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Comment by ricardobeat | Hacker News Reader

Wednesday - Sunday + 34h == ~7 days. Is it normal to wait that long to go to a doctor in the US? I'd be rushing by the third day, no simple flu has ever kept anyone I know down for over two days. Not to blame anyone, just curious.

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Influenza regularly knocks you out for 5-7 days [1]; that's one way to distinguish it from the common cold, which usually has no non-respiratory symptoms (fatigue, fever, muscle aches) and when it does lasts only a couple days.

In my family, we usually would go in to see the doctor if the progression of the illness was getting worse. Influenza usually comes on very strongly and knocks you out for a week, but the worst days are the first and second, and then you're just on bedrest for a while. Same with most illnesses. It's when you feel sick and keep getting sicker that it's time to see a doctor.

It sounds like that's what the family in the article did: when her illness got worse, she went to the doctor. But the doctor just diagnosed her with the flu and sent her home, so it's not like it helped.

[1] http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/infections/viral-infections...

It's extremely common in the US. I grew up poor and there were many times I was sick, sometimes even severely, and never went to the doctors. Even now I know people who are making 6 figure salaries and choose not to go to the doctors because it's just so expensive. They hedge their bets taking high deductible insurances, or sometimes going without, so they just avoid going to the doctors until they have no choice.

1 REASON is the cost, even with insurance, theres a limit how much you can use the service, if its over the preniums or deductible, the insurance can refuse to pay for anything, insurance can also outright refuse to pay for services, even if its affordable to them, thier goal is to earn profit, not deduct from it. the 2nd reason is probably the major one, is about the foolish thing of keeping a clean image. They dont want to show "weakness" by going to the doctors so much, they are making stuff up, or the doctor will say "its nothing"

Normally it is a few days but I wouldn't call this abnormal. They have scheduled me so long out that by the time I show up I'm already getting better.

The decision on how bad you feel is Emergency Room $$$$$, Urgent Care $$ or Doc visit $. Also just because you pay more doesn't mean you get in either, I've been stuck at Emergency Room for 12 hours before.

I never understood why the US didn't have more walk in clinics. They are simply doctors offices that take people on a first come first serve basis. It costs $50 if you don't have insurance (ex: new to the country).

Urgent care clinics are similar but more mini hospitals - hence the '$$'.

The US has many walk in clinics - they are usually attached to a pharmacy/chemist or part of a large retail store (CVS minute clinic etc) and you see a Physician's Assistant (PA) instead of a regular doctor. If it's more serious then they will send you to urgent care or your regular doctor. The cost is usually < $100.

I went to one of those once and while the cost was in total < $100, I received multiple lab bills months after the fact. That makes it impossible to predict the costs ever after seeing the doctor.

It is uncertainty in costs just as much as the costs that keep people away from doctors here.

Great point. That is also a problem with the entire industry.

I imagine this is highly region specific. I've lived in the us for 6 years now and I can't think of any near me. On the other hand I could easily locate a number of urgent care clinics.

Maybe. What State are you in? CVS and Walgreens dominate the market for these clinics in Minnesota.

Washington. We have Walgreens but they have nothing I would call a walk in clinic. You could maybe tell your troubles to a pharmacist - and they can give you a flu shot. But it's not really the same thing.

My family doctor's office in Canada would refer us to a nurse phone consultation before even giving us an appointment for our daughter. Here you have to exaggerate, she was having 38.3 C and the nurse insisted that anything less than 38.5 is not considered fever, and only after 3 days of fever while treated with acetaminophen/ibuprofen she would be eligible for a consult.

The cold or flue lasted 9 days, with fever coming and going, we took her one day to the walk-in clinic. I understand they don't want a million children collapsing the system but let's say I wasn't happy.

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