About two months ago I came down with the flu. Then caught a secondary sinus infection and an awful cough. I was too busy with work to take the time off to recover and I just tried to power through it. Every time I suggested that I should see a doctor everyone around me told me that they had the same thing, went to the doctor and they were told it was viral and it would go away in 5 days or so. Of course what I had didn't go away.
Finally I saw somebody who caught what I had, and got better before me, and I decided to go see the doctor. And stop being retarded from now on. I went to one of those 24 hour clinics. I sat in the waiting room for 3 hours. Finally when I saw the doctor it was lightning quick. If you would have started a stopwatch when the doctor entered the room it would have taken less than 60 seconds. He gave me a prescription for amoxicillin and I was on my way. And of course, once I started taking the antibiotics, I recovered within a couple of days and finally got relief.
The frustrating thing is that I already knew what he was going to prescribe when I showed up. I knew I needed antibiotics. I knew he was going to prescribe amoxicillin, the dosage, how many pills I was going to get. Everything. That's how it usually is with me. When I go to the doctors office I usually know what I'm going to get out of the transaction. Every time I've been to the doctor since 1995 that has been the case. There might as well be an MD vending machine in the mall like the ones you get your picture taken in. The vending machine takes your vitals, you breathe into it. A little robotic voice says 'You have a sinus infection and bronchitis', then you insert two $20 bills and it dispenses you some antibiotics and an inhaler. --- I saw that doctor for less than 60 seconds. What a JOKE!!!
A lot of people find themselves in the same situation. Some people get urinary tract infections on a fairly frequent basis. They know what the doctor prescribes for a urinary tract infection. Some people get sinus infections. They know the drill. Some people constantly get re-infected with STD's. I understand that there are good reasons that medical doctors should act as gatekeepers for certain medications. People can be morons. But sometimes you just know whats up.
It kind of bugged me so I started asking around. It turns out that one of my acquaintances has figured out a couple of ways to get around the red tape of doctors visits and pharmacies for antibiotics.
This acquaintance who shall not be named has a system. And I'm going to pass the system on to you, my loyal readers. Actually there are two systems, and this first one I'm going to warn you might be kind of lame, but in a pinch it will be helpful. Please press on, the second suggestion is pretty cool.
The first way around the gatekeepers is to buy your antibiotics at the pet store. Fish antibiotics work on humans too, and they're cheap. You can go pick them up at the local pet store. But Big Jay, I don't want to use fish antibiotics, I need human antibiotics. Well, the antibiotic used for fish is tetracycline. I've never been prescribed tetracycline but I have several friends who have taken it for years. It's perfectly fine for human consumption.
Check the dosage, side effects, and all the other info at rxlist.com. My acquaintance has taken fish-tetracycline for bacterial infections and reported that it works fine.
I can hear you. You're kind of uncomfortable going to a pet store for antibiotics. Truth be told... I'm kind of uncomfortable about it too. But hey, if you're in a pinch, and don't have access to medical care...
Okay. Second suggestion. My acquaintance also gets his antibiotics online, in advance, so he has them on hand when he needs them. There are several online pharmacies that do business outside the United States. You can order pharmaceutical drugs from them, and they get sent in the mail. Let's say that you know that for your sinus infection you usually get prescribed zithromax, or a z-pack. Three 500mg pills of azithromycin taken once per day for 3 days. My acquaintance orders several courses of azithromycin through
4rx.com (an online pharmacy based in Mumbai). It takes about a month to get the drugs in the mail but once you've got them, you can just order more when you get low. The price is significantly less than paying the doctor and the pharmacy. 30 pills worth of zithromax (10 courses worth) costs about $60 with shipping included.
My acquaintance showed me his little mini-pharmacy. It was pretty sweet. Now he only has to go to the doctor when he actually needs the doc, rather than going to beg for antibiotics.
You might want to check this place (
4rx.com) out. You can order a lot of different items. Cialis. Propecia. Zithromax. Levaquin. They've got a lot of choices and the prices are quite low. And, let me repeat. The drugs are not fake. They're the same stuff you get here, just without having to go through the doctors office, and the pharmacy. No screwing around with your insurance company. No sitting in a waiting room with other sick people catching who knows what. No 'wasting' one of your 6/year office visits on your lame-ox insurance for something you already know how to fix.
Now just a few words of caution. Don't be stupid. Don't just try stuff out to try it out. There is a reason why you have to get prescription drugs from a doctor. But if you've been down that road several times and you know what you need... there are alternatives to the old guard.
Breaking Bad is a great show. It is about Walter White, a highly overqualified high school chemistry teacher who has to work afternoons at a car wash to make ends meet. All his colleagues from grad school have gone on to do great things with their careers, and Walter feels boxed in by life. His teenage son has a disability. His wife is pregnant with an unplanned child. He is stressed out. He drives a Pontiac Aztec.
