Antibiotics - spinoff

Maddie&EthansMom wrote: Let's talk about this. I think it's an important issue and has come up in several threads the past few days.

Karen I felt made a good point that antibiotics are not only prescribed, but are in our food and water systems. This is something people don't think about. We become immune to certain meds b/c we are drinking them on a daily basis.

Another good point was from LeaAnn, that people never finish their antibiotics and in frequent, small doses, our bodies become immune. It's so important to finish them, if you choose to take them.

I personally feel they are way overprescribed. I do think they have their place. I'm on them now, but Ethan has never taken an antibiotic and Maddie hasn't had one since she was 8 mos old (b/c at the time I didn't know any better). Not that they haven't been sick...they are exposed to their fair share of germs.

My best friend's ped was telling her that most parents that take their kids to the dr expect to be prescribed something while there or they don't feel they got their money's worth from the visit. That floors me.

PrairieMom replied: It is very true that a lot of Dr's do over prescribe them. Esp peds. parents are so desperate and scared when their children are sick, hey don't want to be told that they are over reacting, and to just wait it out. If they don't get what they want from their Ped, they will find another one, so many Dr's worry about loosing their patients also.

Personally, i never take my kid in unless they have been sick for at least 10 days with no sign of getting better. Most Viruses should have run their course by then.

It is also a problem in the hospitals. Dr's are continually ordering antibiotics, then changing to different ones, or just stopping them. They will start an antibiotic before tests are even back, although, it takes days for a bacterial culture to grow, and you just can't have a patient sit in the hospital for days until the cultures come back with out treating them somehow. I don't really know what the answer is for that.

jcc64 replied: Aimee- you know how I feel about the subject. I've heard my brother say the same thing- parents expect and/or demand antibiotics, and drs give in. To which I say, it's up to the drs to hold the line and just say no. Parents can't get the drugs w/o the scripts. If the parents don't know how dangerous it is, both individually and as a public health issue, it's up to the drs to educate them. If the parents don't want to hear it, too bad. Someone's got to take control- and since when do drs defer to patients?! The fact of the matter is- drs are in a rush, or don't want to take the time to explain it to parents- it's easier to write the script and get them out of their overbooked offices. Totally irresponsible.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Logan's been on antibiotics several times in his first year. He had 6 ear infections before he turned 1. But since then, I've been able to do without them. So, no antibiotics since the ones given IV before and during heart surgeries.
I do believe antibiotics are overprescribed. I always take the full prescribed course when I do end up on them. And I don't expect a magic pill to make Logan better. Working in lab with all those scary bugs will turn you off anything that can help develop resistance.

PrairieMom replied:
I agree. They also have to be worried about malpractice suits. i actually sympathize with them. I think there are more good Dr's than bad out there, but they system is so screwed up.

A&A'smommy replied: Alyssa was on antibiotics a BUNCH when she was young because we were going to a Dr. and not a ped and a OB/GYN at that.. the odd thing is most Dr's. in our town are like that (which is why I drive and hour now).. but also because they weren't catching the fact that she was having ear infections and was holding fluid behind her eardrums... so when we finally switched to our ped. now they tried a round of antibiotics checked her twice and no change so we went to our E.N.T and they put tubes in her ears she hasn't been on antibiotics in over a year and I'm THRILLED about that. She does have allergies so she is on zyrtec (when needed) and nose spray (again only when needed).. now we are probably going to her tonsils and adenoids removed in probably the next 6 months to year because she snores so badly and has frequent sore throat (which causes her to loose weight because she wont eat anything). But anyway thats our story, I refuse to use antibiotics unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.

luvmykids replied: I'm with what everyone else has said, there have been times all three of mine along with myself have taken antibiotics out of necessity, and other times I wish we hadn't. I thought for many years that if the dr thought they were necessary, they must be and didn't start questioning it until a few years ago.

Now, if they need to culture something, I take the script with me and wait to hear the results before getting it filled and even then I don't always fill it. We do finish what we start though. I recently had to take two courses of two antibiotics combined because through the years of my dumb youth when I was on A LOT of antibiotics, I wouldn't finish scripts and now need heavier duty meds to knock something out.

Cece00 replied: We so rarely take antibiotics here. The last time I took them was probably like 2 or 3 months ago, for a nasty case of strep throat. Before that, I have no idea.

My older 2 kids have only had them a couple of times. I dont think Natalie has ever had them, and I dont think Jack has either...maybe once, he had a serious cough for awhile months ago, but I think all he got was some steroids...I cant remember now...

BUT- I do believe that people take them too often, which must mean dr's overprescribe them. We dont have Dr's like that, esp my ped, which is good, but I know a lot of ppl who take them when they have colds & I'm like "Uhhhh...those dont kill viruses."

& taking them too often does make you immune. When I was pregnant with Natalie AND Jack, I had problems with my kidney. I had a constant UTI from about 6 months on with Natalie and about the same time with Jack, which went to my kidney & I was having major problems. Turns out it was a stone that had to be removed when Jack was a couple of weeks old. The infection I had was bad, and it didnt respond to a couple of antibiotics. We finally found one that worked, only to have it quit working after a few weeks. Between the 2 pregnancies I ended up taking 8 or 9 different antibiotics & the last one I was on I was told they generally dont give to pregnant women but it was worth the risk b/c my kidney was so badly infected. Once the stone came out, I was fine, and I actually think that may have been the last time I was on antibiotics except for the strep issue a couple of months ago.

