of the common "safe" prescriptions in the US are over the counter in the rest of the world.. I know this, but got myself quite a surprise last time I was in mexico, because the hotel gift shop had viagra next to the advil!