Dave Hounddriver Posted October 9, 2017 Posted October 9, 2017 As some of my friends know, I have been feeling under the weather lately. I have a general idea as to what is wrong, I believe we old farts know our own bodies better than some stranger we just met who has an "MD" sign on their door. I come from a country with socialized medicine. If I went to a doctor in Canada he would say something like this: Your vital signs are all close enough to normal that you could have anything from a UTI to a kidney stone. (We are ruling out the other possibility as I have not had enough S to have an STD ) Next he would say that we will try a simple antibiotic first to see if it is a UTI or kidney infection or bladder infection. If that does not work we will send you for some tests. They do that because it is all free. Tests cost the system money, they don't cost me money. Fast forward to my years in the Philippines and I was thrilled when I could bypass the middle man, go straight to the pharmacy, and by some Amoxicillin to rule out the possibility of a UTI before going to see the doctor. But now we cannot do that. It means we have to go to the doctor to get a prescription but no, they don't want to do that, they want to do all the tests first before prescribing anything. They do that because all those tests cost ME money and the doctor probably gets a piece of the action or just does not care because he isn't the one paying the bill. So I hate this new enforcement against antibiotics and that's my rant for today. (If anyone knows where I can get some Amoxicillin please drop me a PM. It used to be sold in all the sari sari stores but the crack down is making it hard to get.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Peterson Posted October 9, 2017 Posted October 9, 2017 2 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said: (If anyone knows where I can get some Amoxicillin please drop me a PM. It used to be sold in all the sari sari stores but the crack down is making it hard to get.) Dave, I believe we had/Have a prescription for amoxicillin, "A" will tell me later where we can send you, As long as you can wait til tomorrow I am sure we can help you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castaway Posted October 9, 2017 Posted October 9, 2017 My father-in-law is still able to buy antibiotics over here without a Rx but his lips are sealed. He won't even tell his immediate family. Sorry. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy79 Posted October 9, 2017 Posted October 9, 2017 Ive found you can just walk into chemists here and buy anyyhing. Just the other month i handed over 2000 peso and asked for anything beneficial for the area i was in as a general firdt aid kit. I walkdd out with a bag full of medicines including 3 types of anti biotics. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted October 9, 2017 Author Posted October 9, 2017 6 minutes ago, Snowy79 said: Ive found you can just walk into chemists here and buy anyyhing. It used to be like that all over Philippines. Dumaguete and area have really gotten strict following the rules on antibiotics. Good to hear there are some areas that let you be the boss of your own body. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castaway Posted October 9, 2017 Posted October 9, 2017 I walked into (name deleted) Drug and asked for (6) 100 mg Viagra tablets and they said that I needed an Rx. So, as I began to walk away, they called me back with my (6) 100 mg Viagra tablets in a brown paper bag and said: "next time, bring your prescription." 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted October 9, 2017 Posted October 9, 2017 30 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said: t means we have to go to the doctor to get a prescription but no, they don't want to do that, they want to do all the tests first before prescribing anything. They do that because all those tests cost ME money and the doctor probably gets a piece of the action or just does not care because he isn't the one paying the bill. So I hate this new enforcement against antibiotics and that's my rant for today. In the western world they say that antibiotics are becoming useless because of overuse so they try to avoid the using them for everything. Your doctor is probably correct that test should be done first as what is the point of giving you antibiotics when just say the cause of your health problems is testicular cancer or something antibiotics wont fix. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted October 9, 2017 Author Posted October 9, 2017 15 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said: Your doctor is probably correct I am not sure how many doctors you have seen in Philippines but I have lost count of the ones I have seen over the years. At least 10, at most 20. No two agree. How can they be correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted October 9, 2017 Posted October 9, 2017 20 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said: I am not sure how many doctors you have seen in Philippines but I have lost count of the ones I have seen over the years. At least 10, at most 20. No two agree. How can they be correct? Maybe so but taking antibiotics for the sake of it and not knowing the cause is perhaps not the best. At least test might bring up the cause. Doctors in Australia are the same as in diagnosis as they are GP, General practitioners who basically know just a little about a lot but are not experts in any one field. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted October 9, 2017 Author Posted October 9, 2017 (edited) 26 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said: Maybe so but taking antibiotics for the sake of it and not knowing the cause is perhaps not the best. Perhaps that is so and each person should have the right to make that decision for himself. Best case scenario is when a foreigner is in a high end hospital with a "team" of doctors who consult and decide between themselves on the best course of action. If I had money, I'd go consult a high end specialist at Chong Hua and tell him to give me the "executive" barrage of tests and price is no object. It is amazing the problems they can find with you when you do it that way. My buddy Jonny goes to Cebu and does that and is still doing well in his mid '70s. Of course they have done a few procedures that cost him money that he didn't even know he needed (and perhaps didn't) but they do take care of him. But since I don't have that budget I can just wait until Friday at 3PM, go to Generika Pharmacy near MacDonalds (right beside where the big fire was this morning) and see their visiting doctor. I would tell him what I thought the problem was and ask for antibiotics and he would give me a 'scrip for a cost of 100 pesos. Oh and that includes a free blood pressure test (which I do at home twice a day anyway). My only point is I should have the right to make my own decisions and if it kills me then its all on me. EDIT: The "executive" tests that Jonny gets cost about 20K pesos provided they don't find anything that requires further examination. I may do that one day soon and if they give me some BS like I need my spleen removed then I could go to Canada for a second opinion. At least that way I'd be playing it safe. Edited October 9, 2017 by Dave Hounddriver 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now