Brias3 replied: I kind of feel on the fence here...not because I don't agree with what everyone is saying, because I do, its just that my actions might suggest otherwise. With my kids at ages 9, 7 next month, and 4 next week, I have to say that they've all been on antibiotics in the past and unfortunately, I have not given the subject as much thought as I should have. For many years, especially with certain illnesses like strep, bronchitis, etc., I just felt as though things would progressively get worse withOUT giving them the medication prescribed. Now that I'm educating myself a bit more on the subject, I feel as though I've been acting hypocritically in the past and now am kind of "seeing the light". I'm not going to beat myself up over having given them meds like that all these years, because it was done safely and in necessary situations, but I'm really glad to have everyone's opinion here so I can begin to form a more personal view on the matter. It really has encouraged me to research this topic more thoroughly than I ever have!

amynicole21 replied: My kids have both been on antibiotics way more than the norm due to chronic ear infections and a bad bout of both pneumonia and MRSA in Nora. In fact, I hate to admit it, but Sophia is on them right now because the doctor was worried her lip would get infected since it was such a deep gash (she was hit in the mouth with a chair last week and her teeth went deeply into the lip in the bottom). So they were PREVENTATIVE antibiotics. I hesitated when DH told me to pick up the script for her, but got them anyway I'm going to be much more careful in the future though. These kids were both on them almost monthly before the age of 2. I can't imagine what all of that has done to them.

PrairieMom replied: I think that our little online community here is generally more educated, and more pro-active when looking out for the well fare of our children. But in my real life it never ceases to amaze me how many people I run into, (parents of patients and esp my elderly patients) that have NO IDEA what kind of meds they are taking, or what they are for. They assume that Dr's know everything, that is what they went to school for, and what we pay them for right? they would NEVER question them. Its s very delicate situation, I have to be really careful about the way I educate my Patient's, so I don't make those Dr's look bad. (even tho I KNOW some are idiots) It's really sad and scary. I have, on more than one occasion had to personally educate my personal Dr about what meds I should be on. (not my Dr anymore) Scary scary stuff.

coasterqueen replied: My girls have been on their share of antibiotics, more so Kylie than Megan because we knew better with Megan. We started to wise up with Kylie and she's rarely gotten them. She is actually on them now because of a really bad inner ear infection. Inner ears I don't mess with -- outer ear infections we wait out.

I noticed everyone talked about taking antibiotics but no one has talked about eating foods with them in there. I think this is a serious issue and not many people in this world are really understanding that. Dh and I had a big talk about this because of the local articles on the 100 mile diet, etc. We both agree we are just as guilty of feeding our kids fast food and processed unhealthy foods mainly due to convenience and some due to taste preferences. We acknowledged last night that we are harming our children every time we do this. That saddens us and we are trying to make more of an effort to steer away from this as much as possible. I don't think I can say we'll never eat fast food or processed foods, but we are going to be more diligent about it. There is a organization that is putting on a function here in a few weeks displaying all the local farms within a 100 mile radius and we plan to attend and meet these farmers -- the ones we don't already use.

It's good that we are using less antibiotics, but we need to be more diligent about the foods we are putting into our bodies. This goes for the store bought milk, the meat you are buying in the store, etc, etc. This ALL has to be payed attention to and taken seriously if we are going to spout about how taking too many antibiotics is dangerous, etc. The foods we eat and the foods we feed our children are just as dangerous, if not more so because we consume them on a DAILY basis.

My2Beauties replied: Hanna was on them a few times for ear infections, she had 8 by the time she was 6 months old, the antibiotics were not working so I finally told the ped to do something, he sent her to an ENT and she had tubes put in her ears. She's never ever had an antibiotic since then. She'll be 4 next month so that's pretty good I think. Aubrey has not ever had them. Although I'm starting to wonder if she really does need them with this issue she has going on....seriously, it's been 6 weeks and no change, the doc said allergies but I can't see it, not this severe. I've tried everything she said and she is getting worse. I'm going to start trying Children's Claritin today and if that doesn't work it's back to the doctor she goes I know I'm horrible, but I swear I don't think it's allergies. Nobody has a straight allergy issue this severe for 6 weeks, at least that I know if. I may be wrong, but it seems odd

BUt back to the OP yes I believe these meds are way overprescribed and everytime Hanna was given them she had blood tests run to make sure the infections were bacterial, so I made them check it out first. I hardly ever take them as an adult anyways, the last time I had them was when I had a real nasty sinus infection and they didn't even help me then and I really never take them, not even as a child! My mom never overmedicated me. It was one of those hey tough it out kid ordeals in my house, especially since I had no insurance growing up. Unless you're bleeding or not breathing, tough it out

holley79 replied:
This is what I do also Tara. My Ped at our first appointment told me to give most things 10 days to run courses. She doesn't like to over prescribe so if I'm looking for a pill pusher she wasn't it. I told her I was grateful for that for sure.

The only time I take Antibiotics is if I have a staph infection and I make sure I take every single pill in the bottle when I'm supposed to. Infections of that magnitude scare the crap out of me.

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
Yes, this is what I was getting at. Some people don't believe that antibiotics are in our food or water supply systems and that this is harmful. They also don't believe there are hormones in these places, either. So, tell me what happens when you have SO many people on medications in this country. They use the restroom....do you think the water systems can get ALL of that medication out of our water? No way. No how. We drink it and this is a huge reason why we are immune to so much stuff.