[elif]

This is one of my biggest gripes with the American medical system. Every physician is entitled to act like it's his duty to play global health director rather than attending physician.

Pro-tip: take a trip to central or south America, and buy over-the-counter antibiotics from a farmacia for pennies on the dollar.

Source: I inherited this wisdom from Kari Mullis, Nobel prize winning inventor of PCR.

[sterlind]

Kary Mullis has some really weird beliefs, such as astrology and HIV denial. His work on PCR was brilliant but I wouldn't take medical advice from him.

That said, I think long-term antibiotics are appropriate if they help with symptoms. My dad developed an autoimmune reaction from long-term doxycycline though, so please do check in with your care team if you go the Farmacia route, at least for labwork.

[elif]

Agree I would never consider long term antibiotic use.. but in addition to the risk of too much antibiotics, there are many pathogens which can be dormant/suppressed for years, so there is also hazard to completely avoiding antibiotics for decades.. which is the defacto state many Americans end up in if they don't have a probably treatable acute infection.

I fear that risk over the risk of e.g. a 10-day course that is routinely taken prophylactically around the world.

[cm2012]

Seriously. I hate having doctors dole out prescriptions like priests handing out indulgences. I wish 90% of prescription meds were over the counter.

[throwaway23234]

It's the same with everything else in this world. People tell others to go to the doctor, dentist, get an electrician, a contractor. It's all bullshit. Go on youtube, investigate all options, execute. Everything is pennies on the dollar and you will feel better.

[hackyhacky]

I understand why the advantages of this approach, but at the same time, we live in a world where people abuse antibiotics. As a result, microbes are rapidly developing resistance to antibiotics, and antibiotics are not an infinitely renewable resource.

So I understand why the doctors are hesitant to hand out antibiotics on a whim. There's not candies. And we all want to avoid a situation where no amount of antibiotics will cure your Lyme, UTI, STD, or tuberculosis.

[peterbraden]

But all of this caution is negated by feeding cattle antibiotics as a matter of process on feedlots.

[SpikeDad]

You can order whatever you want from Indian online pharmacies. Assuming you think you know how to prescribe antibiotics for yourself which is a dangerous mindset