Antibiotics: Not Always Your Friend

I went in to see my doctor two weeks ago. I had a nasty bug that wouldn't go away.

"Please give me antibiotics," I said. That's always been the treatment that works for such things. She really didn't want to, arguing that doctors have been advised by all the studies that antibiotics can do as much harm, or more, than good. And that antibiotics are often prescribed when they don't need to be.

A USA Today article yesterday kind of summed it up. (USA Today, January 12, 2009)

They have a nifty little chart that made my blood run cold.

Would you beg your doctor for drugs that:
* Have a 5% to 25% chance of causing diarrhea?
* Land at least one in every 1,000 users in the emergency room?
* Help only about one in 4,000 patients avoid a serious complication?
* Do nothing to relieve your symptoms?

The message, in a nutshell: There's a very small chance this antibiotic will help you, but a much bigger risk that it will hurt you. This is according to Jeffrey Linder, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

So, what happened in my case? My doctor said that she realized it was during the holiday season and that I may not be able to get back in to see her any time soon. It was Thursday. She said, "If this doesn't clear up by the weekend, go ahead an take them," and gave me a prescription. I filled the prescription and waited.

It got worse. I took the pills. But I'll think more about it next time.